How American Expats Go Crazy in Central America

“After a few months, the medium-term traveler will start to think of himself as a more important person. After all, in the third world there’s no concept of equality as we have in the US. People are not born equal. Virtually every person from an English speaking country living in Latin America develops this sense of superiority. They are far more pompous than they ever were at home. After all, most people have a sense of unrealized potential, and being treated in this way gives them a big sense of validation. They are the important people that they knew they were all along. … But after awhile, it will break down. The reality of life as an expat in Central America is far grimmer than I can adequately express in a few paragraphs, but I will briefly say that everything you once valued and thought was great quickly turns to shit. You’ll realize that all of those new friends that you made have bad intentions. Most of them want to outright rob you, trick you into a bad investment, or manipulate you into giving their family members jobs. You become paranoid and mistrustful of everybody you meet. … Then suddenly you’re casually telling the people back home how you upped your bodyguard count to 8 and you’re bulletproofing all of your cars because you made a political enemy by not donating to his campaign after promising that you would, and you sound nuts. You were an accountant before moving there. Plus, they once spent a week in Nicaragua and it was nothing like that. It’s the cold shock that most expats receive toward the end. What have they let their lives become? Is not paying taxes and living on the beach worth it? What was life like before the fear? Can’t I get that initial feeling of wonderment back? They leave. It all becomes a distant memory and we learn not to talk about it because people who haven’t lived it can’t relate.”

Here’s exactly how American expats go crazy in Central America, explained by an expat : TrueReddit.


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