3 Reasons Not to Trust International Living

In My Opinion

Yesterday I was telling someone that I was writing an article about the magazine International Living. She said, "You mean international lying."

Too Harsh?

Perhaps that is too harsh. But as someone who started subscribing to the magazine in 2017, I have some thoughts on the publication and the marketing company that surrounds it. If you're a regular reader you know that I started thinking about moving out of the country after the 2016 election. While Denise and I moved to California instead, we both continued to think that a move abroad was an option.

We would read every issue…dog-earing pages to discuss. However after a year or so I started to have concerns about what I was reading. There were really three issues/ concerns. Permit me to share these with you now.

Pinterest is Free

While International Living claims to have correspondents living and writing around the world, the depth of the articles is pretty thin. Frankly, you could get the same information from Pinterest or a few Google searches for a whole lot less money.

I have also found that there are just a few themes to every issue.

• The first is “You can live in paradise for next to nothing.”

• The second is, “This is a great real estate opportunity not to be missed.”

• Three, “You can do very little work and make money digitally.”

• And finally, “To learn how to do any of the above … buy our book or sign up for our expensive seminar.”

You Know Me and Money

Let's examine the first theme "you can live in paradise for next to nothing." Perhaps this is true…but do you want to? Let's consider our recent apartment swapping adventure by means of an example. When we arrived in Loulé we quickly realized that there is a big difference between a €2300 apartment and a €600 apartment. Yes, Cascais is a more expensive locale. I doubt you could find a €2300 apartment in Loulé. But that's not the point.

My point is though you can find a €600 apartment in Portugal you may not be comfortable living there. The apartment did not have heat which was fine because it's July. In fact, we were experiencing a heatwave and the temperature topped 90°F each of the days we were there. So imagine our discomfort when we realized that the apartment also didn't have air-conditioning. Between the heat and the dogs barking incessantly…we moved to our friends’ new home in Tavira after only two nights.

I also am now far more aware of the magazine’s wonky accounting having experienced currency fluctuation over our first six months. All articles list prices in dollars…but the rate of conversion is not stipulated (or discussed). I suspect, given the figures in the magazine they use the most beneficial US dollar to euro conversion rate…perhaps the all-time best. [Again, I did research this for you. In September 2000 you could buy €1 for only $0.85. In May 2008, it cost $1.56 to purchase €1…nearly twice as much. To be more accurate, articles should show both amounts and stipulate that currencies can and do fluctuate.]

The Worse Kind of Marketing

I should have known better. If it takes the online seller four scrolling pages and two links to tell you how “little” the subscription will cost…perhaps this is not the best choice. If the “free 40-minute online seminar” spends 20 minutes saying nothing and then the final 20 minutes telling you about the free giveaways and discounts before telling you the price…stop and run.

I canceled my subscription about 5 months ago. I reached my limit when they were selling a “you only need to spend 1 hour a day to get rich trading bitcoin” course to a target audience of retirees on a fixed income/budget. Even though we had nearly a year of our subscription left, I contacted them asking them to stop sending me stuff, and removed my credit card information. Of course, they still send me stuff and ask me to renew for a new incredibly low price. I won’t…