Just recently I answered a comment on one of my articles on Bob’s Philippine Web Magazine in what many may feel is a pretty contrition manner. A lady wrote to tell me that the reason she wasn’t moving to the Philippines to live was because there was no opportunity here … especially for young teen children who will, after all, becoming self-supporting adults in just a very few years.
My view could pretty much be summed up in one phrase “wrong as rain”.
You may also recall I put together a number of articles here in past months based on an old farmer’s joke made popular by President Harry Truman, about there being a “pony” (which I am using as a metaphor for an “Opportunity” under the a huge pile of manure and stable residue … which serve to represent the continual nay saying and the chorus of “it can’t be done” that grates on my nerves each and every day, living here in the Philippines.
Here’s a nice up to date example why I believe the Philippines is indeed a land of opportunity:
US couple retires in Corregidor
By Ross Harper-Alonso, Philippine Daily Inquirer, First Posted 02:36:00 06/14/2009
MANILA, Philippines—While many dream of retiring into a private island in the Philippines with long stretches of deserted fine, white sand beaches or enjoying a luxury resort lifestyle still close to where the action is, an American couple has chosen to do the unusual.
Steve Kwiecinski, 57, a retired computer programmer and his wife, Marcia, 56, a retired physical therapist assistant, left Michigan in 2008 to start a new life on Corregidor, the island fortress that has become a national shrine as a symbol of the determined resistance of its Filipino and American defenders against the invading Japanese in World War II. You can read the rest of Steve and Marcia’s retiring in the Philippines story here.
OK, I can here you saying. This is false adverting. You started this article talking about opportunities for the young and then you give us the story of a couple, advanced in years, living a crazy lifestyle in an obscure place, and obviously living off a retirement pension. You see opportunity there?
I surely do. What the article didn’t point out is Steve’s “part time job” or more accurately, labor of love. Steve guides and escorts tours for Valor Tours, Ltd., a company who specializes in conducting tours all over the world focusing on important World War II battle sites. What? You mean a US company can make a profitable business out of touring people to the Philippines and even more out of the way places like Tarawa and Guadalcanal? And they have been making money at it for years?
Steve has been to the Philippines before, and decided he liked it here. If he listened to all the ‘wise men’ we hear chorusing in the background, he would never pull up stakes and live in a one bedroom cottage on an isolated island in the Philippines.
- What if the people stop coming on tours?
- What if the government says, “hey get out of our house”?
- What if the money the Kwiecinski’s invested to get their SRRV doesn’t yield as much money as it did back in a US bank (oh, wait a minute, not much chance of that happening is there *sigh*, on to the next point, Dave)
- What if either of them gets sick and has to be hospitalized
- What if, what if, what if?
This is the biggest “what if” in Steve and Marcia’s life (and in mine as well) is, “What If” they had just sat around and waited until there was no risk. Waited until Steve was 65 so he would have his Social Security for extra income, waited until they had more money for a better house, I’m sure many of you can think of other reasons why the move Steve and Marcia made might seem rash or risky.
But on the opposing side of the decision matrix you might also ask, what if Steve dies next year? I certainly wish him a long and healthy life, but 58 or 59 year olds drop dead every day? So do people in their 30’s and 40’s. Steve and Marcia already own, I mean truly own … can’t be taken from them … memories and experiences that most of us will never have … all because Steve made an off the wall request to live his dream and the request was granted.
Opportunity? It’s all around us … how long will you wait?
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