Welcome!
Who am I?
Hey, my name is Erik.
I’m a nomad born and raised who continues to live (mostly) nomadically.
I’m a nomad because I like to explore and travel, but also because healthcare outside the US is just too good and affordable to pass up on.
What is this page about?
I write about healthcare outside of the US, with a focus on Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries.
Want to know where the best healthcare can be found? I compare different countries and write on how to find the following in different countries.
High-quality but low-cost doctors
Prescription refills while travelling
Cheap medication
Good hospitals
Vaccinations
Blood work
Aesthetic treatments like botox, hair transplants, etc
Allergies in different countries
Travel insurance
Local health insurance (which is usually better than travel insurance)
Do any of these sound interesting to you? If so, you’ve come to the right place.
What’s my Mission?
To help others find the care they need overseas at affordable prices with reliable professionals.
That means finding the type of care that:
Sees you in hours or days. Not weeks.
Sees you on time. Not an hour late and no thirty minute waits at the lobby.
Listens carefully and shows empathy. No rushing or 5 minute consults.
Charges you fairly. No charging 3x because you’re a foreigner.
Why did I start this blog?
Because finding good and affordable healthcare is hard. Because living or traveling in another country makes it three-times as hard to find the care you need, especially if you don’t speak the language.
I know it. I’ve experienced it first hand.
My Journey
This is a slightly longer read.
The TLDR is, I got my back fixed in Mexico in 3 months uninsured with less expense, more care, and more empathy, than I did insured in 7 months in the US.
If you’ve had a similar experience where doctors don’t listen to you, and seem to not care.
Read on.
Or message me. I'd love to hear other people's stories.
This might strike a cord with you.
Several years ago I left the US because of how hard it was to find good and affordable medical attention for my lumbar disk problem.
After 7 months of constant pain and getting blown off my “specialists” in the US, I moved to Mexico. Just two months living in Mexico City my pain had gone down from a constant 7/10 to a 2/10. By month three all my pain had gone away.
I had spent a total of $350 USD for an MRI, two Spine surgeon consultations, an electrical conductivity test, Meds, and muiltiple PT sessions all WITHOUT health insurance. That vs. the $450 I had spent just on co-pays in the US to get an MRI and to see a few different specialists.
It wasn’t just the cost, it was the care I had received and my problem had been completely resolved. The surgeon spent almost an entire hour reviewing my MRI and electrical conductivity results and answering every. single. question.
He had 25 years of experience and had even studied in the US. The two spine specialists in the US had 5 and 15 years experience and had made me see their lead nurse for most of the 20 minutes I got in total.
My Mexican surgeon made me feel heard. He assured me that what I was experiencing was real and gave me an actionable plan to get better. The US surgeons told me my pain shouldn’t be that high and that a few ab exercises each day + meds would solve the problem. My Mexican surgeon saw the damage to my nerves and told me how to fix it without surgery.
Throughout the years I’ve had other health issues and those health issues were addressed almost immediately by health care professionals. That would have never happened in the US. Not unless you’re a multi-millionaire or have the best healthcare coverage possible.
I spent a lot of time in Argentina and saw a similar thing happening there. Uninsured people could get medical attention without it breaking the bank. An ER visit was not going to bankrupt you.
However, language and culture are barriers, especially the further away the country is from the US or an English-speaking country. That’s why I started Whatsapp health groups in those countries to create support groups that help one anjother to find the best possible care.
Whatsapp groups are great, but their reach is limited. I wanted to help even more people. That’s why I decided to start this website. I hope it becomes a source of valuable information to anyone seeking healthcare.
I hope that some day every country will have affordable healthcare. Not just doctors and ERs, but medicines, vaccines, blood-work, and preventive care as well. People should not fear healthcare because they may go bankrupt.
We can’t make healthcare free because there are real costs to healtchare. Doctors need to pay their bills, farmacies need to pay their staff, labs need to buy and maintain equipment, researchers need to be paid to come up with new medicines. But we can make it affordable, ensuring everyone is getting a fair deal.
I hope that one day I’m able to help reshape the way our healthcare works in many countries where it is now unaffordable for many people. For now, I help out where I know I can make a difference. Helping others find the care they need.
If you can relate, let me know.
I’d also love to interview people who have had similar experiences and share those here. Reach out or leave a comment below.
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