KEY Thread If not Dumaguete then where?

True, one man's hell is another's heaven, I know one guy who loves Puerto Galera for the small town, but plenty of nightlife and diving, and another who loves Cebu and hates PG. Me personally, I hate mosquitos having grown up in Michigan, so at a minimum I require a place with windows and doors.

 

We live in Tanjay, so a ways out of Dumaguete. The reasons for Tanjay is the wife is from there and having the family support system is nice; if we need to go anywhere someone from her family will be by to make sure the dogs are fed and our son is watched over. Plus I prefer the small town atmosphere. 10 minutes from out from our house going south there is a decent, somewhat secluded beach area that is perfect for little family get togethers. Bais has some nice areas to visit and a real good selection of seafood at the markets. Decent fresh water fishing in Mabinay with a small little resort that is nice for a weekend get away.

We only go to Dumaguete on average 3-4 times a month and that is usually for buying things we can't get in Tanjay, restaurants and to catch a movie. We travel by bus to Dumaguete and then trikes to get around. Traffic does not bother us too much by using a public transportation and if we are buying big things we will either check into delivery or the wife will call up a jeepney and for less than 1000 peso they will load, deliver and offload in Tanjay. Neither of us are into the "nightlife" and stay at home more often than not so Tanjay works well for us. Close enough to Dumaguete to make the occasional trip but far enough...

I retired from the USAF as an E-7 after 20 years at 37 years old (was stationed at my first base 2 weeks before I turned 18). For a family of 3 with house and lot paid for and no bills (other than electric, internet and cable) we can get by on my retired pay. It takes quite a bit of adjustment (mostly on my part) but it can be done. I took a year off from work after 2 years working in Afghanistan and it was partially an experiment to see what I would spend when looking forward to retiring for good. We would average about $1200 a month give or take with most spent on food, beer (I like beer) and everything that comes with sending our son to school. I am not good with dried fish and rice so the food bill was mostly for pork, chicken and fresh fish; the wife spends less when I am gone as she goes back to eating dishes she grew up with which are much cheaper than the foods I prefer to eat.

It was an experiment and taking some needed time off but still wanted to go back to work. The project I am currently working should finish in summer/fall of 2018 and then I should have things set to retire for good. At least that is the plan at the moment.

Every place is really what you make of it in my opinion. I met some good people when in Afghanistan and not all was terrible, Turkmenistan is a whole different type of place but after 8 months here I am finding things to do...caught a catfish yesterday out of a irrigation canal not too far from the man camp I stay at then had a BBQ with one of my co-workers, not a bad way to spend the Sunday day off.

Shawn

 

Dave for your April Fools resolution,"no mo ho"

 

After several visits to Dumaguete over the past few years, we put it at the top of the list of a place to retire. I know "visiting" is not the same as "residing" no matter where you go. Through a very close Filipina friend, we were lucky enough to be introduced to a high-ranking member of the provincial government who lives in the countryside somewhere near Valencia. He and his wife were pretty clear that getting some altitude makes living much easier than down in the heat of Dumaguete. So, even though I tell all my friends and associates in the US that I plan on retiring to Dumaguete later this year, I really mean in or near Valencia. From reading this thread, that sounds like a reasonable idea.

I will spend a few months later this year finding a good place to rent an apartment. One suggestion made in the thread is to live in the neighborhood for at least a few days/nights before renting a place. But how can you actually do that if there is no hotel, B&B, etc. in that neighborhood? Is there anything like that in Valencia? I found two possibilities (resorts), but neither appears to be anywhere near a neighborhood where people might actually reside.

One nagging question I have about living in Valencia: Is there any form of public transportation that makes the trek to Dumaguete on a reasonable schedule? Or, do the trikes (which I really like) wander through Valencia at all? Can trikes be summoned? I will eventually purchase an automobile, but hate driving generally and despise driving in heavy traffic. I suspect the car will stay parked in Valencia most of the time.

 

...or answered.

If not Dumaguete, then where? Valencia?

 

Thanks for doing the math on Thailand heh heh. Well it's still over 30k cheaper than the Maybank deposit requirements for the Malaysian program. Of course the reference that I posted was a company that you don't have to use and DIY is much cheaper. The SRRV Philippines program is much cheaper now for military retirees being accepted but yeah you still have to 50 y/o.

UPDATED: Special Philippine Retirement Visa Offered to Veterans – Free Assistance | My Philippine Life


Back when I was living in NYC I used governmentvacationsrewards.com to actually get the lowest airfare to Honolulu to take my boys to stay at the Hale Koa DOD hotel. We went up to Bellows Air Force Station used the beautiful beach (w/lifeguards) and rented some snorkeling equipment that we later used at a popular preserve (but nothing compared to the Phils of course like Apo Island or down on the bottom of Negros etc.) and hiked up a marked mountain trail. Waikiki beach was great and the Hale Koa is indescribably luscious for us. Life is what you make it.
You do need deep pockets to live there generally unless you get a small place. Manhattan price equivalents. You can live on military housing now as a retiree near Ft. Schafter now but at the same price as on the local economy so what's the use ? I dunno.
Guam has a population of about 30% Filipino by the way. I compare Guam to the Phils because there's no air of water pollution to speak of, the Chamorro food is way better, and yeah they do speak English also. The corruption is reportedly similar but as retired military you can use the Navy hospital. And oh it has the same tropical climate.
BTW the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua as well as Belize have retirement immigration programs based on the Panamanian model (the DR used copy and paste it looks like lol). As far as I know Costa Rica and Panama still have the 90 day wonder visa run thing going on and Filipinos can visit CR 30 days visa free.

 

It's funny you mentioned Belize and Nicaragua as those are two of my countries of choice where I will eventually relocate to (full-time, then part-time) to develop my crazy dream of planting a tropical tree farm.

Yes. I'm a US Vet, military retired, female and now a widow with an adult Vet Son who is married and on his own. At this stage in my life, I get the luxury of being able to call all the shots in my life now, and do so without having to factor in everyone else plus "The Employer" into the equation -- which is a first!

I'm looking forward to my move to Dumaguete, which should happen Jan-Mar 2017. I'll be utilizing my Post 9/11 GI Bill and be learning about tropical agriculture, tropical forestry, and maybe add some agri-business into this mix.

By far, my research has told me that based on where I am right now and what I bring to the table, and, based on what I want to do and where I want to be in five years, the Philippines offers the best "deal" of the VISA offers that are currently out there in the world that I can choose from.

Cost of VISA, cost of living, being able to plug in to an expat community, educational requirements, language - these are factors that weighed heavily in my decision-making process.

Yes. I fully expect to be "shocked and amazed" by what I will discover in my living on a daily basis in the Philippines.

Yes. I fully expect to have a degree of discomfort in adapting to another part of the world which can/will be very different than what I have experienced in my lifetime and in my day-to-day living lifestyle.

But you know what? I'm not scared of this. I actually welcome this! I'm living life in the here and now -- no matter where I get to hang my hat -- and feel d*mn lucky I get to hang my hat in a few more places than most folks will ever have a chance to do in their lifetimes.

And I get to choose how to make the most it, too. I get to choose much of the hows, whens, and whys now.

So I say enjoy where you are, and be thankful for what you have and what you can pass along to others. Keep your head, heart, and hands working together and not at cross-purposes and at the end of the day, you and everyone and everything you will have touched that day will be the better for it.

ps... I tell myself quite regularly to "look at the donut - not at the hole". What is not there does not drive me so much as what is there. I could be full of S*** with this attitude, but so far, I have been able to keep my sanity and my wits about me for all the challenges I've had to face.

V/R,
nwlivewire