I lived as a nomad for 5 years.
When I told my family I was going to Colombia, the first thing they said was cocaine.
When I considered Mexico, it was cartels.
The places everyone fears are often underpriced. The places everyone wants are overpriced. There is a big spread between the map and the territory. In that spread, you find value.
I know someone paying Miami rent who complains about it constantly. But when you mention alternatives, even nearby countries, it sounds crazy. Too risky. Too unknown. Too different.
That is the easy choice. Stay and complain. But easy choices lead to hard lives. For that same rent, you can live well in Mexico City, São Paulo, Las Palmas. Beautiful apartments. Good food. Space to breathe.
Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.
Polanco in Mexico City feels safer than any neighborhood I have been to in the States. Every city has dangerous areas. But when you investigate instead of assume, the spread between fear and reality is massive.
This is not just geography.
For 15 years, I believed I had to meditate right after waking up or it would be impossibly hard later. People told me over the years to get sunlight first. I ignored them. I was paying a perception premium on a belief that was not true.
Last week, I started getting sun first. It feels like a 2-3x force multiplier on clarity and energy. Most days I meditate outside now.
I paid that premium for over a decade. Because I never poked reality. I never tested the belief.
The spread between your map and reality is where the value lies. Geography. Beliefs. Habits. Wherever perception and reality diverge, there is arbitrage. But you have to test it to find it.
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What have you refused to test?