Hello, Been lurking for some time but decided to come "out off the closet" and say hello. I married my lovely Cebuana almost 30 years ago and we have lived most of that time near Augusta Georgia where I worked as an engineer at a Federal nuclear site. We have two grown children: a son who lives with his wife near Nashville, TN and a daughter who lives with her husband in Wellington, New Zealand. After over 27 years working for the Federal government I retired with my last day on the rolls was April 30, 2016. About one week earlier, I got the 13(a) visa from the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC; they got the application from FedEx on a Monday afternoon and by that Friday it was done and at our house - wow! Our plan is to do a "living in the Philippines" trial for about two years to verify we can adapt to the heat and humidity (living in the Southern USA should be a help), and weigh the good and bad living in the Philippines to see if this is something we want to do more permanently and, if not, return to our house in Georgia. My wife was born and raised in Cebu but after nearly 30 years living in the USA she has gotten used to the cooler weather! Now for the ready, set and go .... Ready: Just retired, got the 13(a) visa and our passports. Set: Getting the house ready to rent and selling stuff we are not planning to store. Get some Balikbayan boxes readied to ship when we get a more permanent apartment or home rental. Go! Got the tickets, a hotel to stay near the BOI, a ride to take us to Dumagute and a short-term rental in Dumaguete to find something more permanent. Gary and Jackie Borba
As they say, all the planning for a battle goes out the window after 10 minutes of fighting. Flexibility also is a great virtue! Thank you. Gary
This has been an increasing issue for me for the past two years. I have lived here going on 8 years and only these past two years have I noticed the heat. Last year I thought I was going to go crazy. This year has been worse. A quick Google search shows (and we have felt it) that we have been in the midst of a record breaking drought. I don't know if temperatures are also record breaking, but it's d*mn hot these days. When I first arrived I quickly went from air all day to air only at night to using only the fan. That was probably the first month and I have never used air conditioning since. I don't know if I can survive next year without air conditioning. Right now the fan isn't enough. Among my friends, there are those who say they never want to go back to the US and there are those who have to go back because because they can only take the Philippines in doses. My suggestion would be to keep an option available back home and shorten your trial to maybe half a year. Go back for X months, rinse, repeat.
Very wise planning. Hopefully the younger filipina don't lead you astray. Two year trial is just about right in my opinion and renting your house is very wise also. Actually I am almost exactly the same as you even worked in the DOE stuff but I married here, still have a home but stuffed a shed full of things so I can return and at least cook a meal and sleep on a bed if the mice haven't claimed it yet. I have been Bohol and dumaguete and have been a few others but now am right in the city and prefer it even though I am more of a country boy. Good luck and welcome to...your new life
LOL. As for the pretty Pinay this dog doesn't hunt as I most dearly love my wife - I am the catch that is better thrown back into the sea! Need to stay a while to decide whether we are more comfortable in the city or prefer country living; one reason for choosing to start out in the Dumaguete area is we may get a reasonable compromise between the two. Plfan, where did you work when at DOE? My entire DOE career was at SRS. Gary
