Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS) About How To Travel, Retire, Work or Start a Business and Live in the Philippines
It’s good to go back and reflect on older articles sometimes (and correct a few typos now and again). I wrote this article some days ago and looking back now I am surprised by how so little has changed. It’s mainly talking about the “Philippine brand” of customer service, but more importantly how the common question of “How much things cost in the Philippines” is perhaps the last question you need to ask, instead of the first. Enjoy. One of the things people … [Read more...]
This original article on Why Choose the Philippines was published some time back. I was not able to follow-up on it. I have updated and corrected errors and will be publishing a separate comparison article on my top choices within the next few days. Enjoy. Why Choose the Philippines One of the questions I have heard many times over the years is “why choose the Philippines”? This is usually in the context of, why not “country X” or “country Y” instead? So far as foreign … [Read more...]
I decided to revisit a blog and blogging colleague I haven’t visited for some time … Dina-Marie from “Dimes2Vines”. Long-time readers may recall I’ve pointed out her blog and her family’s story before, but many of you who visit here (thanks you for that, by the way) are new … and wondering, perhaps why I’d feature a blog about a family living in West Texas when this blog is very much focused on living here in the Philippines. Good question. Read Dina-Marie's ‘elevator … [Read more...]
A few days ago I read an excellent post on my colleague Seth’s blog that I think ought to be passed on to you, intact. I’ve been talking about (and highlighting) ways that people here in the Philippines can change themselves around and move into the 21st century. One of the most universal and pernicious reasons that those of you who might want to join this group of “doers” is not currently “doing” is an age-old bugaboo … “Preparation”. You’d be doing something today, … [Read more...]
Right now there’s a lot going on in my life regarding TRICARE, which is a program the US Department of Defense put in place some years back. According to the DoD, TRICARE fulfills the DoD’s promise made years ago to us young, impressionable GI’s when we were enticed to join the US forces by the benefit of free medical; care for life. TRICARE in its basic form is free (for US Military retirees only, not available to other US vets), as to the issue of wither or not it lives up to … [Read more...]
OK, Labor Day is over, today we should be enjoying a Saturday and thinking about or praying for the people who perished on September 11th and the sad fact of how we have given up so many freedoms since then in the name of “national Security”. Tomorrow, the 12th, is my birthday, I’ll be celebrating at home with family. 65. Damn that sounds old. But like friend Paul said recently, inside I’m still a teenager wonder what the f*ck happened. I’ve got a lot of things going on right … [Read more...]
And sometimes the "running houses" bump into into things that frustrate and even split families up. My friend Feyma just wrote an interesting article on a “Family Feud” type real estate situation she recently ran into down in Davao. Go read it, especially if you are thinking about building a house in the Philippines (whether you are a Filipino or a foreigner … it’s important to get things right.). First of all remember I am not a lawyer. If you buy, sell, invest in or otherwise … [Read more...]
How much does this sound like your reasoning behind moving to the Philippines … or wanting to? … In life many of us chase the seemingly elusive ‘prize’ of happiness and seek it out in all sorts of places. We look for it in a marriage, we wonder if it can be provided by children, we go after it when we change our jobs and perhaps believe it will come to us when we retire…but the truth of the matter is, happiness is a state of mind and it comes from within. The naked truth is, a … [Read more...]
Heard it again just the other day and wondered, yet again, what is it so many of these folks have heard? A fellow was asking me some advice about a business idea and listing of some of the cites around the Philippines he had thought through where he might sell his product, and true to form for so many folks in the “Philippines wanna be ” community, he end his list with the comment, “of course I’m sure it would sell in Angeles City, but I don’t know if I can deal with the crime … [Read more...]
This article kind of pairs up with the “slow down” one I wrote recently It’s mainly an expanded answer I gave to an interesting comment I received from a reader … keep those cards and letters coming, folks. Here’s an interesting comment from faithful reader, Dave from Texas: … More and more frequently I think about leaving the rat race and retiring. I could easily live on my savings until age 70 and collect SS at the maximum rate for the remainder of my life. Some questions … [Read more...]
One of my long-time Australian readers sent me a link to a nice article from an Australian expat living in Indonesia. It made for some good, and thought-provoking reading. Even though there are a huge list of differences between living in Indonesia and living in the Philippines, there are definitely some important lessons we expats often could learn from this article: One night this week, as I strolled home from dinner with my wife, I did something I do all too rarely. I walked … [Read more...]
Just yesterday I found and wrote about a neat online expense comparison tool called Expatistan.com. Expatistan take costs from cites around the world, mostly input by local residents, and cleverly compares them to local costs in a city you might be interested in … giving a quick and first hand look at what it might cost you to live in a far way place. In les than 24 hours I was made aware of a similar tool know as numbeo.com, which performs some very similar functions and in a roughly … [Read more...]
