....  If I decide to move away from LOS,  I can't go back - to the USA..

I'll be "old", unemployed and practically broke.

ChrisP

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Mee too! (Substitute UK for USA).

....Will take almost nothing with me: computer, some clothes and a few personal items.

I suspect that this adjustment will be as easy as the last.

It's all a matter of attitude, not stuff....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's what I did when I came to LOS - one suitcase containing clothes and personal things, and a computer.

LOL!!  I would be in the same boat!  ....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think there are a lot of us who think the chance of having a really happy life here is worth the small risk of having to return to a lousy life back 'home'.

why yes, just the other day, the Thai Police broke up a huge blackmarket ring dealing in clarinets and trombones...   

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Blackmarket liquorish sticks..................

Whatever next??

I gave up living in the UK over ten years ago, the first time I packed and left I had everything I could carry loaded into the biggest suitcases I could find. I had studied the city I was going to on maps to get a feeling for it, I had asked everyone I knew that had been there about the place and made notes. When I landed my palms were very damp and I could feel the panic as I looked around and saw a foreign language - I only went to Amsterdam!

Having repeated the same experience (different countries) many many times my luggage is down to a mere 20 kilos, I don't bother checking out the city as I'm sure the taxi driver will know the way, my only concern at the airport is where to get a coffee.

Moving country can be traumatic, and will have an effect, but the pros vastly outweigh the cons. As a tip, be very harsh when you get down to throwing things away. Avoid the temptation to include items 'just in case', I have just moved to Helsinki for 4 months and my baggage only weighed 17 kilos so it's perfectly possible. And when you get here, remember to relax and take your time as everyone else does and you will only frustrate yourself if you try to move at western speed.