A little under four years ago I made a trip to the Philippines that began a love affair with this little island off the Davao Gulf commonly known as Samal Island. It was then that I agreed to purchase land near the White House, with hopes of eventually retiring there. Thus began this blog.
Four years can be a long time. Do I still have intentions to retire on Samal?
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It probably hasn’t made it out to the rest of the world yet, but most pilipinos have seen the release of the Department of Tourism’s new ad campaign. They want you to know, “It’s More Fun in the Philippines”.
From what I’ve gathered, from my vantage point on the other side of the world from the Philippines, the reaction has been mixed. Considering the last campaign, “Pilipinas kay Ganda”, was universally panned, this has to be an improvement (they hope). No one outside of the Philippines knew what that slogan meant, of course.
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SpongeBob may have square pants, but I’ve got square feet. No, not the kind you walk with, but the kind you measure with.
There are a lot of adjustments to make when moving to and living in the Philippines. I’ve touched on the differences in electricity, language, currency, cultural and more. Another that can be a bit challenging for some, myself included, is the unit of measure used there (and the rest of the world except of course the United States, Liberia and Myanmar).
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As I continue down my slow, but steady, path of Spring Cleaning, I’ve found myself selling on eBay to a much larger extent then I ever have previously. I’ve learned a few things along the way. One of the most significant is the fact that if I offer international shipping I will have a better chance of selling an item, and probably at a much better price.
I had always been leary of offering overseas shipping due to the extra costs involved, and potential problems that could arise from a shipment that was lost or damaged. The options for shipping carriers aren’t that great, either.
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If there is one topic that every person moving to the Philippines will have to eventually research, it has to be “what to do about a visa”? There is so much information on this subject that I have no intention to try to tackle it again in this article. No, I have a good idea already which visa I would prefer to get.
I wish it was as simple as figuring out which one you want and/or qualify for. That is complicated in and of itself. The fun only begins when you begin to look into the options. As much as some will tell you not to be concerned about it, it does take some thought and planning if you don’t want to be scrambling later on.
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