Views in verse on 'my new offshore home'

Pssst don't tell anybody...

but the word is getting out that

Retiring Aussies are leaving by their thousands

to attractive places all around South East Asia to live

...and taking their pensions with them

And who can blame them?




Sydney (where I live) is now the fifth most expensive place to live in the world and to anyone that lives here, this is no secret. $100 plus for a taxi ride across town, $50 an hour to park your car in the city. Weekly food bills through the roof... power bills!!! Rent !!!!!! And all we seem to hear to complement this is ...more public sector cuts to services to come.

Well it seems that some of us are a little smarter than others and are starting to 'think with their feet' according to a number of news stories this week. Stories on 'Baby Boomers -moving offshore' into entirely desirable destinations. Thailand was extremely popular in having a much lower cost of living also they claim. Getting a lot more 'bang for the buck' for their pensions. 

Apparently Thailand is inward processing >$2 million per day ex Australia into the pockets of thrifty ex pats. One couple I saw interviewed on television claimed the cost of living to be only 25% of what it was in Australia. They also claimed a near parity in services received!

Big decisions just the same. But who can challenge this as a worthy solution to people now free to make a few selfish decisions.

Why the hell not?



The island

Take me off to an island
Where I can live the rest of my life
No kids, no grand kids nor crusty old mates
Just the pension, me and the wife

The time has come to dump the expense
of living in olde Sydney town
The food, the rent, the parking
Twice the price of elsewhere around

The experts say 'Penang'
From a survey of all of the field
They've weighed it up from all the angles
There's no better place they feel

There's the 'my second home' visa
The Malays have cleverly crafted
Get a nice place among ex-pats
I should really get this thing started

Great food, resorts and beaches
First founded way back by the Brits 

friendly people too I'm told
We must consider this...

The only thing that's got me stumped
As I fashion this getaway plan
Is how well I could support my teams
From this remote far off land

I'd miss my Swans, my troubled Eels
And the wobbly Wallabies
And catching the Aussie cricketers
Is just mandatory to me

Can't miss my 'Tahs
Now they're on top
I watch the young Socceroos
But as I weigh this up
over many months
I'm now ready to choose

It's often said
there's a placebo
In every difficult choice...
I mentioned it casually to my wife...
Dashed...
Without even raising a voice


Sent from my iPhone

On forests and folly...

Views in Verse - on 'spirit of adventure'.  


The 1890's in Australia were tough times indeed.


Sydney town in particular had developed into a city without plan or sanitation - rats ran amok - work was scarce - disease was rampant. After several years of public outcry, up to a thousand young Australians packed up what they had and migrated to live in the forests of Paraguay. Although quite large scale it did fail (and quite soon! ...after some 3 years)

However, a few families who persevered ...still live there today!

Whatever happened to this grass roots Aussie sense of adventure ...is it still alive today? Perhaps...

 

Escape to Paraguay

The last of the leaves
are now falling
A cold winter coming our way
The days too are
getting much shorter
A chill wind blows hard down the lane
Another bad day at the office
My best efforts going astray
Can I just suspend all reason?
...escape to Paraguay?

The train travel goes as expected
Jam packed and running late
Once home I'm pained by the sight of
the landlord
Leaning across of 'his' gate
I suffer a self-serving sermon
Of finance in deep disarray
Where can I go to find refuge...?
...escape to Paraguay?

My wife is busy with dinner
Kids screaming ...the TV loud
We kiss ...she says to me smiling
"How can you come home to this crowd?"
"I just saw the grim reaper at you"
"...I paid them early today"
What makes people go and
behave this way?
Can we ...escape to Paraguay?

The bank's taken leave
Of their senses
They give ...then they just take away
Call to 'explain' far too often
Who cares what they
'don't' have to say?
Sometimes it wells up inside you
Twisting your head every way
Today my thoughts turned to folly...
The Forests of Paraguay


forwarded from my I phone - Grahame J Flynn