| Perpetual Traveler
Does anyone know much about the Perpetual Traveler ("PT") concept, or know anyone who does it?
PT is a philosophy of how to live life, given the nature of current governments around the world. The idea is that most governments limit individual freedom, but do so in various ways. So, rather than banging your head against a wall in the voting process, you simply spend your time some place that already has laws you like (of course, you can do both -- vote in your homeland and live elsewhere until things change in the homeland).
A person who likes to smoke pot could live in New York, but risks going to jail if he has or smokes pot. So, instead, he could move to Aruba where it's legal. That's just an example. The idea is to seek the lifestyle you want instead of, or in addition to, trying to get the laws changed back home. You become a citizen of the world rather than only one place. By doing so, you gain freedom. You live your own brand of anarchy, in a sense, because you "vote" with your feet and money rather than a paper ballot box. You don't have to convince 50% of the voters to agree the laws should be changed. You just figure out how to enjoy the benefits of laws you like. It's not 100%, of course, but it's surprising how much freedom is really possible.
One of the big issues is taxes. For Americans, taxes are assessed worldwide. However, by living in Aruba, a person would not pay state income tax (if they set it up right). Also, if the person worked for a foreign company, then he can be exempt from paying US federal income tax on the first $80,000 of income (it's called the "Foreign Earned Income Exclusion").
So, there can be tax advantages. Aruba, though, has income tax -- but only if a person earns income there and/or lives there more than 6 months. So, PT's tend to live 6 months one place and 6 months somewhere else (no different than snowbirds who live in New York in the summer and Florida in the winter -- but it might be Aruba and Canada, or France and New Zealand).
The goal is maximum freedom. Live where the laws are already favorable, less taxation, less regulation, live in a climate you like, a culture you like, etc. Let the governments of the world compete for you. For example, non-Americans pay no US taxes on capital gains in the US stock markets because the US gov't competes for foreign dollars by exempting them from income taxes.
Anyway, it's an interesting idea, though not for everybody. Anybody have any knowledge or thoughts on it?
~ zynner |