Friendly Reminder: Poosy Hibernates As Temps Drop

Of course, I don't mean girls literally hibernate like bears.

What I mean is what I found out running Game in Atlanta.

Folks couple up. More girls give you legitimate boyfriend excuses. More guys you know, and guys on Game forums, talk about LTRs.

College girls also gear up for exams, papers, projects, etc.

Older girls - and college girls with daddy's money - think about a winter vacation. Preferably, to a warmer place with desperate guys, such as Spain, Italy, or Turkey (all known for being sex tourists). And especially if the girls are not lucky or hard-working enough to have locked down a boyfriend.

Note that this also aligns with Game gurus such as Krauser posting when they too go into winter hibernation.

Of course, you can still get some girls during winter. Shoot, I almost SDL'd a Warsaw girl in Sopot near the end of November. (But let's face it, she was there alone with nothing to do - a lucky break for me.)

But, if you're planning a trip, or simply taking breaks from the Game, as Roosh advocates, and Krauser implies, then winter is a good time to stay out of the Game.

Research does indicate that breakups happen before Christmas and Valentine's Day. However, my guess is that these girls just sulk, eat chocolate or ice cream, and get fat until spring rolls around, when they can no longer hide their newly-gained rolls with winter clothing.

How Running Game in America Helped Me Move Abroad

I know what you're thinking.

Of course running Game in America helped you move abroad! You learned that American women aren't worth it!

While that's true, that's actually not the biggest way that Game helped me move abroad.

When I decided to quit my job and leave the West in July of 2014, a year before I actually did it, I'd been attempting to date in Atlanta for four years.

Despite having met a previous girlfriend through an indirect day approach (before I learned any Game), I started off with online dating. Technology reduced my work in many areas of my life, so why not dating?

As you probably know, that did not pan out anywhere near where I thought it would. As I worked harder at it by improving my profile, using more sites, and sending more messages, I did get a few dates, and even fewer lays, but I was definitely putting more work into it than it was worth.

After two years of that, I stumbled upon "the manosphere" while looking for online dating hacks. One was to use a browser script to automatically "like" every girl in OkCupid's Tinder-like game, thereby uncovering all the girls who "liked" you. It was a small risk (at least in my mind) to try this and the other hacks, since they could get me kicked off. But at that point, I figured I had nothing to lose. So try I did, and they yielded a correspondingly small improvement in my work rate.

However, the results still weren't up to snuff. Thanks to "the manosphere" though, I decided in mid-2013 to give Roosh's "Day Bang" a try (as well as start lifting and eating seriously). At the time, the idea of even indirectly approaching girls serially, to ask them out on a date, was foreign to me. It seemed risky. But again, I figured I had nothing to lose.

The results were definitely better - no more fatties for me - but still not good enough. After a few months, I felt I was wasting tons of time with this indirect approach, so I looked for something else. And that's when I found "Daygame Blueprint" by Daygame.com.

Now here was something even more risky. Instead of hiding my dick for what seemed like an eternity, only to likely be shot down at the end, here we were going to what seemed like a more direct approach. Again, I figured I had nothing to lose.

The results were better still - less time wasted on "no date" girls, so more time to find the "maybe date" and the few "yes date" girls. In the meantime, thanks to Roosh and the guys on his forum, I'd heard that foreign girls in certain parts of the world were better than those in America. I did a few scout trips, and saw the tip of the iceberg of what they were talking about.

After many more months of Gaming as a part-time job, I was fed up with American girls. Move abroad? Now there's a risk. But again, I figured I had nothing to lose.

Here's the key: thanks to "the manosphere," I'd already and inadvertently been progressively taking bigger and bigger risks, through Game. I went from hiding behind a computer screen to meet girls, to jogging after them to "tell them they look nice." So when I made my decision in July of 2014, I was ready to take such a big risk.

Is Pursuing Happiness Like Pursuing a Cat?

Anyone who's been around cats knows how to pursue them. What you don't do is directly pursue them, since more often than not, they simply run away.

Instead, what you do is you simply "set a trap" for the cat, such that it comes to you. You still have to take action - in this case, "setting the trap" - but you don't go to the extreme of directly chasing the cat.

Coincidentally, one observation I've made about some of the star PUAs in the manosphere is that they don't seem as happy as their star notch counts would suggest. Like directly chasing the cat, it seems directly chasing happiness doesn't work.

Of course, not taking any action to pursue the cat or happiness is less likely to yield results than some pursuit.

I guess in the end, it's all about balance. The Middle Path appears again!

A Way to Quickly Determine if a Location is Good for Marriage?

A rough idea, but here are some questions you can ask:

1) How many young girls are pushing strollers versus going to school or work?

2) What seems to be the average SMV (sexual market value) of the girls pushing strollers (how hot are they)? What about the girls going to school or work?

3) How many children are young girls walking around with?

Lviv, Ukraine: First Impressions

Came here for a few days for several reasons:

1) I needed to do a Polish border run to reset my visa.
2) Because of #1, I figured I might as well scout a new location.
3) It's cheap to get to from Poland.
4) It's close to Poland.
4) It's cheap to stay in.
5) Thanks to the Roosh V Forum, I heard the women were worth it.

Here's what I observed:

1) I get more stares here than in Kiev, but less than in 2nd-tier Poland. About the same as Warsaw.

2) The women are definitely Ukrainian. More heels, legs, and makeup than their Polish counterparts, but less curves. Definitely more brunettes than blondes. Not as many Mediterranean-looking girls as Kiev though.

3) Lots of students relative to the general population. This seems to be the youngest city I've been to.

4) The city seems more conducive to street day game than Kiev is. While most people in Kiev get around using public transit, in Lviv, the city seems small enough - or the public transit is limited enough - that most people walk.

5) The only minorities I saw in any significant numbers were African students. They usually travel in groups.

Overall, the city definitely seems worth spending a month in to figure out.

Should You Move Your Daygame From K-Selected to r-Selected?

With more daygame experience under my belt, I now think I understand more why the London daygame guys - especially Krauser - advocate r-selected daygame, especially if you want to bang the hottest girls.

The thing with most attractive girls - and especially the hottest girls - is that there's rarely even a moment when her boyfriend slot isn't filled. And let's not forget her backlog of potential replacements, usually well-vetted through her social circle.

The reason for that is that most guys lean towards being beta, or K-selected. This serves them well as contributing members of society, helping them navigate professional circles, as well as social ones. It's usually only when they stumble upon being a little more alpha, or r-selected, that they fall into the boyfriend slot, usually through their social circle.

But as most Game guys have found, there's another slot to be had: the lover.

This slot usually isn't filled with a candidate with the duration of a boyfriend, since most guys aren't alpha or r-selected enough to fill it. Most guys are normal. For more traditional girls, the lover slot may exist only fleetingly - if at all. But, as we all know, feminism is making short work of these traditional girls.

Krauser has some nice detail about the pros and cons of r-selected daygame versus K-selected daygame in Daygame Mastery and his other resources. As I understand it, one is not necessarily easier than the other. With r-selected daygame - sexualized eye contact, body language, voice tonality, etc - you get more blowouts, so you get fewer leads (though the leads are "sexier"). In contrast, with K-selected daygame, you get more numbers, but then you have to stack up against her list of boyfriend requirements, which are always longer than her list of lover requirements.

With r-selected daygame, and especially with the hottest girls, it therefore also stands to reason that if you do bang her, she will have cheated on her boyfriend. I suppose that is the moral price to pay if you want to bang the hottest girls. And if you're a "enjoy the decline" manosphere guy - H/T to Aaron Clarey for writing said entitled book - then my guess is why bother with morals if you're "enjoying the decline" by banging the hottest girls?

Game Location Tip: It's About Volume of Young Available Girls, Not Just Volume of People

Quick - if you had to decide to daygame at a busy mall or a sparse but large university, which would you pick?

Most guys I know seem to choose the busy mall over the sparse but large university. In fact, that was me - until today.

What was different about today was that I decided to try my luck and do some daygame at the sparse but large university instead of the busy mall. This was based on the fact that most of my leads are college students, even though most of my approaches - at the busy mall - are not.

What I found at the busy mall was what most of the daygame guys find: malls tend to attract taken girls, and/or older women. In the West, this tends to apply more to high-end malls, but here in Eastern Europe, it seems to apply to malls in general, and not just high-end ones. It may be that outside the West, any mall is high-end.

Distilling that lesson even more, the point is that when choosing a location to Game, it's about the volume of young available girls (preferably walking alone), not just the volume of people.

So don't be fooled when you see a busy mall or street into thinking, "This must be a good place to daygame." Look at the volume of young girls walking alone.

Another Reason Why Men Should Go Where They Don't Look Like a Local

Much is made in the manosphere of paternity fraud, where a wife knowingly cheats on her husband, and presents the offspring of this cheating to her husband as his own genetic heritage.

I don't know about you, but I'm not interested in raising any more kids that aren't my own. I already do this through the American tax system anyway, in the form of welfare handouts.

So what's a man to do to stop paternity fraud? Paternity testing kits are one option, but as feminism continues to make inroads, one should expect more countries to follow in France's footsteps, where paternity testing is practically banned.

Here's another solution for men:
1) Go to a country where you don't look like a local.
2) Father children with a local woman.
3) If the children don't have any of your non-local features, you know the children aren't yours.

Obviously, this solution works best if you're practically the only non-local that the local woman has access to.

If the above was too cerebral for you, here's a reverse application of the above, in a trashy talk show. (TL;DV - fat white woman claims fat white man is the father of her half-black kids; DNA test proves the obvious, that she's wrong)

Fairness, Or Might Makes Right?

Suppose your group of people came to another land and replaced the natives there, with some of them consenting, and some of them not consenting. Suppose the natives there were replaced due to a variety of factors, such as disease, or a culture that did not promote productivity as well as that of the replacing peoples. Is this fair? Or is this simply right by might, and possibly evolution?

In case you think I'm talking about the migrant crisis in Europe, I'm not. I'm actually thinking of the non-native settlement of the Americas and Australia.

Think about it: did the Native Americans and Australians deserve to be replaced? If not, should the Americas and Australia be given back to them, and the non-native descendants sent back to Europe, Africa, Asia, etc? Or was the replacement of the Native Americans and Australians simply part of the evolutionary process?

Could it then be said that legal and illegal migration into the US of Latinos, who as a group are genetically closer to the Native Americans than any other group, is justified by fairness, or right by might?

Does morality matter in any of these scenarios, or is it all just right by might?

In either case, consistency matters. Morality can't matter in select cases, only to be thrown out the window in other cases.

Thus, I fail to see how one can justify the replacement of Native Americans and Australians by non-natives, while disagreeing with the replacement of Europeans by non-natives, both in Europe and the US (where they aren't even native anyway). Either both scenarios are unfair, or both are justified by might making right (evolution).

And don't tell me one group is simply more deserving than another due to their past contributions or charity. There is no point in harping on about a glorious past. Only the present and the future matter.

What If Governments Behaved Like Sports Teams?

It would be interesting if governments behaved more like sports teams, recruiting players they think would contribute, and letting go of players that aren't panning out. Imagine:

1) A citizen of a country commits a heinous crime. Instead of sending the criminal to jail to be supported or even executed on the taxpayer dime, the country simply strips the criminal of citizenship, and deports them at the nearest border.

2) A citizen of another country has a track record of exceptional and quantifiable contributions. The "sports team" country decides to "recruit" this person and people like this person, offering them generous citizenship packages, in exchange for ensuring future contributions are made to the "sports team" country.

One catch I can see is that "sports team" country has to have the right metrics to determine who gets recruited and who gets booted. It would have to be some sort of quantifiable metric that shows how "profitable" each citizen is to the country, like:

Tax Income Received - Cost of Government Services Used

Without quantifiable metrics, the "sports team" country at best would be hiring and firing on anecdotes, and at worst, would be hiring and firing for silly political or bureaucratic reasons.

At the end of the day, I think it'd take trial and error to get all the details of a "sports team" country right. But this mentality seems better than stocking your bench with an at-best unproven line-up, all in the name of sympathy.

Why I Won't Reveal My Name

Hat tip to Rollo Tomassi at The Rational Male ( http://therationalmale.com/ ):

"A heckler once interrupted Nikita Khrushchev [the then-dictator of the Soviet Union] in the middle of a speech in which he was denouncing the crimes of Stalin [the brutal previous dictator]. 'You were a colleague of Stalin's,' the heckler yelled, 'why didn't you stop him then?' Khrushchev apparently could not see the heckler and barked out, 'Who said that?' No hand went up. No one moved a muscle. After a few seconds of tense silence, Khrushchev finally said in a quiet voice, 'Now you know why I didn't stop him.'"

Why I Stopped Getting Involved in Useless Forum Threads

It's pretty simple.

As the name suggests, they're a waste of time.

Sure, some of them are emotionally provoking, especially the race threads, but at the end of the day, it's just a bunch of (mostly anonymous) nobodies on a non-mainstream Internet forum.

What's the point of attempting to convince them anyways? The mainstream is not moving in their direction any time soon, and these guys would rather complain about reality than even discuss how to deal with it (never mind actually doing so).

And who wants to associate with people who'd rather complain than take action anyway? They'll just drag you down into pointless conversation, and prevent you from taking action.

So it really is as Tom Torero says. "Less talk, more action!"

The Elites Are Not Evil, They're Just Acting in Self-Interest

Most folks are familiar with the five stages of grief:

1) Denial
2) Anger
3) Bargaining
4) Depression
5) Acceptance

Sometimes people make it through all five stages - which is good - and sometimes they don't - which is bad. In the "manosphere," this idea is usually applied to discovering the truth about women:

1) Denial - "Women are not like this at all!" - Still a Disney-believing "blue-pill" guy
2) Anger - "How can women be this bad?!" - Generally rants a lot on forums
3) Bargaining - "But not all women are like that!" - Generally posts less frequently on forums
4) Depression - "I give up on women." - actual MGTOWs (Men Going Their Own Way). Doesn't post at all
5) Acceptance - "All women generally follow this model. Now that I know their playbook, I can rewrite mine." - Generally posts infrequently but constructively

What doesn't seem to be happening in the "manosphere" quite yet is folks going through all five stages when discovering the truth about the elites (not a conspiracy theory, just think Game of Thrones, which is basically a show about the ups and downs of being an elite):

1) Denial - "These are just silly conspiracy theories."
2) Anger - "How can the elites be so bad?!"
3) Bargaining - "Surely some elites must feel for their fellow man! Help us!"
4) Depression - "The elites control everything and are evil. I give up."
5) Acceptance - "The elites are just acting in their own perceived self-interest, as they always have been, and always will be. They compete with each other too, with some attaining elite status, some maintaining elite status, and some losing elite status. In any case, now knowing that the elites are merely acting in perceived self-interest, I can now better act in my own self-interest."

As is the case with the subject of women, the most frequent posters on the subject of elites are those in the anger stage. And just as staying in that stage with regards to women is ultimately unproductive, so too is it with regards to the elites.

Bialystok, Poland: First Impressions

I was going to post this on the Roosh forum, but then I decided to save it as a special treat for my readers. Not going to lie, also didn't want to share it as widely as the Roosh forum enables.

Went to Bialystok for a day. Why?

1) Almost no Game data about it.
2) It only cost me ~$100 and two days.
3) It's in Eastern Poland, which is generally poorer, and thus, cheaper.
4) The proximity to the FSU may mean more FSU influence on the women.
5) Official population is around 300k, so enough to be a 2nd-tier city. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bia%C5%82ystok
6) This wikitravel quote peaked my daygame interest:

Bialystok is a rather small city in terms of size, considering its big population - it is the second most densely populated city in Poland after Łódź.

Source: http://wikitravel.org/en/Bia%C5%82ystok

Results:
While a day is only enough to be a post (not even a mini data sheet), here are my thoughts, in no particular order:
1) There may be a slight FSU influence - maybe a few more heels and skirts than in Gdansk/Sopot - but this is definitely still Poland, and not the FSU.
2) Reactions were a bit more green or red light, rather than yellow light, compared to Gdansk/Sopot. Not as much as in Kiev though, where it's night and day.
3) My foreigner value as an Asian-American brown guy seems higher here than in Gdansk/Sopot. No overt racism here either during the day. Can't speak for the night since I'm not a night gamer, but packs of drunk guys not getting laid are generally the same everywhere.
4) English levels seem on par with Gdansk/Sopot.
5) The girls' bodies are definitely still Polish. I didn't observe  a noticeable shift to the FSU "white Asian girl" body type.
6) The city is noticeably more compact than Gdansk/Sopot. This means more girls walking and thus more day game opportunities. Lipowa Street is where the action seems to be. There's also a large park and two malls within a twenty minute walk.
7) The city itself - at least around Lipowa Street - is quite nice, and quite new. The residents don't seem poor, though the Alfa mall had a bit less traffic for a weekday night than Galeria Baltycka in Gdansk does.
8) Local guys seem to be dating on par with Gdansk/Sopot.
9) My guess is there are less PUAs here, Polish or foreign, since there is no local airport for their thirsty asses to fly into. In contrast, Gdansk/Sopot has plenty of low-cost carrier airline service from all over Europe. This probably also drives the Gdansk/Sopot guys into the hands of RSD, which seems popular among them. Not saying Gdansk/Sopot is sarged out, but once in a while, you will get the eye-roll reaction - because your approach should be as unique as the girl is a special snowflake, after all :p
10) Despite the compactness of the city, the population seems large enough that I didn't run into the same faces on Lipowa Street.

Verdict: More research needed, especially when college starts in October, but the place seems to have unusual day game potential.

It Should Go Without Saying: Avoid Addiction

Some guys say you should embrace hedonism when it comes to women, since you can't have enough sex. Let's think of a parallel to test that.

Let's suppose you embrace hedonism when it comes to food. You eat as much tasty food as you can. As a result, your health slips. Okay, so you've experienced the extreme, and now you know you need to get back to a balanced diet. The problem is, your body and mind are used to your extreme habits. As anyone who's seen the many ads promoting weight-loss products knows, changing these extreme habits is much harder than having balanced habits in the first place. I'm not saying you can't get back to habits that are balanced - I'm just saying it's harder.

Of course, some guys will say that avoiding hedonism when it comes to women is an avoidance weasel. I'd argue that's only true if you avoid women completely. Getting back to the food analogy, you don't go from eating an extremely bad diet to eating nothing; you eat a balanced diet.

And just as a balanced diet contains wholesome foods, a balanced approach to women contains wholesome women. In both cases, you screen out the things that are tasty but ultimately harmful.

Applying "The Middle Path" to Choosing a Country for Love Tourism

Unless you're Buddhist, you're probably not familiar with the Buddhist concept of "The Middle Path." In short, before attaining enlightenment, the Buddha experienced two extremes: one as a prince, whose every desire was fulfilled, and another as a monk, who starved himself so much that he was on the path to death. Realizing that neither extreme would get him closer to enlightenment (hard to do that while near-dead, or while permanently preoccupied with hedonism), he decided to take "The Middle Path," carefully striking the necessary balance between the two extremes. Through this, he attained enlightenment.

We can also apply this concept of "The Middle Path" to choosing a country for love tourism. On one hand, we have wealthy countries that enable women's hedonistic tendencies, such as the US and Australia, resulting in said women generally being slutty, fat, and entitled. However, on the other hand, we also have dirt-poor countries that tip women to desperation, such as Ukraine and the Phils, resulting in some of these women becoming pros or semi-pros. Neither of these states is desired. (Obviously NAWALT applies, but averages are more important than outliers.)

Applying the concept of "The Middle Path," we can see that we want countries where the women are not so wealthy as to be predominantly occupied with hedonism, but we also want countries where the women are not so dirt-poor as to be predominantly occupied with materialism. So instead of the US, Australia, Ukraine, or the Phils, we have countries like Poland and Thailand.

Of course, as events unfold, the balance point can change. It can even change within countries, such as Warsaw or Bangkok versus Poznan or Chang Mai. But hopefully this post will save you some time from exploring obvious extremes.

Edit: One other point is that dirt-poor countries also tend to attract weirder expats. These include sex tourists and older and less socially-calibrated guys, none of whom you likely want to hang out with. As the name implies, "Middle Path" countries tend to attract more balanced guys.

Leipzig Germany Mini Data Sheet

TL;DR - Don't Bang Leipzig.

Came here yesterday afternoon from Kiev and only booked myself two nights, since there wasn't a lot of data about it. I wanted to scout the place before committing to it. After all, I came here based on only a few data points:

1) 20Nation's Boobs by Country Map: http://www.targetmap.com/viewer.aspx?reportId=36780
2) Deb's post on Leipzig: https://www.rooshvforum.com/thread-12905...#pid230031
3) The fact that I insta-dated and FB-closed a busty but thin 20-year-old German girl while walking around Frankfurt's Zeil Mall near the end of a early-evening layover.
4) Wikipedia says most foreigners here are Polish or Eastern European, rather than Turkish, unlike many other German cities.
5) A counterpoint: the fact that a number of posters on this forum (including one I met in Kiev) are German. Why would they be on this forum if their own women were good?

Here are my conclusions after walking around central Leipzig for two solid afternoons:

1) German girls are bustier than their Ukrainian counterparts, on average, but at about the same level as their Polish counterparts.
2) Unfortunately, bust is where the similarity between German and Polish girls generally ends. German girls tend to be heavier, neon-hair-colored, and/or frumpy more often than their Polish counterparts.
3) Factually, I already knew Germany was old, having recently surpassed Japan as having the world's lowest birth rate, but walking around Leipzig ... fuck this place is older than Tokyo! Young girls are harder to come by than in Poland or Ukraine.
4) Despite #4 from above generally being true compared to what I saw in Frankfurt, there are still definitely more foreigners in Leipzig than anywhere else I've been in Poland, even Warsaw. Some of them are obviously students though, especially the Chinese.
5) Leipzig generally does badly relative to Poland and Ukraine on the Busted Dudes test ( http://www.rooshv.com/the-busted-dudes-test ), though there aren't that many obviously young couples to begin with (a likely symptom of the world's lowest birth rate).

Based on the above, I've booked myself back to Poland. Kiev was great, but it can wait. As an early 30's guy, I'm actually only just old enough there to date girls in college or younger. And the older guys in the Revo crew didn't seem to have problems there with said girls either (more info on the Revo crew: https://www.rooshvforum.com/thread-37535...pid1103856 )

Edit: if you must go, stay in central Leipzig. That's where the foot traffic and date venues are. The train station has a decent mall for daygame, but save it for bad weather, since there's much more foot traffic across the street in the central outdoor shopping area, especially around and west of Leipzig University (which is actually in the shopping area). The Höfe am Brühl indoor mall (also in the central outdoor shopping area) is another bad weather alternative.

Illegal Immigration is a Slap in the Face to Legal Immigrants

Plain and simple, it's like telling someone who got cut in line:

"Haha, you sucker, you actually played by the rules? You should've just cut the line like the guy who's now in front of you did. Sucks for you that you didn't know that we don't actually enforce our own rules. Hmm ... I wonder if that extends to other rules, like murder, etc ..."

When "Overcoming Limiting Beliefs" Runs Into The Wall of Reality

One idea that permeates Game - and especially RSD - is the idea that you can overcome almost anything, and all that's holding you back are limiting beliefs.

While this is a great mindset for newbies, since most of them are afraid to even talk to girls, this mindset runs into some problems once you take it too far.

And that problem is reality - probability and expected return. As you keep pushing the boundaries, the probability of you achieving success goes down, eventually passing the point where the expected return exceeds the cost.

Think of it this way: are "limiting beliefs" preventing you from being able to punch through a block of steel with your bare hands? Technically, yes, but realistically, no human is ever going to be strong enough to do this. And, most likely, you'll simply break your hand or arm in the process, so the cost will easily exceed the expected return.

The same applies to Game. Are "limiting beliefs" preventing you from being able to get a number/bang/STR/LTR from a walking two-set, sitting three-set, family four-set, etc? Technically, yes, but again, the probability is so low that your expected return will exceed the cost of your time and ego in said sets.

This is why guys in the more-balanced London daygame scene prefer solo sets. Not because they're afraid to open crazy sets (they sometimes do if nothing else is around), but because they've found that solo sets are the best use of their time to get what they want - bangs.

Unlike the RSD guys, the London daygame guys don't approach for the sake of approaching. They're actually socially-calibrated to the reality of solo daygame sets versus twos, threes, etc. Meanwhile, RSD guys are like feminists, who think they can construct their own reality.

But anybody in business can tell you that's not how markets work. Yes, you control some of the factors that determine your selling price (the quality of the girls) and your quantity. But buyers (girls) and other sellers (other guys), who are beyond your control, also determine factors that influence your selling price and quantity. To ignore the buyers and other sellers would be stupid. And so it is with Game.

My guess is that RSD promotes this reality-denial because it sells. "Construct your own reality" sounds better to them and to feminists than "You must work smart and hard to improve yourself, including your social calibration, which means you must actually be open to criticism, direct or indirect."

This also probably explains why they didn't bother to defend Julien Blanc after the mainstream came after him. Like feminists, they would rather "construct their own reality" than actually deal with it. And how can you associate with individuals who each live in their own construct, oblivious to the reality of others around them, including their own leaders? How could you even relate to such people?

Overcoming all limiting beliefs? Meet the wall of reality.

To My White Buddies in the US

I'm not going to tell this to your faces, but ...

You know how some of you wanted me to stay in the US or come back?

I'm going to tell you right now that you guys are contradicting yourselves.

When you made jokes or subtly implied that Asians such as myself were lower on the American dating totem pole than you were, likely in an effort to boost your own egos, did you think I was going to stick around?

Did you relish telling me something I already knew through my own substandard experiences?

Did you think I was happy being your loser clown?

Did you enjoy laughing behind my back while I worked twice as hard and only got half your results?

Did you enjoy laughing at my plan to go abroad as my method of adapting to a bad situation?

No, I won't be that guy anymore. And now, you have to go find someone else to look down on. Sucks for you.

In the meantime, I'm going to help all the other guys I can escape similar situations. And yes, most of them have been Asian. Because we're tired of being your clowns.

Also, please enjoy the decline of your Western civilization. You can escape too, but unlike us, the egos you inflated by looking down on us won't let you escape a plainly bad situation for an obviously better one abroad.

Unlike us, you still think you have something to lose.

So in a way, thank you for looking down on us. You've actually driven us to escape, while locking yourselves in so you don't compete with us abroad.

You get what you deserve. The future is our time.

Don't Harp On About a Glorious Past

In my family's history, we apparently had some well-off - if not rich - ancestors. Certain people in my extended family would keep talking about these prominent ancestors. They would imply that because these ancestors were great, so were we, and so would our descendants be.

I, like others in my extended family, however, know this is bullshit. Who harps on about their extended family's glorious past like that? The answer: losers - people who couldn't point to their present or future for glory. They only had the past - one they obviously didn't even have a hand in creating.

Now, take that idea, and blow it up from a family, to an entire group of people - a nation or a race.

Who harps on about their group's glorious past, to the exclusion of the present and the future? The same answer: losers, who can only point to the past for their glory, not the present or future.

Another way to think of this is to think of glory as a stock on the market. The same rules apply:
1) Past performance does not guarantee future results.
2) What drives real glory, like the price of a stock, is its future potential.

So, to anyone harping on about their group's glorious past, to the exclusion of the present and future - you're a loser.

White Hypocrisy When It Comes to Love Tourism

Just a rant that's too race-baiting for any forum:

It's interesting that white guys will subtly suggest or imply that guys of other races won't be welcomed by women in certain (but not all) white countries, especially countries where you rarely even see non-white guys. These white guys then say that the girls tend to not like non-white guys.

Two problems:
1) Since when did women always stick to what they say?
2) How can they know what it's like for a non-white guy in these countries when they rarely even see non-white guys?

I think what's going on here is that these white guys don't want competition, and will use any means, such as skin color, to reduce it.

What these white guys are hoping for is:
1) White countries for white guys, and
2) Non-white countries for white guys!

Meh. With the white birthrate tanking, go forth my non-white brothers, while the white women still exist!

How You Know Mail Order Bride Sites Are a Waste Without Even Trying

It's pretty simple - the girls don't pay to use the sites - but men do. The sites say the girls are serious, but anybody can say that if they don't have to pay.

Check it:

Elenas Models
"1. Women don’t pay on Elenas Models - It’s free for ladies to join and communicate with men. They do not pay to talk to guys, and can freely email to men or send them an EOI."

From: http://blogs.elenasmodels.com/en/elenas-models-profiles/

A Foreign Affair
"All our services are COMPLETELY FREE OF CHARGE for women!!!"

From: http://www.loveme.com/registration/onlineform.php?lang=eng

AnastasiaDate
Just try signing up as a female. You won't be asked for money.

From: http://www.anastasiadate.com/

The reason the women don't pay is because the sites need their profiles, so men can pay the site to access them. That's much easier and more legit than creating a ton of fake profiles. In return for their real profiles, the women get obligation-free validation.

If You Really Think About It, Nobody is Racially/Culturally Pure

For the longest time, I thought to myself, "I'm actually quite racially pure. I can trace my ancestry to a specific province in Southeast Asia."

Then, I thought to myself, "Wait a minute. Then how come I sometimes get mistaken for all these other races? Heck, even though I'm well-traveled and (over)educated, why do I still sometimes mistake others for a race they aren't?"

The reason is simple.

Just like an individual is more or less the average of those closest to him/her, but not the same, so too it is with races and culture.

That's why when I see certain Poles here in Poland, I sometimes wonder how much German, Slavic, Scandinavian, Baltic, or Balkan blood they have in them. I also notice the similarities between these cultures, as well as the differences.

That's probably also why when certain people see me, they may wonder if I'm Indian or Pacific Islander. That's also why certain cultural aspects of my upbringing are similar to those of Indian or Pacific Islander descent, though there are some differences.

Now obviously, the further the distances become, the less similar the races and cultures get. But to think that race and culture is monolithic instead of a sliding scale doesn't make sense to me now.

Those XYZs Are Stealing Our Women/Men!

I'm sure you've heard it before:

"Those [insert race] men are stealing our women!"
"Those [insert race] women are stealing our men!"

I'm here to tell you that this is how losers think. What they're really saying is:

"Life is unfair! Wah! Someone help me! I don't want to compete with those [insert race]!"

What you should be thinking is:

"How can I adapt what they are doing to my benefit?"
"If [insert race] men like our women, maybe I should look at [insert race] women."
"If [insert race] women like our men, maybe I should look at [insert race] men."

Sopot Datasheet

From: http://www.rooshvforum.com/thread-5000-post-1069102.html#pid1069102

Time to reveal where I've been since the beginning of July. The reason for the reveal now is that I sustained a minor injury while lifting, so my gaming has been cut short. Just in time for me to start healing before visiting relatives in the UK, I suppose ... Anyway, here are my thoughts after one month.

First, about me, for those who don't know: average height, fit (but not jacked), early 30's, Asian-American (though Mexicans in the US think I'm Mexican), approach-machine level London-style daygamer, traveled all over the world, but first time living outside the US.

Did I get laid? No.
Did I get close? Yes. Twice. Both were same-day-lay scenarios on solo tourists that I screwed up.
Where did I game? Monte Cassino Street in Sopot.

Most importantly, what do you have to say that's not already mentioned in this thread? My thought is, if you want to get laid here during the summer, do this:

1) Target solo girls during the day. Yes, most girls are here in the summer with their friends (guys and/or girls), but I think there are just enough solo girls that that's a more prudent investment of your time. Also, if you can't be on Monte Cassino Street, usually these solo girls are staying near it.

2) For logistics, expect to almost always be going for the SDL or SNL - be as close to Monte Cassino Street as possible. The reason is that most of the girls are Polish tourists who are only here for a week at most. Uber it in the worst case. Monte Cassino Street also provides some decent and walkable date venues, if you do meet any locals (usually from Gdansk), which you occasionally will.

3) You'll quickly realize some of the standing or super-slow walking girls, usually holding stacks of flyer cards, are club promoters. Apparently they get bonuses if you take their flyer card to their club. To someone new to the area, they may look like prime daygame targets, but they're easy to spot. They'll become familiar faces quickly, but don't worry, they're used to seeing guys running daygame.

4) On that note, there are quite a few Polish RSD bootcamps here, usually during the night though, and especially during special events. Not enough to flood the place relative to the amount of traffic though, and most of them are obviously bootcamp students.

5) Tinder is fairly useless here, again, and only because the girls are mostly tourists. I got more matches in my month here than I ever did in the US over several years, but in the time it would take to run properly paced text game, they'd be gone, usually back to Warsaw or sometimes Kaliningrad (you can tell using Tinder's distance on their profile). And that's on top of in-person game trumping online game in almost any scenario (I also did Badoo encounters, which only yielded one weak lead). Most likely, the girls are simply swiping for attention and validation, rather than actual meets.

6) Realize that while some Poles may call Sopot the "Las Vegas" of Poland, it isn't quite that. I doubt you'll find a girl at night who says, "I know I'm supposed to be slutty here."

7) The beach and the path parallel to it are mostly occupied by families. Solo girls are usually walking Monte Cassino Street.

8) Since most tourists are Polish, you'll still get a bonus if you don't look like one. Obviously you'll still have to work though.

9) Also note that these Polish tourists are the ones that can afford to vacation and travel, so while they may be dressed hotter than the average Pole, they're also likely to be more snobby, especially if they can afford to go out at night (note that I'm also echoing Roosh's find here).

10) Some Polish girls seem to respond to SMS/WhatsApp after 21:00ish. I think this is because the rates are lower during off hours, depending on their provider. Best to send your ping texts then, since they'll be more likely to respond immediately.

Overall, I think this is a good place to come during the summer, relative to what I've heard about other places in Poland (which empty out), but again, it's mostly for SDLs/SNLs.

P.S. Boring but necessary additional logistics:
1) Lifting - not sure if there was a better place, but PowerPit was recommended to me by a fellow expat, and it was pretty good. Prices and hours are online in Polish, use Google Translate's website translation if you don't read Polish: http://www.powerpit.pl/

2) Food/Alcohol - the Carrefour at Galeria Baltycka (sp) seemed to be the best. I lived near an Intermarche though. Piotr and Pawel is expensive (so I've been told). Bring bags, since they (like every grocery store in Europe I think) otherwise charges for them.

3) First Aid - grocery stores don't carry this. My guess is the aptekas (apothecaries, or drug stores) do, but I went to the Rossmann at Galeria Baltycka.

Other Notes:
1) Maybe I just can't see them, but I didn't notice any hordes of Spanish or Italian guys. I did see a British stag party though (imagine ten middle-aged guys with their shirts off, drunkenly doing a soccer chant). Perhaps the depressed Mediterranean economies are keeping guys from there at home.

zatara Wrote: Any thoughts on particular nightlife venues? Did you just barcrawl around the different bars on Monte Cassino Street?

For nightlife, I only did Czekolada (Chocolate) a few times. Like Roosh says, the girls are hot by Polish standards, but they're also bitchier too. Most of the time at night I simply did "gutter game" (daygame at night) on Monte Cassino Street.

Japan: Why You Can't Just Close The Borders to Legal Immigration

Some folks in the US argue that the country should close its borders, not only to illegal immigration, but to legal immigration as well. Regardless of where you fall on those issues though, I would suggest we look abroad to see the results of similar policies. In that light, I would argue that Japan offers a great example as to why closing the borders, without pursuing other conservative policies, does not work.

Let's take a look at Japan. Basically, while they have a conservative no-immigration policy, the rest of the government is fairly liberal: ridiculous amounts of debt relative to GDP, generous social welfare programs, especially for the elderly, and liberal attitudes towards premarital sex and working women.

What have these policies produced? Decades of economic stagnation, fueled by a declining population, resulting in reduced clout on the world stage, especially against competitors such as a rising China. In short, these policies have failed.

Now, let's take apart these policies.

Clearly, the spending needs to stop. Think about it as if you were a person who let their interest payments continually compound on each other. At some point, you're not even going to be able to make your interest payments. Lenders are then going to stop giving you money, since they'll realize that they'll never get it back.

That brings up the question of what to cut. The answer is obvious: the welfare programs that are not producing real and clear-cut economic value in the immediate moment. That means support for the elderly. Yes, as an Asian-American, I know about the Asian reverence for the elderly. However, that assumes that the elderly are wise, and not selfish parasites who would rather not sacrifice themselves for their own children, as has been done for generations. It sucks, but they need to at least pull their own weight, since there aren't enough children to do it for them.

But what if there were enough children to do it for them? Then those children could directly take care of their elders. But there won't be enough children if women are in the workforce, and men can get sex before marriage. If there's one thing you can always count on, it's for people - male and female - to embrace hedonism, once freed from any constraints on it.

In the past, the constraint on both sexes was society. For men, they could only get sex after marriage, so their powerful sexual drive ended up being channeled into becoming a productive father and member of society. For women, they could only get comfortable provisioning after marriage, so that powerful desire ended up being channeled into becoming a loving wife and mother.

Today, however, the following changes have happened:
1) Women are in the workforce, which frees them from the need to seek a provider, which leads to,
2) Premarital sex being accepted, resulting in the top 80% of women having sex with only the top 20% of men, which leads to,
3) The bottom 80% of men giving up and becoming celibate herbivores, contributing little to society, which leads to,
4) A declining birthrate and economy, which leads to,
5) Not enough children and resources to support an aging population.

Thus, the final piece in the puzzle of a declining Japan is to stop women from working, in exchange for men being stopped from having premarital sex. Add cutting spending on useless programs such as welfare for the elderly, and now you'll have a system where individuals have their own incentives to rebuild Japan. And you can still have your no-immigration policy, if you like. But whether that is good or not is another debate.

A Buddhist Monk on Modern Marriage

From "The Way to Social Harmony" by Venerable Pyinnyathiha:

"Nowadays wives as well as husbands have to work and earn money. They do not have to depend on their husband for money. Because of that they might think these principles are out of date and automatically lower themselves following the rule. If so, it proves that they cannot get rid of pride and cannot give real loving-kindness to their husbands. There is no reason for them not to fulfill the responsibilities if they really love their husbands. Wives should put the rules to the test. There will be no disadvantages by practicing the rule. When wives put the rules into practice, it is sure they will gain their husbands' affection and increasing loving care."

My Poland Relocation: The Finale - I Decide to Check Out Ukraine

Post 1:
Call this premature after only 9 days, but I'm going to take stock of whether I want to stay in Poland or explore further east.

Pros of Poland:
1) Living here is easy yet cheap. English is widely spoken, and you can find most Western amenities with little to no extra trouble, and usually for less, by Western standards.
2) Girls are definitely a step up from the West - almost all of them are at least cute and pleasant to talk to by Western standards.
3) The Polish visa loophole for Americans makes staying here easy and uncommitted (though I have yet to test it out myself).
4) The Western expats I've met here and PM'd with on the forum seem cool.

Cons of Poland:
1) Are the girls the fabled FSU wife material? No, this isn't the FSU.
2) Will Poland and its women become Westernized? Maybe. But it's obviously more likely to do so than the FSU countries.
3) Certain FSU regions (outside Moscow, such as Ukraine) are cheaper than Poland.

Nothing new above if you're read these forums and Roosh's work. So I see my choices as the following:

1) Stay in Poland, keep approaching, and work long and hard to build yourself up to "King of Warsaw" social circle status: http://www.rooshv.com/the-king-of-warsaw
2) Do the same, but in the FSU, and learn Russian (to eventually get access to the fabled FSU wife material).
3) Go back to the West. Lol! Just kidding. If every Western male was required to spend a few days in Poland, Colombia, or the Philippines (following Roosh's "go where you don't look like a local" advice), the West would more or less be empty of males overnight.

One thing's for sure - as Roosh has said, there really are no shortcuts to getting what you want. But some trade-offs are obviously better for some than for others. Could I have stayed in Atlanta and made more $? Absolutely, though I no longer needed it. And the trade-off, at least for me, was bad women who required a lot of work. And that was unacceptable for me.

You know what? I can only speculate and read about living in the FSU. I won't really know what it's like until I try. I can always come back to Poland like Roosh did. Better to find out now than to regret later. Call it a relatively quick comparison shop if you like. Who knows, maybe the trade-off of less comfort for better women will be acceptable to me in the FSU.

I'll still see Poland through the end of the month, but I'm going to start planning for the FSU now.

Post 2:
Just booked my FSU trip, preceded by a visit to relatives in the UK. Again, won't say where in the FSU until after the trip (or if I decide to stay put), except over PM to repped members. Let's see if I can handle the perceived negative of living there against the perceived positive of hot FSU wife material.

Post 3:
Thanks peterfoo22. I have considered Ukraine, and I might as well reveal that it's the FSU country I'm planning to go to mid-next month. Will reveal the city on PM only to repped members who ask, to prevent possible lurking haters from following me. As I mentioned before, if I want to stay in Ukraine, I'd consider teaching English to get a visa.

On that note, I think this thread has completed the purpose of its title. I can see that if I were to continue pro-actively posting to it, it would be more oriented towards location data-sheets rather than saving/investing/quitting/relocating. I think it'd be best if I posted those location data-sheets separately, adding to those that already exist. I also don't want to feed any narcissism in me, and become the social media attention-whore I despise.

That being said, if questions about saving/investing/quitting/relocating do pop up in replies below, or via PM, I'll gladly answer them.

My reply to another OP's thread asking how to save/invest/quit/relocate provides a great final summary to this thread, and is exactly what I intended: http://www.rooshvforum.com/thread-49034-...pid1064478

Finally, to answer the question, was it worth it for me? As you might guess from previous posts - hell yes. 

My Poland Relocation: The Game Posts

Post 1:
The cutely shy Polish girl flaked on our date today. Unfriend. Had a feeling it was coming - should've done flake defense ("I'll be 30 minutes late, is that ok?").

Also chatted up one of my other Tinder matches, but got a little too eager when asking her out. Should've offered her two different days as an option, and then radio-silenced if she continued to waffle. Radio silence from her now it seems. Will ping her Sunday evening just for the hell of it. But good in a way to see and report to you guys how much Beta behavior Polish girls will accept. My inadvertent 100% Beta clearly doesn't work!

Oh well. At the least, I'm still definitely getting more leads and more practice than I would've in Atlanta. I always knew I'd still have to put in the work here in Poland. But if girls' phones in Atlanta were like Las Vegas casinos (lights and sounds going off everywhere), mine by comparison was like the Las Vegas desert (look, a tumbleweed!).

Overall, guess I'm too eager to get results NOW since I just got to Poland. Gotta relax - got all the time and leads in the world.

Post 2: 
superschalk Wrote: Of course you can work hard in Poland but realistically getting something better than a 7 is almost impossible if you are not a local with some status.
Pokerbaby Wrote: It's very possible to get something hotter than a 7 in Poland, so long as you're a reasonably good looking foreigner with some game. By far the biggest obstacle I found is that the 8+ rated women usually don't speak any English making the approach nearly impossible. I got lucky and picked up an 8 on my first weekend out in Bialystock (well, she had an 8 face but a petite little body, still pretty good for no social circle and I can't speak Polish).

If I had to reconcile these two views with my own experience, I'd say (like Roosh says) that the city you choose in Poland matters. Bialystok (on the poorer side of Poland) will be different than Warsaw (the richer side of Poland). I'm in one of the richer parts of Poland, so that is probably dragging down my results.

In either case, I did some proper dance club nightgame last night with the guys I met last weekend. Nothing really came of it, though it was a learning experience. To my surprise, coming from the West, the girls usually at worst received me and my basic nightgame neutrally - dehumanizing blowouts were rare. It's almost like Roosh said years ago - being rejected by a Polish girl is better on average than passing the shit-tests of an American girl.

One thing about Polish club nightgame is that caveman dance game is the way to go. It's too loud in the clubs for verbal openers (save for the outside smoking areas - should've brought a lighter like Roosh suggested!). Caveman dance game, from my basic understanding, follows these steps:

1) Before you grab the girl, ensure your mindset - and thus your body language, posture, and frame - is confident alpha.
2) Approach her from the rear, like you're stalking unsuspecting prey. Approaching from the front will trigger the prey's defenses.
3) All in one swift motion: grab her shoulders, spin her around so she faces you, and then bring your hands behind her back so you can pull her close to your body.
4) Some girls will go along with it - grind them and have fun. Some girls will teasingly resist - do some playful push-pull then. Finally, some girls will obviously resist - drop these girls, though there's a case that pseudo-rape game would work (I didn't have the balls to try, though some other guys in the club came close).

It probably didn't help that my friends said there were like ten RSD guys in that club.

You can also combine the above with confidently aloof dancing, if the club is crowded enough. Basically, if you can channel a thugged-out black rapper into your dancing when rap is playing, like I started doing (even with a blazer on), here and there, girls will start dancing near you, possibly since Polish guys don't or can't channel thugged-out black rappers (or maybe I can because I lived in Atlanta). The girls' dancing may "happen" to make them touch you, or they may obviously look at you, but you'll probably get this vibe that they want you to open them. Once you realize this, snipe that shit and run caveman dance game. Like all sniper game, of course, it may take some time for the girls to approach you - and you're not in control of the quality that does, either. This may have also worked for me as I may have looked and acted like a dark and well-dressed Latino rapper / drug-lord (think a darker version of Pitbull with hair).

Post 3:
Did some daygame with the guys yesterday evening. An interesting thing happened:

I think I met a somewhat red-pill woman.

Now let's not get emotional about that. One date does not make for knowing someone. Heck, as is written on these forums, sometimes even a lifetime does not make for knowing someone (such as guys getting cuckolded for decades, or never knowing their LTR's sordid past).

With that out of the way, here's the breakdown: Central European on vacation, 30s (I know, flag), and feminine - long hair, high heels, and well-dressed, showing a slim figure. She was seated when I saw her, so I ran indirect day game to get the number (thanks again Roosh!). Ran textbook text game (wait/ping/acknowledge-stack/logistics probe/pull trigger) to get her out for drinks later that evening, expecting to have to go for the SDL, since she's only here for a week. Then run textbook first date game (public bar for the first venue with nice guy chat, sexual spike on the way to the more intimate second venue, then gradually escalate at the second venue to long kisses).

At the second venue though, she began talking about how girls from her country were becoming unfeminine ("I don't need a man," "Dressing like a 'lady' is stupid," and so forth). She also said it was not good that the men were being told to let the women lead in relationships. I definitely engaged her on this, and carefully contributed some of my thoughts and observations from the US.

To end the story, I escorted her back to where she was staying. Made out in front of her place before leaving. Should I have attempted to complete the SDL? With the degenerate Anglosphere tourist I mentioned earlier, that one didn't deserve any better, but with this one, I say let's find out. Proceed, but with caution. Don't count on her, and approach other girls, but don't count her out yet either.

P.S. To the last post: I know I need to bang her on the next date. Time to plan and scout for that, since I'm new here. 

 

 Post 4:

In other news, the "red-pill" Central European flaked. Sent a classic and unrelated ping text this morning to check her temperature, and no response. So I knew the chances of a flake just went up. I go anyway, since I figure I'll do some daygame if she flakes, and sure enough, she does. No warning, no nothing. Hours later, she texts something about being sick and forgetting; most importantly, no offer to make it better. Pretty sure she's leaving tomorrow, plus she's "sick," so no hope for even a hate bang either. Next. Kicking myself for not going for the SDDL (same day delay lay - meet her in the day, but too early for an SDL, so get the number and set something up for that evening).

To any "red-pill" ladies lurking on these forums: this is why we will assume you are not red-pill, no matter how much you say it to be so. We will judge you on your actions alone. The only excuse for flaking is something so dramatic that it's incapacitating. In the case of the woman above, clearly she wasn't incapacitated, so she gets next'ed. It's the same as not showing up for a job: do it unannounced, and don't be surprised if you're demoted or fired.

In either case, I took the negative energy from this experience and converted it into something positive: motivation to do daygame. Had a great set with a local Polish dancer - number-closed her. She was so hot that even the normally-timid Polish guys were verbally noticing her. Then, in the next set with a 7, my Yad-stop didn't even stop her. Talk about highs and lows!

One thing that might have helped me in the set with the Polish dancer was that I had my nice sunglasses on until she hooked. This may have helped the switch into rapport after I knew attraction was done.

One question that came to my head as I finished "venting" my energy through daygame was - how do I know when I've done too many approaches - that I'm coming across as a robot? I suppose if the girls react with a robotic no, I'll know I'm done. An interesting problem, since I've never had this much daytime to myself, and with nightgame, it's only on at certain hours and days. 

My Poland Relocation: Taxes & Withdrawals

Looked at taxes and withdrawals again this morning. Based on my research (mostly this Money Mustache post and its comments: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/11/1...your-401k/ ), my withdrawal plan is:

1) 72(t) Substantially Equal Periodic Payments (SEPP) using the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) Method - there are three methods the IRS allows for you to avoid the early withdrawal penalty, but I chose the RMD method, since it's the only one whose annual dollar amount is allowed to change (it must track your retirement account value, so in my mind it actually tracks inflation). With SEPP you only pay income taxes at the rate you're under when you withdraw (no early withdrawal penalties or capital gains taxes). IRS Source: http://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/Reti...Payments#7

2) Taxable accounts - no early withdrawal penalties, just capital gains taxes. Already paid income taxes at my working rate here though

3) Start Money Mustache's "Roth IRA Escape Hatch Loophole" in 2016, when I'm in a lower tax bracket, since I worked for the first half of 2015. That way, in 2021 (2016+5) I'll start to be able to get my 401k principal (not the gains) free of penalties and capital gains taxes (but not income taxes)

4) Traditional 401k / Roth 401k / Roth IRA withdrawals at 59.5+ (assuming the gov't doesn't push this back)

My Poland Relocation: No to Ski Instructing, Yes to Health Insurance

Did some research on ski instructing today. Probably going to pass on it - apparently it's either basically baby-sitting kids, or baby-sitting adults. Plus I'd rather be skiing and Gaming than teaching. To that end, I might look into skiing in Sochi (skiing + Russian women = win?).

Got international travel and health insurance with WorldNomads early this afternoon, after spending the morning researching and looking. As far as I understand, all long-term expats should get international travel and health insurance.

I went with WorldNomads instead of International SOS, Medex, or anything from insuremytrip.com because:

1) WorldNomads is a well-regarded brand (at the least, folks like Lonely Planet and Nomadic Matt are willing to advertise for them),
2) International SOS was more expensive and seems to be geared more towards serving companies and their expats, and
3) WorldNomads allowed me to buy even though I'm already abroad. International SOS says you must buy in advance, and while I might've been able to trick their website, I'm sure as an insurance company, they'd find a way to make that work against me in the event of a claim.

Cost was $1050 for 12 months.

averagebritguy Wrote: Sounds like a reasonable deal - I've never used them as they are always more expensive, and I get some euro health cover anyway. You get way you pay for I guess...skimping on insurance/health cover in a country with pretty poor general health services is never a good idea. One thing to keep in mind is, that with most policy's you have to pay with your own money and claim it back minus excess, so you'll need to keep a bit of money in the bank just in case. Any updates on how your settling in to your new home?

Yeah, unfortunately, as an American, our super-expensive medical system somehow doesn't cover us abroad. In fact, had I gone with Medex, which offers "outside the US only" plans as well, I would've paid half! But I decided to play it safe, at least off the bat.

Also, from what I've read, and from what little I've seen, Poland probably has reasonable health care. But, I'd rather not find out after, say, a drunk driver hits me while I'm walking. (Drunk driving is apparently higher here than the EU average, despite what I'm told is a zero tolerance policy).

Plus, if I go somewhere else, like Ukraine, which is more likely not to have decent healthcare, I'm still covered by the same policy. In fact, only Cuba isn't covered (North Korea, here I come! lol).

As for having cash on hand for upfront medical expenses, I'm good. I've always had a cash float in the bank for these kinds of things.

By settling into my new home, if you mean life ex-Game, then yes, the place is starting to feel more like home. Will probably go sign up at the gym tomorrow and resume lifting.

But, if you mean life + Game, then this place is definitely better than home. Ran some daygame this afternoon and, among other highlights, almost same-day-laid an Anglosphere tourist (pretty, but 30s, & definitely not wife material). Ran into LMR for a variety of reasons, most of which should've been under my control, but definitely a good learning experience. Also had fun Facebook-closing a cutely shy Polish girl wearing some nice make-up. Fourthly, I saw the crazy RSD guy from the weekend leaving - but he was approaching 3+ sets, even with his bags in tow! Finally, one of my Tinder leads seems to be in the early stages of panning out - at the least, I'm definitely passing The Jumbotron test (she's texting more than me), so now I've got her on WhatsApp.

It may also help - and may also be getting me more matches - now that I've switched my main Tinder pic back to a well-shot photo of me doing one of my favorite - and exciting - hobbies. I've also changed up the photos so some of them have returned to show me with friends and having fun, but mixed in with the professionally shot (but just me) photos I paid for.

Brodiaga Wrote: Im not an expert, but AFAIK expat US citizens don't have to buy health insurance in the US
CleanSlate Wrote: So as long as they stay off of US soil for at least 330 days of the year, right?

Good question. Short answer is yes, from: https://www.healthcare.gov/exemptions-to...zen-abroad

My Poland Relocation: 1st Time Running Game Here

Ended up running some daygame yesterday after running into a few guys who were obviously doing it. No number closes, but that may have been due to an event going on in town that was drawing Poles from around the country. Lots of cute or hot targets to approach, relative to Atlanta, but obviously more pairs of girls or more, rather than single girls, due to the event.

One of the daygamers had been here for a while and knew some Polish, but obviously wasn't Polish, so that usually helped him hook the girls into the set - though he still had to work to move the set forward. That being said, no number closes for him either, other than the one I saw before I met him. Meh, chalk it up to the event or bad luck, and move forward. It almost goes without saying that he was doing better here in Poland than he would in the Anglosphere.

In the evening, the event also seemed to draw a Polish PUA bootcamp, as well as a skinny, odd-looking, and badly-dressed RSD student running crazy approaches. It'll be interesting to see this place without said event going on.

The event aside, the Polish girls were still as is generally written about on these forums - cute to hot by American standards, and pleasant. English levels are generally good, though here and there you'll find girls who don't speak it, or at least say they don't.

Also a word on apps: while Tinder seems fine, and Hinge isn't available here, Happn seems to be mostly careerists, and, unsurprisingly, has yielded no matches.

My Poland Relocation: Polish SIM Card & US VoIP Service

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I bought a new dual-SIM GSM phone back in the US for my use here in Poland. Before I left, I took my crappy work phone's US SIM card and set it up on this phone (which involved a phone call to AT&T). It'll probably work for at least two weeks, which is likely when my large but disorganized former employer will automatically deactivate their SIM. But hey, they're automatically paying for it too - and they've paid for my international use in the past without question.

With that likely two-week deadline in mind though, today I began my hunt for a Polish SIM card. Even if my former employer never deactivates their SIM, which is possible, I'd still want a Polish SIM, so that I can show girls a local Polish number. Two sites were quite useful:

http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Poland

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/p...one-europe

(Both sites may also be useful for other countries.)

Based on these sites, I decided to go with Lycamobile. Here's why:
1) Cheap data rates in Poland
2) Uses the Plus network in Poland, which is supposedly the best, according to the first site (supported by the fact that my work SIM automatically chose Plus to roam on)
3) Free SIM in any size sent to a Polish address by ordering online
4) Online account management in English (yeah, bad for learning Polish, but want to hit or beat that likely two-week deadline)
5) Many agencies (resellers) around the country
6) Ability to roam/transfer to select other countries, mostly in Europe
7) Valid for 6 months without recharge (most were only 30 days)

If the SIM doesn't arrive within a week, or if my work SIM gets shut off before that, I can just head to their nearest agent (likely a convenience store).

As for transferring my US # to a VoIP service (no sense paying for US cell service if you aren't in their coverage), I'm going with RingTo. Their number porting service is fast and free (I submitted my request a few hours ago and just got an e-mail saying the transfer will happen at a certain time on July 6). That contrasts to Google Voice ($20 to port in) and Talkatone (seems you must e-mail to port your number). Reason for keeping my US #? To keep it active, and to also be able to send/receive calls/texts for free with family/friends in the US (though apps like Facebook Messenger pretty much do this anyway).

My Poland Relocation: What to Do in Poland?

superschalk Wrote: Hey 262. Following your journey with great interest. I wish you good luck and hopefully you enjoy the country. As I understand you can survive on passive income. Do you have any ideas on how you will spend your time in Poland? I mean going to the gym and dating girls is great but this will not fill up the whole day. Are you planning to go out 4-5 times a week? If yes then you might sleep during the day but if not any ideas on how to spend your days?

Thanks superschalk. Aside from posting/reading the manosphere (used many a work hour doing this), lifting, dating, and sharing my experiences with my friends and family over social media (albeit for a blue-pill audience), my thoughts are:

1) Read more about Buddhism (guess I'm finding my parents' religion in the dotage of early my 30s, lol)
2) Figure out how to become a ski instructor, mostly just for fun, with some money on the side (I raced in college and actually passed through your Sofia for a day to check the place out - your post was useful)
3) Learn a certain sport I can only do in a few locations in Europe (again, repped members, PM me for details)
4) Look into offering personal finance or resume consultations, again, mostly just for fun, with some $ on the side
5) Learn to play guitar. Maybe join a band. I also play the violin well (typical Asian upbringing), so maybe join a quartet or orchestra.

And most importantly,
6) Think about other things to put on the bucket list (when I was working and blue-pill, I didn't even bother creating one, since I didn't even have time to create one, never mind do anything off of it)

Mr. Money Mustache also has some great posts about this subject:
"Great News – Early Retirement Doesn’t Mean You’ll Stop Working": http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2015/04/1...p-working/
"Reader Story: The Man Who Thought Early Retirement Sucked": http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/03/2...nt-sucked/

Update:
7) Learn another language (Polish while I'm here). 

My Poland Relocation: Now in Poland

Just got on the ground here in Poland late last night. Right now, it just feels like I'm on one of my scout trips, where I'm here for a day or two at most, but that should fade quickly after a few days.

That being said, I connected through an airport that was quite familiar to me (let's just say it's in the US Midwest). I used to work in the area several years ago, so I flew out of that airport quite frequently, and have good memories with family and friends there. So being at that airport yesterday made me realize that I'd now be seeing my friends and family less, which is obviously a bummer. But then I remember my low-ROI dating experience in Atlanta, which is even more of a bummer, so I'm hopeful this is the right choice.

Here in Poland, I went grocery shopping earlier this afternoon (I slept for like ten hours straight), and got the usual IOIs/stares without trying to force them. In Atlanta, my grocery bill for four days' worth of food is usually $60 (I eat a bodybuilding diet, which is more expensive). Here, it was $15! And that was at the nearby market, never mind at something like a Carrefour (as I understand, basically Walmart from the UK). No ground beef at the nearby market though, which was weird. So I subbed it with sausage.

Prior to coming to Poland, for a few days, I had to put my already meager pipelining efforts on the back burner, just to complete my move out of Atlanta on time. Shit always takes longer than you think. But damn if I was going to spend any more time in the Anglosphere than I had to. But now at least, I get to truly follow up on those leads - plus generate new ones through daygame, as well as online.

So what's next? Let's see:
1) Move clothes, etc from luggage to closets, so shit ain't all over the place, and so girls think I live here (usually when I travel, I keep everything out in the open, and not in closets/drawers/etc, so I don't forget things)
2) Consider attending the Roosh World tour in London and/or meeting 20Nation in Tallinn
3) Look into travel/health insurance
4) Look into the personal finance stuff I've been too busy to look at
5) Find a gym
6) Scout the area for logistics
7) Game

P.S. One helpful item I brought from the US is a power strip. That way, you can put any adapter on the end of the power strip, and have multiple US power outlets for your electronics, etc.

Update: I decided not to attend the Roosh tour in London or meet 20Nation in Tallinn. I figure I'll just meet them when it's more convenient/cheaper - no rush.

My Poland Relocation: Investing, MMM Style

CleanSlate Wrote: Quick question... (maybe we should PM about this instead of going public) When you talk about living off the monthly interest off that $450k, where do you keep that money? In taxable/savings accounts or in retirement accounts? IRA? Brokerage?

Nothing to hide below, should help the forum:

In an ideal situation, I believe you'd stick the entire $450k in two places: a traditional 401k (if you have one, and it has competitive expense ratios for its S&P 500 & ex-US index funds), and a traditional IRA (which you're free to get anywhere).

The idea is that if you're taking less interest income in retirement (just to cover your lower expenses abroad), then you'd rather be taxed at that rate (which may in fact be zero or close to it), rather than the (presumably) higher one you're taxed at when you're working.

Of course, the 401k and IRA have limits as to what you can contribute annually (Google them), so then you can contribute to an after-tax account (if you're out of other tax shelters, ie an HSA, etc). Your employer may offer an after-tax 401, which you may want to use, if the expense ratios of the index funds in it are lower than what you can get on your own. Otherwise, at that point, you're looking at taxable investments.

It bears repeating that for the $450k sum to generate $1500/mo on average, you must invest in something that has historically generated 6% nominal returns. Index funds that track the S&P 500 and its ex-US equivalent are one of them. Savings accounts (in the US anyway) are not.

 CleanSlate Wrote: Okay, I was asking for a reason. How do you actually get $1500 a month in spending money from those retirement vehicles without paying taxes or penalties? Did you use the backdoor method where, for example, you contribute to a traditional IRA every month and immediately transfer that money to a Roth, and then take that money out starting after 5 years? Or do you have some other method? I just want to learn the mechanics.

Man, been busy moving out of my current apartment. Anyway, to answer your question:

First, check out Mr. Money Mustache's post on taxes and withdrawals: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/06/0...etirement/
Here's the TL;DR (quoting myself):

Quote:In short, once I quit my job, I'll be in a lower tax bracket, at which point I can convert traditional 401k money into Roth IRA money and pay the associated income taxes, then let it sit for the IRS-minimum 5 years before withdrawing the principal (but not the gains) penalty-free. So basically another thing to look at after I move, when I have more time.

At the onset anyway, I'll withdraw the money from non-retirement brokerage accounts, which don't have penalties. (I built these up due to my savings rate exceeding the annual IRS limits on retirement accounts.)

My Poland Relocation: Pipelining, Moving, & MMM

1) A theory about cross-continent pipelining, albeit based on an initial and relatively quick sample: if, due to timezones, you're too busy at work to chat up your Tinder leads (or too busy at work posting to forums), don't chat them up in the first place. Just leave them matched and don't chat with them.

I think I made the mistake of opening a few that didn't obviously speak English with "Do you speak English?", only to likely come off as too aloof for Poland when I took about a day to even look back, when they responded in an hour or so.

This theory may be supported by Roosh's post about how not all women of the world want an Alpha male - just what passes for women in the Anglosphere: http://www.rooshv.com/not-all-women-of-t...alpha-male

2) As we all know, moving is a pain in the ass. Better to start preparing for it sooner than later. In that regard, for those of you contemplating going abroad, one idea you can do right now is this: sell your extra stuff as if a month from now, your life had to fit in whatever you'd take abroad (likely two checked bags, a carry-on, and a laptop bag). That way, you'll have plenty of time to get the most money for your stuff.

3) More people than I realized are at least on the Money Mustache track, secretly of course (as opposed to the red-pill track - I only know one person not from the forum who reads these forums). The Money Mustache people asked me how I could afford this, in a polite way, and when I dropped the Money Mustache name, it's like when red-pillers discover someone else they already know is also secretly red-pill.

My Poland Relocation: Sweet Vengeance

Here's an accidental example of how telling people your relocation plan can be sweet vengeance, especially if you're a minority-American:

So a few weeks ago, I went out with a buddy and his girlfriend to meet another another couple we knew - a short but busty Vietnamese-American girl and her cool and ripped white boyfriend. I'm just chillin, observing, drinking my beer, and not saying much, so my buddy decides to get me involved, and lets slip that I'm retiring to Poland - not that I mind, since I'm ready for the usual questions after earlier bombardments by family and friends. Among them though, the Vietnamese-American girl asks me a new one:

"Why not Vietnam?"

Without thinking, I'm pretty sure I said something along the likes of, "I think I'll like Polish girls more," and instantly, her face goes a little sad. The conversation then resumed without skipping a beat to something related but different, but looking back at it, I realized what happened.

For possibly the first time in her life, she probably felt, by association with her Vietnamese heritage, for a brief moment at least, what most minority-American males feel for their entire lives - being passed on by some just for their race.

What's also ironic is that the same girl has said in the past that she doesn't like Asian males. But she's still curious as to why, as an Asian-American male, I didn't choose Asian females off the bat. lol

I know vengeance is ultimately a negative and self-destructive emotion, but this accidental example of it sure felt good.

My Poland Relocation: I Quit My Job

Just gave my two-week notice at the office. As planned, I only told them I was going to travel the world. Even with that, and omitting the retirement part, my boss and his boss's reactions were the same. First, "wow," then, "I wish I could do that." Then a few questions I'm well-prepared for after already dropping both the retirement and traveling bombs on my friends and family nearly a year ago - "how will you pay for it?" and so forth.

My boss's boss might even be a a bit neomasculine - when I responded to him about where I was first going (Poland), he asked why, so I responded in a blue-pill way, but he added, "and prettier women." I couldn't help but smirk at that. But maybe I shouldn't be surprised he's somewhat neomasculine - he's married to a Latin American woman, and he's so sharp with people that he and his group (including myself) are given a bit more slack than the groups we sit next to.

It also helps that I've done a good enough job that he (my boss's boss) even said, "we'd be glad to have you back." While that's reassuring, I'm still going to plan as if that weren't an option, since it may in fact turn out not to be, if and when I call on it. But I'm glad I didn't burn this bridge. That being said, I also remember in history that when Cortez came to the New World, he burned his ships, to force everyone to make it there. But I think I'll be disciplined enough not to need to do the same.

Overall, it feels like electricity is flowing through me - excitement and apprehension at the same time. This is either going to be the smartest thing I've done, or the dumbest. But fortune favors the bold. Plus, like many of you, I also feel like I have nothing to lose; the return on my five-year investment into dating here (first blue-pill then red-pill) has been well short of it being worth it, especially looking at the long run. But let's see if that investment pays off in another market.

My Poland Relocation: What To Expect from Family & Friends, & What I'll Tell Work

My strategy for telling my close friends and family about my plan to move abroad was to warn them about a year in advance. The idea was to give them time to accept the idea, knowing that some might never accept it. Overall, I think this strategy was better than telling them at the last minute, since I'm imagining some of them panicking in that scenario, and possibly acting to prevent me from carrying out my plan. Time will tell to see if they do this still.

Like Roosh, my mom is having the hardest time with my plan. She obviously wants me to stay in the US, likely because she sees herself - and thus me - as a beneficiary of the (increasingly) liberal and (formerly) prosperous US culture, over her former, more conservative and (formerly) less properous Asian culture. Thanks to Roosh, I can expect my mom to also figure I'll just come back in a few months or years, in spite of any evidence to the contrary.

My dad is neutral on my plan. Unlike my mom, he's the one who took the big risk coming to the US, obviously before the days of the Internet and relatively inexpensive plane tickets (so all he basically knew was that it was a rich white country that hopefully wouldn't lynch him if he was careful). His family was neutral to unsupportive of him coming to the US, because in their eyes, things weren't that bad in their country. His foresight about how over-competitive his country was to become from a job perspective ended up benefiting those family members who had been neutral to unsupportive of his move in the past, since he was able to help them come to the US a decade or so later. I think he understands that since he hasn't had my experience in today's world, he can't say whether the move is good or not. But if there's one thing that I learned from his experience, it's that it can pay to be an early-mover if you're convinced of a foresight (in my case, the foresight that the US is going to become over-competitive from a sex perspective).

Oddly enough, my married male friends are supportive of my move, while my single male friends are neutral, at best. It may be that my married male friends want to live vicariously through me, but it may also be their way of warning me away from the trap that caught them. My single male friends say I'm throwing away a great lifestyle, but I figure they're simply ego-invested in the US ("All my dating work for scraps at best? It can't be! They promised!").

What's even odder is that my single female friends (who I rarely hang out with though) are supportive of my move. I guess since we don't want to bang, they can freely admit that women have the upper hand to men when it comes to banging, relative to other countries. They seem to admit this the way that Sheryl Sandberg openly admits to hypergamy (bang alphas when young, extract resources from betas when old). In both cases, it seems they figure that enough males will go along with the program anyway, even in the face of these traditionally unfavorable admissions.

Obviously I haven't told anyone I directly work with, since they don't need to know anyway. I'll just give them the standard two weeks notice and say I'm taking time off to travel the world. That's an easy "lie" to maintain since it's close to the truth. But I'll definitely not reveal any neomasculine truths. I won't have anything to lose, but I can't be bothered with the hassles, and I'll leave the neomasculine conversions where they lie best - when the students seek the teachers.

My Poland Relocation: Clothing & Electronics

Thanks to the cost-of-living website numbeo.com, one can see that certain items are more expensive abroad than they are in the US. This includes clothing and electronics. So I figure best to buy those before I leave, though what I buy has to go further, since I want to travel as light as possible - preferably only two checked bags, a carry-on, and a laptop backpack.

Clothing:
After reading the book, "Details Men's Style Manual" ( http://www.amazon.com/Details-Mens-Style...159240328X ) (not a plug, let's just say nobody has to pay for it), I've rebuilt my wardrobe to be as interchangeable as fashionably and practically possible. Some key items (note that these aren't all of them):

- Two pairs of no-pleat regular cut grey slacks, with about a week's worth of matching grey socks. The book calls grey slacks "the Swiss Army knife of pants", and indeed, I've worn them dressed-up AND dressed-down.

- Four short-sleeved collared shirts of varying colors. Worn alone in the summer and under one of two grey collarless sweaters in the winter.

- One pair of no-pleat regular cut khaki shorts. I generally don't like wearing shorts unless it's quite hot and/or humid, and I don't expect to wear them that often in Poland.

- Bogs chuka boots. I basically destroyed a pair of loafers in a previous winter trip to EE because it was too damp for them. These chukas are supposedly waterproof, but leather, so it won't look like I'm wearing women's rain boots or men's fly-fishing boots.

Electronics:
For $190 I got a factory-unlocked dual-sim Moto G (2nd gen). I have a CDMA carrier (Verizon or Sprint) here in the States, so my current phone won't work abroad (I used an all-expenses paid GSM phone from work in my previous travels). No 4G LTE on the Moto G, but 4G LTE bands vary by country - likely as a way by carriers to keep prices different between different countries.

More expensive phones such as the iPhone 6 are near-universal in 4G LTE band support, but quite frankly, the only reason I have 4G LTE here in the States is because I tether off of a $55/mo grandfathered unlimited data plan (so I can't remember the last time I dealt with the likes of a Comcast for Internet or TV). In Poland I expect to get a local SIM (and thus a local number) and pay per GB of mobile data, so most of my Internet use will be over WiFi. The extra sim slot may be useful for further travels.

The laptop I'm typing this on is pretty old, but since my most intense usage is merely YouTube, I have no plans to upgrade. Reformatting it recently has reversed the steady decline in performance. It also already has an HDMI out, so I'm actually typing this on my 40" LCD from my couch using my bluetooth keyboard and mouse (which use rechargeable AA batteries). The nice speakers I have are too bulky to come with me, but they will be replaced with my small portable bluetooth speaker (which actually sounds great, but obviously not as good). The laptop will also be used to keylog girls (see 20Nation's post as to why you should do this: http://www.rooshvforum.com/thread-29794.html ).

My Poland Relocation: Why Poland?

1) In my travels to EE, SA, and SEA, I've generally found Roosh's tip about going where you don't look like the local guys to be true ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvAqsegHtec ). While SA and SEA aren't impossible for me (ie, Filipinas still look at me because I'm taller and more muscular than the average Filipino [which isn't saying much]), I, as someone who Mexicans in the US think is Mexican, definitely stand out, and get more looks, in blonder countries such as Poland.

2) One important clarification about Roosh's tip is to find out if the category of "local guy" includes foreigners who have settled or frequent the area and look like you. This contributes to second-tier cities sometimes being better than their larger competitors, since foreigners tend to be in larger cities. However, if a country is too small, its second-tier cities may not have enough girls to support your Game. Poland seems large enough that its second-tier cities won't be too small. In contrast, Talinn, Estonia's capital, is already fairly small, and even though it may be blonder than Poland, I definitely got fewer looks, likely as a result of what I observed as a higher foreigner presence there, versus Poland's second-tier cities.

3) Cost. While Scandinavia is supposed to be even blonder than Poland, the cost, even in second-tier cities there, is much higher than in Poland - and sometimes higher than even major cities in the US. Never mind Scandinavian feminism (or feminism in Western Europe, for that matter, which is more expensive than the US, never mind EE).

4) Language, amenities, and political stability. While Kiev has more feminine girls than Poland, I need time to actually learn Russian by taking trips to Ukraine. Until then, I also need to ease into living in EE (gyms, etc.), as opposed to visiting it. Also, while it seemed like business as usual when I visited Kiev after the coup, in light of my inexperience living outside the US, I believe it is prudent to gain experience in Poland.

My Poland Relocation: Banking, credit, mail, and visa.

Banking:
I have a Charles Schwab banking account, and it's served me well in my overseas travels, including my scouting visits to Eastern Europe. Here's why you may want to consider it:
- ATM fees reimbursed WORLD-WIDE AUTOMATICALLY (none of that "sending in ATM receipts" nonsense)
- Exchange rates that are obviously better than money changers, and (according to reviews on the web) some of the best compared to other US banks (no separate foreign exchange fee either, just a rate slightly higher than fair market)
- Some of the best interest rates, at least for a US checking account ... might as well get something for parking your most liquid cash somewhere
- The above being said though, I know most of my purchases will be on credit (get those rewards!). So ...

Credit:
I currently have a Capital One No Hassle Rewards Mastercard.
- I have it set to automatically credit my statement $25 once enough 1% cash back is generated.
- No chip, but I didn't have problems swiping in Europe.
- The exchange rates are obviously better than those offered by the merchants (they prompt if you want to be billed in USD or local currency). No separate foreign transaction fees. Not sure how the exchange rates compared to those of other cards though (should look into this)

Mail:
(There are great Flyertalk threads about this)
For tax location purposes as well as scanning and/or forwarding important documents (tax forms, passport renewals, etc.), I'll probably go with the official-sounding but actually just-a-company-called US Global Mail. Why?
- Real Houston, Texas address (not a PO box) - both being important for tax purposes, with the not-a-PO-box also being important for receiving shipments from FedEx, etc. (some companies even with addresses will only accept USPS, not FedEx, etc.)
- No charging for disposal (ie junk mail) - other companies' plans that charged for disposal weren't clear about how much that would cost (so I just assumed it was high)
- Cheaper and more transparent shipping options (some companies that look cheap make their money on "shipping", so you need to look at those rates, as well as the monthly rates)

Visa:
As a US citizen, off the bat at least, I plan on using the Poland loophole (h/t to Roosh, jasond, and countless others at http://www.rooshvforum.com/thread-31412.html ). So for crossing the Atlantic I'll connect outside Schengen (likely UK). Border runs to reset the 90-day tourist clock. I may look at other options such as student visas if my plan goes well.

Update on the above: according to a few web sources, Schwab and Capital One indeed are the best US institutions for overseas personal finance. I should add that Schwab's ATM reimbursement is unlimited (so no watching your number of transactions). Sources:

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-n...s-1433.php

http://thepointsguy.com/2014/02/the-top-...-atm-fees/

http://www.fodors.com/news/story_5428.html

I may look at this again out of boredom when I move, but for now it seems what I have is among the best.

Also an update on taxes for part 1: I may also consider the "Roth IRA escape hatch":
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/11/1...your-401k/
In short, once I quit my job, I'll be in a lower tax bracket, at which point I can convert traditional 401k money into Roth IRA money and pay the associated income taxes, then let it sit for the IRS-minimum 5 years before withdrawing the principal (but not the gains) penalty-free. So basically another thing to look at after I move, when I have more time.

Update 2:
Minor update for those interested in the mail scanning service I mentioned: it's slightly advantageous to sign up before going abroad. The reason is that the USPS apparently requires the mail scanning service to have a physical copy of the USPS form (#1583 I believe, usually provided by the mail scanning service) that authorizes the mail scanning service to receive your USPS mail. Likely not too much of an issue mailing this form to the scanning service from abroad, but quite easy in the US.

Also a minor update on my move to becoming a Texas "resident." With the address from the mail scanning service, I don't anticipate any problems claiming Texas residency come tax time. I don't see a need to getting a Texas drivers license or resident ID, but I may look into this more. The reason I don't anticipate any problems is because I know people who claim "residency" in one state, but actually live and work in others.