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Social 333 Podcast
Military Veterans Living Their Best Life Aboard | John H. Davis #social333podcast #77
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- [00:01]
A
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- [01:28]
C
Hey, welcome to the Social 333 podcast. I'm your host, Chris Bentley. Today my guest is John Davis. John, welcome to the show.
- [01:35]
D
It's cool to be here with you, Chris.
- [01:36]
C
Awesome. Tell the audience a little bit about yourself and what you got going on.
- [01:40]
D
I am a combat veteran who moved outside the United States for a better quality life at a lower cost and I wanted to help other veterans because of what it did for my mental health. So I'm here today. Talk a little bit about moving abroad if it's right for you and the pros and cons.
- [01:56]
C
That's awesome. Where. Where did you serve and where did.
- [01:59]
D
You I grew up in the great state of Iowa and then I did two tours from the 101st Airborne, got on my hat here over to Afghanistan and I was hurt my second deployment. So I medically retired early, which means I get paid for the rest of my life enough to be poor in the United States or rich abroad. So that's one of the things I tell veterans is, you know, financial health is mental health and your environment also plays a lot into it. And when you see look around The United States right now, you can see, you know, your fair share of problems, stress and all that. And it's hard to thrive or heal in toxicity. I like to tell veterans that America was built for veterans to survive, not to heal. So a lot of veterans got out of the military and they feel like they're just surviving, surviving, surviving. And after you survive the military, sometimes you might want a little peace.
- [02:47]
C
Yeah. I've heard also that a lot of veterans, the care that they get at the VA is terrible.
- [02:54]
D
Right. I actually get better mental health and healthcare and everything outside the United States than inside the United States. So you can get top notch healthcare outside the United States. I'm talking everything you could ever want, English speaking doctors for like a thousand dollars a year. But because I medically retired from the military, if you're service connected, you can actually get free health care paid for by the VA outside the United States of America, which is with foreign doctors. So right now we have clinics for veterans, exclusive veteran clinics in the Dominican Republic, in Colombia and in Thailand that only treat American veterans. So the clinic that I go to in Medellin, Colombia, where I live, I get top notch healthcare with great English speaking staff and there's no wait times. And I'm the type of veteran where when I first got out of the military, I was struggling. I called the va, I had to wait over three weeks to even get seen, you know, when I was going through my darkest time when I was addicted to pills and drinking too much and all that. And I called the VA and they said, we'll wait, we can talk to you in three weeks. And I showed up in three weeks. That Dr. Wasn't even there that fucking day. So then when you come back from stuff like that and you move abroad and you get kind of space from, from that, we'll say that trauma or that PTSD or something like that, it can create a much more healing environment because people outside the United States are not as stressed as we are. So it's kind of surprising, like to come back here and the political toxicity, the high cost of living and all that stuff. So I like to tell veterans, hey, if you change your environment, you can change your life.
- [04:22]
C
That's really, really interesting. I'm going to get into that part here in a second. I know you got a couple books and the PTSD thing is something that I suffer from. And then I know some other veterans that suffer as well. And I also think that it's a lot of silence.
- [04:39]
D
Oh yeah.
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C
Or suffering in silence. They have an Issue.
- [04:44]
I worked with a lot of vets, not only at dea, but I also worked with them at Moneygram, Stuff like that. All intel nuts. They did time doing different deployments, but you could tell that when the lights were off and no one was there.
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It got pretty dark. Yeah, that's kind of how it was for me for a long, long time. And to not be able to speak to someone or.
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Have someone that cares.
- [05:23]
D
What helps you get out of it.
- [05:25]
C
I mean, you can never really fully get out of it, obviously. But.
- [05:30]
For me, it was.
- [05:36]
Knowing that people care. Because I'll fall into a rabbit hole where I'll just be like, nobody cares about me.
- [05:44]
D
I care about you.
- [05:47]
C
But it would just be like, nobody cares about me. I'm just. Woe is me. Yeah, life sucks.
- [05:53]
D
More and more isolated, more and more negative self talk.
- [05:55]
C
Yeah. And then before you know it, I'm like, oh, I got a crappy email. Oh, I'm gonna cry. Oh, like that didn't turn out. And then before you get into that, like you get into a pattern, right. Of like, well, like, I didn't really mess around with substance abuse, but you would get into a pattern of.
- [06:14]
You know, maybe I'll take this shot or maybe I gotta go take this pill before I go to this appointment or.
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Man, just all kinds of stuff, you know, like you could just.
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D
It's a huge pattern of negative self talk. And once you're inside that pattern, it's hard to kind of break free. And especially I talk to veterans because we have this tendency for, like dark humor, for heavy on sarcasm. You know, American society is incredibly sarcastic, and sometimes that's not the healthiest way to be. And then you get those thoughts run around your mind and it eventually affects your neural pathways. So. So what positive affirmations do. And I write them for the military community, for veterans, using military language, military creeds taken from all different types of military literature. So it's kind of language that veterans can connect with that's based on the creeds that we say, that's based on our values and all that stuff. So I wrote this book, 365 Days of Veteran Affirmations for a Year's worth of self growth for veterans. And every day has a different affirmation for, written specifically for the military community. And then it helps you kind of break free. And then you start starting your day with these affirmations. You start living these affirmations. And after a while, you know, the, the conversation you have in your, in your mind with yourself, that's what's going to create your outlook, that's what's going to create your world. So I think affirmations are kind of something we think of as like, oh, hippie dippy bullshit or whatever. Like it's like, oh, you know, kind of just smoke a mirrors or whatever. But when you change the things you say to yourself inside your own mind, it's gonna change your whole world. So I think I created this because I got into affirmations on.
- [07:56]
What a psychotherapist I was talking to was telling me about them. And I looked for veteran affirmations and they didn't exist. So I was like, okay, well this doesn't exist. So this is a lane where I can help my community. So I started writing the book, I started writing affirmations, I started texting affirmations to veterans, just spreading positivity. And when I started doing that, it made my own life better. Like it made, you know, I started research and doing all that. So I made a bunch of YouTube videos of veteran affirmations. Affirmations for everything from relationships to wealth building to things like that. Because that matters, right?
- [08:30]
C
I know that you've like actually got a bunch of different books that you published by yourself, which is really, really cool. I have four books, but I think you've outdone me. And the book that's 365, I just kind of looked through it. I thought that was a really cool book. Yeah, anything that you could do to like help somebody when they're down. I know I've interviewed a lot of people that are into Christian based groups and men's groups and stuff like that, which I think is really cool.
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D
Well, people that, people that identify as being religious and in the veteran community actually suffer less from ptsd. So anyone who identifies as being religious, you, you can look at the PTSD numbers and it's way less because they have a higher cause, something to believe in, a purpose beyond themselves.
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C
Grounding foundation.
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D
So veterans, I don't tell veterans, hey, go to church. But I'm saying that the statistics follow that veterans identify as religious, kill themselves less, are Medicaid less or alcoholics less, get divorced less and all those things. So God can be one pathway. But there are lots of different pathways for veterans to take from affirmations to spiritual journeys to whatever. But if you believe in something greater than yourself, it's going to have a positive effect. So that's good to hear about the Christian groups.
- [09:42]
C
So talk to me a little bit about what you got going on now. So you have veterans that are. I know you wrote a book about it too, Veterans in Paradise. So you have veterans that they got out, you know, they're making some money on from the government, maybe they got hurt, Purple Heart, something like that, right? And then.
- [10:04]
Or medically discharged, and then they're probably just sitting at home trying to figure out their life and they're like, okay, well, do I get a job? Do I not get a job? You know, like, when I do get a job, people treat me like trash, right? You know, unless you're like, got a particular skill.
- [10:22]
And then you're kind of flipping it all the way on the other side and being like, hey, look, just move somewhere else, right? Where the cost of living is a lot less. Enjoy yourself, go out on the beach, go find maybe a significant other. You're gonna get the same healthcare or better.
- [10:47]
Is that something that.
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You'Ve seen a lot of success with, where vets are just like, you know what, Eff it.
- [10:56]
D
Yeah, I'm gone. I first started living in the Dominican Republic when I got out of the military. And over 15,000American veterans currently live in the Dominican Republic. I remember going there on vacation and then kind of being like, well, I feel pretty good here. I feel peace, I'm sleeping better, my anxiety is lower, I'm eating healthier food, I'm outside in the sunshine more. So I basically canceled my return ticket and stayed. And then I found an apartment for $500 a month. I found a thriving veteran community. I found out how I could get healthcare and all those things. And the first kind of video I did about moving and living abroad was funny because it was me just on like a yacht with a bunch of pretty girls in the Dominican Republic, like, popping champagne, having a good time. And then other dudes I deployed with were like, what are you doing? I'm like, I live in Dominican Republic. And they're like, you can do that? I was like, yeah. Like, it's a much higher quality life at a much lower cost. And financial health is mental health. And when you're not constantly stressed about the bills like we are in the United States of America, you realize that there's other ways to look at life. People outside the United States are far less stressed. There's far more community, people are more religious, family matters also. You take into fact just how much stress there is everywhere in America. It kind of surrounds us that veterans are moving abroad and discovering this high quality life. So me and another veteran created our organization, Veterans in Paradise, which is the only global organization of Veterans that provides free information and resources for veterans who are interested in moving and living abroad. And a lot of it is regarding cost of living. I mean, that's a big thing in the United States because you can take $4,000 a month and make yourself a top 1% earner in a lot of different other countries, as opposed to United States where you have to make what, like 800,000 to be in the top 1%. So a lot of veterans are moving places like the Philippines or Thailand or Panama or Colombia or Dominican Republic and living these high quality lives, the kind of lives that veterans deserve when we get out but can't afford here in the United States of America. And then. But the big reason why I kind of got into it was mental health, because I think we kind of American has gotten so used to veteran suicide that it's just normalized. It's almost like Taylor Swift or baseball and veteran suicide, it's just a part of our culture so much. But when you change your environment, you can really change your life. And a fresh start is a beautiful thing. A lot of us need fresh starts. I mean, I got divorced, I was an alcoholic, I was addicted to the pills. I. I needed a fresh start. And it can be hard to change who you are in your current environment without the toxicity, without the past relationships, without the triggers, things like that. So then when veterans are moving abroad and getting to kind of like create a new version of themselves, it's really like a fucking beautiful thing. When I see veterans who are struggling in United States, struggling with relationships, struggling with finance, and then they move abroad and the same veteran is a totally new person in six months, lost weight, got healthy, less stress. So kind of being a part of that for so many veterans has been a big thing. And then the other half of what we do is give back to the local community. So right now we're organizing a Christmas toy drive for two different orphanages in Colombia. In Dominican Republic, we gave out 500 backpacks and computers last year. So a lot of the veterans really like being a part of something like that because we're creating a community of veterans supporting and helping each other, but then also giving back.
- [14:19]
C
Do you have to?
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Because I'm not enlightened enough. So do you have to go? Like, if I go decided I'm going to drop everything and live in Colombia or Thailand, right? Do I have to come back to the US For a certain amount of time before I have to go back? Can you get like, can you stay as a.
- [14:37]
D
So different countries, the different rules when the benefits of the Dominican Republic, why I stayed there for so long is you can just go there and stay as long as you want. You can go there and stay as long as you want. Then when you leave, you pay an exit fee, depending how long you stay. So if you go there and you stay a year straight, when you leave, you pay like $200 to the Dominican government. And because Dominican government knows when you're there, you're spending money, right? Some countries are a little more difficult. You need visas and due processes like that. But for Colombia, for example, where I'm at right now, if you make $1,000 a month of steady income through retirement or through online income or something like that, then you qualify for a visa there. So all you have to do is basically do some paperwork, prove you're not a criminal or whatever, show them you're making a thousand dollars a month, and they'll give you a visa to live there long term. So you kind of have to keep an eye on that type of stuff. It's kind of funny when Americans get deported, like Mexico will deport Americans if they stay too long or whatever. But a lot of countries, they'll work with you because they want your dollars and retirement income in there. So it's kind of following that rules. And then you, you know, you might have to come back to the States sometimes. Like, I'll come back, see my mother once a year or for certain things, you know. But for the most part, no, you know, a lot of veterans don't know that you can get your benefits abroad. Like, you can. That's why, like, if you're retired cop, if you're a firefighter, if you're retired, anything who gets a pension. A lot of feds move abroad, like FBI guys, DA guys, stuff like that, because you can take that same pension and live a great life. Like in Dominican Republic, it's a ton of New York cops. Because if you retire as a New York cop, you're going to get 100 grand a year. You do 20 year, 20, 25 years, you get 100 grand a year. Then you move to the Dominican Republic and all of a sudden you live like a king, you know, as opposed to New York, where you're going to be broke, depressed, sad, and people are yelling at each other all the time.
- [16:22]
C
I'm super. Is there a lot of, like, family communities as well?
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D
Yeah.
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C
Really?
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D
So in one of the things that you don't see in other countries is school shootings. So things like that just don't exist. And I Actually originally went abroad for the first time teaching English in Thailand. That was kind of like my first living abroad experience. And international schools, private international schools are higher quality education than American public education. So you have basically expats, kids that go to these really great international schools. And a lot of families are kind of discovering that maybe the rat race isn't for them, that a more slower paced, family centered life is a healthier way to live. I mean, here in the United States, a lot of people, you know, you only see your kids just while they're playing video games or whatever. I was surprised because I'm a single guy and when we started this, I thought it would be mainly single guys like me moving abroad. And that's more of what you see. But I've been shocked at the number of female veterans that want to move abroad. I've been shocked at the number of families. So my book has a section on families on family life abroad, on building community for your family abroad, on finding schools and all those types of things. Because, you know, if you're a parent, obviously, and homeschooling is bigger now too, people didn't used to be homeschooled as much, but now the resources out there, a lot of parents will homeschool kids in other countries.
- [17:37]
C
Is there one particular country you like the most?
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D
I'm in Colombia right now. I started in Thailand. I live in the Dominican Republic and I've traveled pretty extensively. I like to tell veterans that in my opinion the best countries for veterans are Thailand, the Philippines, Colombia, Dominican Republic and probably Panama if I had to like pick a top list. And those are countries where you already have an existing veteran population. So a lot of people don't know, but there are American legions in Mexico, there's American legions in Costa Rica, there's American legions in Panama. So you have these and in Thailand, the VFW and all that as well. So you have these organization of veterans that are there creating community and giving back as well. You know, any country where you can live a great life for 2,500 bucks a month isn't a bad deal.
- [18:27]
C
Yeah, I thought about the whole like Living in Thailand 1. Before my surgery, I was actually thinking about it. I was like, you know what? Like.
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Like I'll just take my chips and you know, at some point, at some point, like, you know, I'm going to go, so I'll just live my life and sit on the beach and eat noodles. And I kind of thought more about it and the people that love me talk me out of it. But the biggest thing I think is that.
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And shocked me because I went to the Philippines. I went to Dr. Is just third world countries.
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D
Yeah.
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C
I think a lot of Americans. I wish Americans would actually go abroad and see what it's like to be in the Philippines and, like, live in the trash and, you know, people doing whatever you want for, like, $5.
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D
Certain areas of Philippines are very dirty and certain areas are, like, very beautiful.
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C
Yeah, some places.
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D
I mean. Yeah. And there are some places where it's like, you know, iffy. Right. You know, and obviously safety abroad is a concern. When I talk about things like safety abroad, I like telling Americans that American violence is incredibly random. That's what's scary about it. Like, that's why people are scared to send their kids to school or go to church or a Walmart or ride a subway in New York City, because somebody might just fucking stab you. But violence abroad is usually way more, like, targeted and makes sense and confined to certain areas. So there are places, for example, in Medellin, in the city that I live in that I wouldn't go, but if I live in Chicago, there's certain areas I wouldn't go either. You know, it's kind of like that. So there are certain precautions that you take living abroad, but it's not really as dangerous as people make it seem to be. And for veterans, like, I live in Afghanistan for years of my life, so, like, living in a high rise building in a penthouse in Medellin with private security and all that is pretty. It's pretty easy. Yeah.
- [20:24]
C
I definitely would if I were to go anywhere, to have to have security.
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Because I've seen some. I haven't seen some wild stuff, but I've seen some stuff.
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D
Oh, yeah, there's some stuff.
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C
I have a couple of tattoos as well. And, like, I'll walk through the market.
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D
Yeah.
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C
People will pinch you if you ever experience that.
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D
Yeah.
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C
And they'll pinch you because they don't think that, like, it's real and, like, you're just fake.
- [20:47]
D
Every day is an adventure. And that's. Well, I tell the people is like, I think in the United States, we kind of get stuck in the routine, the Matrix, and we kind of lose our curiosity and our sense of wonder. And one of the things I love about waking up in Colombia every day is anything is possible. There's endless amounts of adventure and opportunity, and I'm constantly learning and discovering. Whereas the United States, I felt myself just discovering more stress and anxiety every day.
- [21:12]
C
Yeah. I mean, you're on the wheel when you're in the U.S. that's it. The one thing that I really took back from my adventures was just gratitude, you know, I was like, wow, like I'm so thankful that I have running water, right? And like water I can drink and being able to take a hot shower twice a day and having electricity and if the rain comes, like not turning off the electricity because I'm just wild stuff.
- [21:38]
D
It's a huge gift. Being born an American, and that's what I tell people is the best place in the world to be born. America is the greatest country, but the American dream ain't what it used to be. No, I mean, I don't think anyone's, I mean, you know, for real estate, like, if you're, if you're a young person growing up, it's very hard to buy a house. I mean, it's very hard to save that money to get it going, to get approved and deal with all those things. And for me, my life became a lot easier because I'd done the, the big house, saying I bought a house, and I, you know. But then when I got less stuff was when I got more happy, when I got away from like consumerism and materialism and started focusing on stuff. We got so much stuff in our lives, like, and then we're trying to impress people that we don't even like and buying, we don't need. And it's just like this crazy system that keeps us trapped in like a lifetime of debt because so many young people that are growing up, they're just trapped in like $400,000 debt at like 25 years old. So then when I realized, like, my first apartment I lived in In Thailand was 300 bucks a month. So I paid the whole year up front. I said, here is a whole year of rent plus an extra hundred dollars and I'm good to go. Now I don't even have to think about it now. The only bill I have in my entire life is my cell phone. And then I can go out and live a high quality life. Go out to eat, drink the good stuff, date pretty girls, and I'm just living a good life. And that's why I wanted to share that with other veterans that this kind of alternate life exists. I mean, sometimes when you're abroad, it does feel like an alternate reality because I get all the benefits of being an American citizen. I have American passport, I make American dollars, but I get to live in another country and live like the best quality life possible.
- [23:17]
C
John if somebody was interested in knowing more about the program, Veterans in Paradise. In paradise. And your books, where would they go?
- [23:25]
D
You can go to veteransinparadise.com, which is our website that me and my friend created, or my own website, johnhdavis writer.com, where I have my blog with a lot of articles and information about moving and living abroad. You can buy Veterans in Paradise. Be great if you did. It's on Amazon. Or I can send you the digital copy for free. Because for me, it's just about giving back, providing the information for veterans. A lot of veterans just don't know that you can move abroad, that you can live abroad. You get your benefits abroad. But one of the things that stops veterans is you can't really take your guns. So that kind of sucks. I know we're in Texas right now. Like, you got to take your guns, but a lot of veterans you got. You got to leave your guns behind. So I'm sorry to report that.
- [24:04]
C
John, thanks for being on the show.
- [24:05]
D
Yeah, thanks for having me. It's good.
- [24:07]
C
Thank you.
- [24:08]
B
Hiring isn't just about finding someone willing to take the job. You need the right person with the right background who can move your business forward. If you want candidates who truly match what you're looking for, trust Indeed Sponsored Jobs. With Indeed Sponsored Jobs, your post stands out to quality candidates who actually fit the role. According To Indeed data, 90% are more likely to be hired and trusted by 1.6 million companies. Spend more time interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. Now with Indeed Sponsored Jobs and listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to to help your job get the premium status it deserves@ Indeed.com podcast 13. Just go to Indeed.com podcast 13 right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com podcast 13 terms and conditions apply. Hiring do it the right way with Indeed.
- [25:06]
A
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