atl_cracker

This lifestyle you want to achieve is actually a state of mind - not a destination - it exists in the USA or Thailand.

The caveat is that he achieved this understanding through traveling.

and it's not really something that one can just read from other(s), it has to be experienced. I think Pico Iyer describes this best:

We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves.   ...

We travel, then, in search of both self and anonymity — and, of course, in finding the one we apprehend the other. Abroad, we are wonderfully free of caste and job and standing; we are, as Hazlitt puts it, just the “gentlemen in the parlour,” and people cannot put a name or tag to us. And precisely because we are clarified in this way, and freed of inessential labels, we have the opportunity to come into contact with more essential parts of ourselves (which may begin to explain why we may feel most alive when far from home).

i second the Rio Dulce suggestion. cool little town with fantastic river/lake combo. ask around for the day-trip to a double waterfall, where two small rivers meet & then flow into the lake -- it's a long speedboat ride from RD but well worth the trouble.

i was there many years ago so idk if the lakeside hostel is still there, next to the bridge on other side of river from main town. funky little place, including covered dockside tables next to swimmable river/lake. ( i think at round that point it's more like an estuary.)

edited the waterfall trip details, to clarify

as i understand it: thought experiment in decision theory involving Ai torture of anyone who doesn't help the Ai takeover.

focus on cheaper countries and learn how to travel

great advice. i would add that, aside from the hostel work and other odd jobs around towns and villages, many travelers find work teaching English.

it's not for everyone but it can be surprisingly basic if you're friendly and easygoing.

more so in Southeast Asia than Latin America.

i fell into a job in Cambodia and did well with it once i saw my role as basically entertaining the students, getting them interested in the material provided.

in Mexico i asked around a bit, more out of curiousity than need, while still travelling. i heard the competition is tougher (maybe because of many U.S. expats), so pay is less and there are more hoops to jump thru.

How did you like Costa Rica?

i saw in one comment you called it little America. i'd like to hear more about your experiences with the people there.

i've been to every central american country except el salvador and nicaragua, and a few south american ones. CR is my least favorite, though i acknowledge that is partly my fault.. though i'd heard alot about it's westernization beforehand from guides and other travelers, i still hoped for a good mix. i didn't find it, and left in a hurry.

by contrast, Panama actually seemed more Americanized, but still better than CR. i realize i really only saw them through traveler/tourist eyes.