I was focused for years on retiring abroad. My initial thoughts were Mexico or Ecuador because they were closer to the US. However, the impact of the narco gangs in each of these countries made me look elsewhere.
My initial thoughts were Thailand or the Philippines. I am retired and living on Social Security and pension income from the US. The Philippine SRRV (Special Resident Retire’s Visa) program appeared much more stable and was for a longer term than the constantly changing retirement visa options in Thailand. In addition, language was a key consideration since most Filipinos have had some exposure to English in school and many are quite fluent in English. In Thailand, once you get away from tourist centers, few Thais can communicate with you in English.
As I was waiting for the Philippines to open for tourism, I struck up an online relationship with a Filipino and we ended up meeting in person in Armenia prior to the Philippines reopening to foreigners. Almost a year later, after I was able to enter the Philippines, we were married (a Utah online marriage. So, I now have a companion and a local guide, both of which I feel are important to my living in the Philippines. I am not alone.
We live in the Philippines and use it as a base for both domestic and international travel. Together we have traveled to 20 provinces in the Philippines, as well as 6 other Asian nations.
In the Philippines, you have a wide variety of options for places to live. On one hand, you have Makati, in downtown Manila, where you would have an urban lifestyle not so different from Western cities. Or, you could go to the provinces where you would need to live a more traditional Filipino lifestyle because Western-style foods and amenities are not as available. No one can land in one city in the Philippines and say that they know the country. It is quite diverse and exciting for a traveler like me because I have 7,461 islands to choose from.
My initial shock about staying in the Mabolo neighborhood in Cebu City was that the Philippines is much dirtier than in the US. Traffic was chaotic due to motorcycles seeming to follow no traffic rules, with one even chasing me down a sidewalk so as to avoid a red light. Sidewalks do not exist in many areas and if they do exist, they are often used for parking or vendors have encroached on them and you have to walk in the street anyway. However, I then found that there were actually a couple of very nice neighborhoods in Cebu City with walkable sidewalks and nice restaurants near quite nice malls. I just needed to get to know Cebu City better.
In the provinces, I needed to get used to Philippine food because the only Western foods available were hamburgers and pizza. My biggest frustration has been finding healthy foods because Filipinos use a lot of salt and even add sugar to spaghetti. A lot of the food is fried. My husband and I have therefore resorted to preparing many of our own meals. The fresh seafood is to die for and many of the local dishes like jackfruit or bamboo shoots cooked in coconut milk were new to me and they are quite good. I’ve adapted so well that my normal breakfast is now bitter gourd fried with eggs and two slices of wheat toast.
One of my biggest challenges was in the bathroom. There are Western-style toilets available in most accommodations for tourists. But, you cannot flush the toilet paper down the commode and need to put it in a nearby receptacle. To limit the amount of toilet paper, I needed to learn to use a small bucket with a handle and scoop water from a nearby bucket, or use a bum gun if available, to clean off my backside. My husband and I are traveling to the US in a few days. I am enjoying his panic as he ponders how to use toilets in the US, without a bucket of water or bum gun. After a year and a half in the Philippines, all I can say is that most Filipinos have cleaner backsides than most people in the US. Who is to say which is the most advanced civilization?
My cost of living in the Philippines is much lower than in the US unless I try to live life exactly as I did in the US. A fully Western style of life in the Philippines is more expensive than a Filipino lifestyle.
I could probably go on, but I wanted to share these observations.
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