What is the biggest danger for passport bros and expats? There is one major danger I have seen in my travels to Mexico, Philippines, Thailand, South Africa, Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus. It is probably something you have never considered.

A lot of guys are worried about getting scammed and that is significant, but mostly it is pretty minor in my opinion. Crime can be a very real issue to, but even in South Africa I never really felt unsafe. Of course, I lived in New Orleans in the 1990s, so perhaps my crime meter is broken.

Even getting with the wrong girls is not as universally bad as this. Yes, a lot of passport bros end up with bar girls who are gold diggers and professional girlfriends. But some guys are actually looking for that and most of the rest of us can avoid it.

But there is one danger that almost no one realizes they are going to have to face: cheap booze. Oh, yeah, I know you are an adult and you can handle it, but you have probably never been in quite this atmosphere.

First, the real old school expats where I went were often flat out alcoholics and they set the tone for the larger community. That was certainly the case in the Philippines where the community went back to the first sergeant majors and master chiefs who took retirement there really starting in 1904. Those guys and the generations of senior NCOs after them were old school drinkers, and the tradition has not died.

Second, the booze is cheap. I used to drink San Miguel in the Philippine for like .80 a bottle, and that was not that long ago. In Ukraine I had vodka shots for .50. If you have the money to get to most of the real passport bro destinations you have the money to become a raging alcoholic.

Third, the booze is often available everywhere all the time. In your normal life you probably don't drink at work or before 11:00 am or whatever. Overseas you often have none of those constraints and there will be other expats having a couple of beers with their steak and eggs after the gym 6:00 am.

Fourth, and this is a good thing. Nobody is judging you for drinking like Otis from The Andy Griffith Show. Unless you get belligerent when you drink or skip on your tab absolutely no one cares. And that is cool but a challenge too.

So, there are a lot of challenges but it is controllable.

Be Aware of Your Own Drinking

If you are not a teatotaler you have a big edge. In my travels I met exactly one - a senior NCO who just never drank. He had a story about going on maneuvers at Fort AP Hill in the 1980s with a horrible hangover when he was a corporal or something and promising that was it - forever. Other than him, absolutely everyone drank. Some guys drank a lot and others drank less but everyone drank.

And I did watch some guys become messy drunks. It was weird, because everyone was drinking so trying to stop was extra hard, but also most of the long term expats had dealt with it so there was no shortage of guys willing to offer suggestions if you mentioned you were ready to slow down.

The main thing was you need to be aware of your own drinking. You have to provide the controls that you don't have to worry about at home.

So What Do You Think The Biggest Danger For You Is Overseas?

Is it booze or drugs maybe? Or are you more worried about getting scammed or getting mugged?

I am sure I have left some real fears out. Just curious.