Traffic in Dumaguete absolute c-h-a-o-s!

Within the Philippines, and as Gerry mentioned, Iloilo would be one of the top options for me (though I would have to find a place about 10-20 minutes outside of the city to get away from the extra heat generated from the city). Another would be Naga City (Camarines Sur in the Bicol Region....NOT the one in Cebu). This one seems like Dumaguete minus the expats and almost daily murders. Though I'm sure both of these cities have their problems as well, I just didn't see them because I don't live there and follow the local news. If I decided to move to another city in the PI I would get a short term lease and actually live there before I made a permanent move.

Outside of the Philippines I would consider Cambodia. Maybe Malaysia (because I could own a plot of land there). Perhaps Indonesia (the northern regions) would make it on a list. I've heard good things about a few countries in Central/South America as well. I know every country is going to have its drawback and I would need to do a whole lot of research and travel before ever seriously considering a move to another country. I'm not going waste a ton of money to move from one cesspool to a worse one.

 

Completely agree but I can be happy without shopping malls, western products/food/restaurants and loads of expats being around though. When I moved to Dumaguete I didn't even know it was a popular place with expats (I had never even heard of the place). I literally closed my eyes and pointed to the map and Dumaguete is where my finger landed.....then I moved without doing ANY research on the place other than finding an apartment (which I found in 15 minutes searching the internet and had an agreement with the landlord in 48 hours).

 

I am still here and I still have the same landlord as when I first moved here. I moved to Valencia from the start though (completely by accident....I thought Valencia was a barangay of Dumaguete when I read it in the description ). Understand that what I did is similar to placing your bet on one number on a roulette wheel. (FYI: the first time I ever played roulette at a casino I placed $100 on 31 black and won....and then walked away. I'm not going to tell you to bet everything you have on 31 black though. ) Landlords here can be a nightmare and there is little recourse if you get screwed by one unless you are willing to battle it out in court for years.....and then probably lose your case. Find a short term lease, preferably on a month to month basis, and then start looking for a place.

I am/was happy (not sure what the tense should be at the moment) with Dumaguete (Valencia) and don't regret it. I've been here for about 5 years. Every year Dumaguete seems to get worse though. It's just simply growing faster than the infrastructure can handle and it is managed by chicken sh*t politicians that are only concerned with maintaining their power/getting votes and have no interest in making the tough decisions that need to be made. (But where in the world are politicians not doing this?)