A Website Dedicated to
MY LIFE IN THE PHILIPPINES

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January 2005

Hi,

There are many sites dedicated to retirement and life in the Philippines. This site will approach it as it applies to my situation. I am 48 years young and very active. I am going to the Philippines for it's low cost of living, high quality of life, great scuba diving, beautiful women and much more. I will always be seeking ways to improve this site in the information it provides. Some subjects that will be covered are: Actual Cost of Things Here; My Monthly Expenses; Places to Scuba Dive; Hotels and Resorts; Women and the Singles Scene and many other pertinent subjects. My personal dream (perhaps like yours as well) is to find a property fronting a beautiful beach and then build a simple yet elegant island style house with Filipino, Balinese or Mexican design influence. It will have an extra bedroom for my friends and family when they visit me. Outside my back door the property will offer me immediate access to great diving, and beautiful sunrises or sunsets. I am additionally hoping for a nearby golf course and a town that has some social activity. In closing I hope this site will be of tremendous benefit to others thinking about settling here. I hope you enjoy the site. Okay let's get started:

PREFACE

Why the Philippines

I woke up one morning in early January 2005 sat up in my bed and said to myself:

           "What the hell am I doing with my life"

I found myself reliving my yet unfulfilled dream as a young boy to live on a beautiful island in an exotic locale. Now understand I enjoy a very good life many people would love to have. I have worked for myself for most of my adult life and free vs. work time has always been pretty much on my terms and has enabled me to live in a nice house on the water in North Miami Beach Florida and have some great friends with whom I play golf and scuba dive. I have a normal social life and have many other interests. For many people I guess this would be a great life no one in their right mind would want to walk away from. Well no one has ever called me sane. Anyway, I don't presently have a girlfriend or children to worry about so I realized all this could become a reality without a tremendous amount of effort. Now at 48 years I knew it was time to make that dream come true. So I got out of bed and said out loud "I'm moving to the Philippines". That day and over the next few I went through the protocol (maybe for a little reinforcement) of telling my family who actually didn't think I was crazy. The plan was now in motion. I put my house on the market and in late February had it sold.

I am not so crazy to do this on the blind even though this is possible yet very challenging. I was fortunate enough about 25 years ago to have fallen in love with a beautiful, intelligent Filipina from a wonderful family I have always considered my own. I managed to screw up the marriage but that is another story. Anyway, through this marriage I was able to visit the Philippines many times, go all over the country and fall instantly in love with it and the incredibly special people who live there. In fact the Philippines was the only place of the hundreds I have visited all over the world that while on a vacation or for work, I never gave a second thought about missing America or frankly even thinking about America. My ex and in-laws are still close so I will have some help that others won't have the benefit of.

I had given some thought to Brazil. I visited there in 2003 and met a great woman who showed me the beauty of that country.

Nevertheless, as great a country as Brazil is for retirement, there would be too many challenges in moving and living there.

The initial plan is to travel around the Philippines with a my ex brother-in-law Ramon and check out all the possible places I might consider settling in. We will probably visit about a dozen beach resort areas and stay long enough to do some diving, see local attractions and make inquiries about real estate for building a house (building costs for a quality home run between $20-$40/sq ft. plus price of land) and existing houses that may be available to rent (around $125 – $350/mo to rent) or buy. The trip should take about one to two months after which time I will return to the places I liked the most for longer stays to make sure they are right for me.

Most of the places I will be looking at to settle down in are located in provincial areas of the country. Many of these areas while incredibly beautiful with great beaches and some resorts catering to foreigners are still very limited in what they offer in the way of community infrastructure. I have no illusions that living permanently in a place like this can eventually make one stir crazy. Keeping this in mind I will probably also consider finding a small apartment in one of the bigger cities so I can have a fix of city life every so often.

The ideal scenario would be to find a resort area that doesn't have a saturation of dive operations and then possibly opening one up in some sort of partnership with the resort owner. This will allow me to pursue my passion for diving while at the same time giving me an income avenue.

The next goal will to perhaps find someone to live with and/or get married to. The Philippines is filled with beautiful women. Hopefully, I will meet a beautiful and intelligent woman I am worthy of having. 
     SEE May 2005 (on the right side bar under "ARCHIVES") for continuation of This Diary/Blog

NOTE: There are many positive and negative experiences in ones life and living in the Philippines for me has been no exception. Be warned that this Blog also reflects my personal reflections of those negative aspects that have occured with both the Country and its People that have caused me much duress at times. Make no mistake I love the Philippines but just wanted you to be aware I have some posts that may be considered offensive or condescending.

I encourage anyone visiting this site to make comments good or bad. If you considering a move to the Philippines, please feel free to ask any questions and I will be happy and do my best to give you an honest objective answer. The Philippines is a wonderful country for retirement but, it is also important to know as much about the place as you can before making a permanent commitment.