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I spend less than $200/month living in hostels in Guatemala, due to my lack of work. AMA.

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This is serious. I am in Guatemala, more or less broke, and living in hostels, while I work to build a new life here. I decided to leave the USA because I don’t see a future there for myself anymore. I am currently helping/rescuing street dogs on an individual basis and am flirting with starting a bona fide dog rescue operation here in Guatemala. AMA.

Comments

  1. Embarrassed-Wolf-609 Avatar
    Embarrassed-Wolf-609

    dog operations need food and vaccines and space. how you gonna do that without money?

  2. CreampieForMommie Avatar
    CreampieForMommie

    You’ll be back.

  3. Ok-Increase4018 Avatar
    Ok-Increase4018

    Why did you choose Guatemala to escape to?

    Ever stayed at the three monkeys hostel in Antigua?! I adored that place. You could watch fuego erupt in the distance from the rooftop.

  4. AmCrossing Avatar
    AmCrossing

    Sounds like cesear Milan when he came to the U.S. 

  5. secondplaceribbon Avatar
    secondplaceribbon

    hoping all the pessimists in this thread make you want to succeed more! there are infinite ways to live life. is there anything you’d change about your path so far?

  6. potsieharris Avatar
    potsieharris

    Have fun!

    Have you heard of the website workaway? You can get lodging in exchange for work. Many hostels are also always looking for travelers to work, and you can exchange work for lodging while making local connections. 

    As for your dog ambitions, are there any organizations doing this work already? I’d recommend finding people who are already doing that work and volunteering to help. You can learn a lot and make a difference. And then once you’ve learned what goes into an organization like that you’ll be much better equipped to start your own. Your ambitions admirable, but you’re aiming for quite a huge goal… Start smaller if you want to succeed.

    If you don’t already know, stay away from Guatemala city, it’s really dangerous, especially if you don’t know the city.

  7. Evidencebasedbro Avatar
    Evidencebasedbro

    Is Guatemala a safe place to travel? How safe is your phone and camera traveling about as a backpacker?

  8. AdObvious1695 Avatar
    AdObvious1695

    What do you do for food and other expenses? What’s the the entry visa situ like? Assuming you went down there and planned on staying and being broke etc.

  9. Turb0_Lag Avatar
    Turb0_Lag

    How did you immigrate if you have no resources? Are you on a tourist visa, in which case are you allowed to work even if you had it?

  10. No-Marsupial6836 Avatar
    No-Marsupial6836

    i gave u the rmote wfh job link last time i think. im also an expat in guatemala. checkout overpass.com

  11. Leading-Eye-2794 Avatar
    Leading-Eye-2794

    Women who do do

  12. Sad-Performance4123 Avatar
    Sad-Performance4123

    Good luck. I think you’re 🤔

  13. a808ymous Avatar
    a808ymous

    How much money do you have saved or running out?

  14. Bachelor4ever Avatar
    Bachelor4ever

    Could you do a breakdown of your expenses? I need your way of doing it haha

  15. ama_compiler_bot Avatar
    ama_compiler_bot

    Table of Questions and Answers. Original answer linked – Please upvote the original questions and answers. (I’m a bot.)

    Question Answer Link
    dog operations need food and vaccines and space. how you gonna do that without money? I’ve begun to receive some small donations on social media to fund basic street dog outreach (i cook home cooked meals for dogs in my hostels, i’ve taken one to the free municpal spay/neuter clinic to get spayed, get a full blood panel,vaccinations etc. One of the dogs has become kind of known locally in Guatemala. Her name is Blanquita. I am going to create a children’s book series, “The adventures of Blanquita” or “Las Adventuras de Blanquita la Callejerita”, and all or the majority of those prospective profits would go towards street dog rescue work. I also might coordinate a lunch/dinner meetup here in Antigua where people can meet Blanquita, buy the book, get it “signed” (paw print), donate to the rescue work etc. Here
    Have fun! Have you heard of the website workaway? You can get lodging in exchange for work. Many hostels are also always looking for travelers to work, and you can exchange work for lodging while making local connections. As for your dog ambitions, are there any organizations doing this work already? I’d recommend finding people who are already doing that work and volunteering to help. You can learn a lot and make a difference. And then once you’ve learned what goes into an organization like that you’ll be much better equipped to start your own. Your ambitions admirable, but you’re aiming for quite a huge goal… Start smaller if you want to succeed. If you don’t already know, stay away from Guatemala city, it’s really dangerous, especially if you don’t know the city. Yes, I’ve heard of workaway but I’ve yet to check it out. The hostel that I’m at now might even turn into a volunteer thing, though that’s TBD. Regarding dog stuff, yes, I’ve made connections with many dog rescue folks here. One of my friends has successfully run a dog sanctuary on Lake Atitlan called Perros Libres. He has helped countless dogs over the years…at the moment he has almost 50 lol. It’s actually possibly a wonderful moment over their on the Lake at the moment, because a mutual friend of ours, Sahel, is also possibly about to get super involved in dog rescue. She’s worked with Aaron for a few months now, including rounding up a ton of street dogs for a spay/neuter clinic that they organized a bout a month or so ago. So yea, I’m definitely going to start small, case by case, and build from there. Regarding Guatemala City, I’m either proud or embarrassed to admit that I love the city and have spent a lot of time there lol. It’s a photographers dream, for one. Here
    Why did you choose Guatemala to escape to? Ever stayed at the three monkeys hostel in Antigua?! I adored that place. You could watch fuego erupt in the distance from the rooftop. I chose Guatemala because it’s considered a great country to learn spanish. The people generally speak clearly, slowly and without an overwhelming amound of local slang. Here
    How did you immigrate if you have no resources? Are you on a tourist visa, in which case are you allowed to work even if you had it? On a tourist visa and figuring it out. Apparently if you enroll in a Spanish school they’ll give you a student visa which allows you to work. That would potentially simplify my life in eliminating the need for visa runs. Regarding money, I don’t know man, rational responsible adults would not agree with how I’m living my life right now, but that’s okay. I’ve got a little bit of YouTube and TikTok money coming in, from what I would hope most people would describe as sincere/educational/positive content. Of course I’m also immature and goofy, I must admit Here
    Sounds like cesear Milan when he came to the U.S. I pray I’m 10% as successful as him. His vibes are top notch too! Here
    Is Guatemala a safe place to travel? How safe is your phone and camera traveling about as a backpacker? I’ve been safe, I’ve been assaulted & robbed, I’ve had it all lol. But hey I got phone back and am now prosecuting their asses, so at this point, even that is amusing and fun Here
    What do you do for food and other expenses? What’s the the entry visa situ like? Assuming you went down there and planned on staying and being broke etc. If you’re American you just show up, get an auto-90 day visa, then make a visa run of you want to stay longer. Or go offficial and get a long term visa. I came down her for a 2-3 week “exploratory” trip 4 months ago lol. I’m now shifting I’m into a more long term vision and will be approaching work/income life accordingly. Here
    Good luck. I think you’re 🤔 Thank you. Just trying to have fun and meaning. 🐶❤️🤙 Here
    How much money do you have saved or running out? If I admitted how much money I live on you’d have a heart attack. For all intents and purposes “broke” sincerely delivers the point. Here
    hoping all the pessimists in this thread make you want to succeed more! there are infinite ways to live life. is there anything you’d change about your path so far? There’s only a few that I see. And that’s okay, thanks to all of the kind people like you, I see that it’s not a personal indictment on me, but often more of a reflection of their own frustration with life. Which, as much as I don’t appreciate the negativity, I get… Here
    i gave u the rmote wfh job link last time i think. im also an expat in guatemala. checkout overpass.com Hey man, yea I think I remember. Honestly I think I was a little dejected when you mentioned most of the work was minimum wage. But I’ll take a closer look perhaps Here

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