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I’m American that used to live in Vanuatu. It’s the infrastructure. One time the electricity went out and I called The electrical company and they said “we are

I’m American that used to live in Vanuatu. It’s the infrastructure. One time the electricity went out and I called The electrical company and they said “we are going to fly in experts next week, so we are getting it fixed” That was the update. Much of the expats were dumbfounded.

freeqaz 4y ago
What made you move to Vanuatu as an American? Work opportunities? Beautiful weather?
- gamechangr 4y ago
  Both Work opportunities was the real one, but I wanted to take my young family (at the time my kids were 3,7,8) to experience a different culture. For example to feed sharks and go see a live volcano.
  - flog 4y ago
    I grew up in Vanuatu having those same experiences; swimming coral reefs, walking to the top of a volcano, exploring the jungles... etc It is a world away from the suburban kid's lifestyle back in the US (or wherever; i'm from NZ) Congratulations on taking the bold choice to move!
  - Scoundreller 4y ago
    Don’t leave us hanging, which kids did you feed to the sharks?
googlryas 4y ago
What's the alternative? It's 300k people doing mostly low-medium intensity agriculture spread out over a large area in the middle of an ocean. I'm dumbfounded that anyone knowingly moving there would be dumbfounded that things move at a much slower pace. I'm reminded of my friend who moved to nome and was incensed that he couldn't get 2 day shipping on his Amazon orders any more.
- gamechangr 4y ago
  It’s okay for it Not to add up. It’s a unique experience that is hard to translate for people that have not lived a day in the life. For example, there is a 30,000 member town that has high end hotels that do not have functional generators. You could Pay $600 a night and not have air conditioning. The alternative is being proactive about a backup system. Fiji has successfully done it. Their infrastructure is great. In Fiji, they have a similar 3rd world infrastructure for electricity. When it goes out, they have fully functional backup generators and a strong team of support. While blocks are down and you wouldn’t even know it as a consumer. As Americans and mostly Aussie expats, the electrical challenge translated to not being able to shop for more than 1-3 days of food, but that was easy to adjust to once it was understood. But for example, the hospitals when they didn’t know how to treat something— they would just amputate. I’m guess that would be a surprise to most people. They had ni blood bank. They have one now, but I would get calls to come down to the hospital and “save a life” by giving blood right this minute. When forklifts at the port would break, they would just take the week off and ship new ones in. Which made the port constantly run behind. We had our own backup forklifts that we would keep on hand to make sure that our international contracts were honored. It’s a beautiful place and the people are wonderful, but there is many challenges when planning a life there that many would take for granted
  - neffy 4y ago
    I have no idea why this got downloaded - but can only agree. Life in a major city at the forefront of technological change will rarely prepare someone for the realities of life outside that bubble. Numbers do have a quality of their own, and the combination of being behind the tech curve (which requires generational effort and education in itself to overcome) and not having a lot of people to do this with is a huge challenge for small countries and regions.
    - MisterTea 4y ago
      > Life in a major city at the forefront of technological change will rarely prepare someone for the realities of life outside that bubble. Those who live such isolated lives should get out of the city from time to time, maybe just leave their safe neighborhoods. Grew up in NYC and was in cub/boy scouts and we did camping trips. My father preferred a rural and rugged lifestyle so we frequently vacationed in up state NY and Vermont where a lot of the activities were outdoors such as hikes, nature walks, tours, etc.
grecy 4y ago
> Much of the expats were dumbfounded I've had some very interesting experiences bumping into expats around the world. It's amazing how many times they expect <remote, undeveloped country> to function exactly like their extremely expensive and developed home country. They complain about the differences endlessly, but of course they want extremely cheap food, accommodation and alcohol. It's a very big disconnect.

freeqaz 4y ago

What made you move to Vanuatu as an American? Work opportunities? Beautiful weather?

gamechangr 4y ago
Both Work opportunities was the real one, but I wanted to take my young family (at the time my kids were 3,7,8) to experience a different culture. For example to feed sharks and go see a live volcano.
- flog 4y ago
  I grew up in Vanuatu having those same experiences; swimming coral reefs, walking to the top of a volcano, exploring the jungles... etc It is a world away from the suburban kid's lifestyle back in the US (or wherever; i'm from NZ) Congratulations on taking the bold choice to move!
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  Don’t leave us hanging, which kids did you feed to the sharks?

googlryas 4y ago

What's the alternative? It's 300k people doing mostly low-medium intensity agriculture spread out over a large area in the middle of an ocean. I'm dumbfounded that anyone knowingly moving there would be dumbfounded that things move at a much slower pace. I'm reminded of my friend who moved to nome and was incensed that he couldn't get 2 day shipping on his Amazon orders any more.

gamechangr 4y ago
It’s okay for it Not to add up. It’s a unique experience that is hard to translate for people that have not lived a day in the life. For example, there is a 30,000 member town that has high end hotels that do not have functional generators. You could Pay $600 a night and not have air conditioning. The alternative is being proactive about a backup system. Fiji has successfully done it. Their infrastructure is great. In Fiji, they have a similar 3rd world infrastructure for electricity. When it goes out, they have fully functional backup generators and a strong team of support. While blocks are down and you wouldn’t even know it as a consumer. As Americans and mostly Aussie expats, the electrical challenge translated to not being able to shop for more than 1-3 days of food, but that was easy to adjust to once it was understood. But for example, the hospitals when they didn’t know how to treat something— they would just amputate. I’m guess that would be a surprise to most people. They had ni blood bank. They have one now, but I would get calls to come down to the hospital and “save a life” by giving blood right this minute. When forklifts at the port would break, they would just take the week off and ship new ones in. Which made the port constantly run behind. We had our own backup forklifts that we would keep on hand to make sure that our international contracts were honored. It’s a beautiful place and the people are wonderful, but there is many challenges when planning a life there that many would take for granted
- neffy 4y ago
  I have no idea why this got downloaded - but can only agree. Life in a major city at the forefront of technological change will rarely prepare someone for the realities of life outside that bubble. Numbers do have a quality of their own, and the combination of being behind the tech curve (which requires generational effort and education in itself to overcome) and not having a lot of people to do this with is a huge challenge for small countries and regions.
  - MisterTea 4y ago
    > Life in a major city at the forefront of technological change will rarely prepare someone for the realities of life outside that bubble. Those who live such isolated lives should get out of the city from time to time, maybe just leave their safe neighborhoods. Grew up in NYC and was in cub/boy scouts and we did camping trips. My father preferred a rural and rugged lifestyle so we frequently vacationed in up state NY and Vermont where a lot of the activities were outdoors such as hikes, nature walks, tours, etc.

grecy 4y ago

> Much of the expats were dumbfounded I've had some very interesting experiences bumping into expats around the world. It's amazing how many times they expect <remote, undeveloped country> to function exactly like their extremely expensive and developed home country. They complain about the differences endlessly, but of course they want extremely cheap food, accommodation and alcohol. It's a very big disconnect.