⌛ Why move to Dumaguete?

Some can adjust, others are too set in their ways to do so. Some see the glass as half full, others see it as half empty.

The Philippines is not for everyone. Me, I love it here, away from the rat race and oppressive government. When I was travelling back and forth, the first emotion I felt when getting off the plane in Manila was FREEDOM. You think the US is the land of the free? Well, I don't.

My electricity bill in Valencia costs me roughly $8/month, compared to often $300+ in the states.

Here, a cold beer costs me the equivilent 31 cents, in the US $2-3 and up.

Here when I walk down the street people are friendly and smile. US? No comment.

Here the girls are pretty, freindly, and smiling. US? Fat egotistical controlling witches.

Here I leave tools laying in the yard, leave the key in my motorcycle parked on the street overnight, our house doesn't even have locks on the doors! US, seemed I had something stolen every day with no recourse available.

Here I don't worry about lawsuits or have any problems with the law. US, a constant battle with the authorities and overregulation.

Here I work 20 or so hours per week to support myself, and am usually relaxed and enjoying life. US, often had to work 80 hours per week in order to pay the bills. No life at all other than work and twice yearly trips to the Philippines.

Here I have a beautiful woman that loves me for who I am. US women are only interested in how many digits are on your paycheck.

The government here allows me to come and go as I please, whereas my own government's overbearing regulations make it impossible for me to take my wife for a visit to meet my friends and family. Due to that, my parents both died never having met my wife.

I hope you enjoy TN just half as much as I enjoy life here, but somehow, I doubt that is the case. Some people can never be happy no matter where they are.

In those cases, the problem is usually not where they are, it is WHO they are.

Larry.

 

Hi Larry,

Good to read such stuff of a clearly happy guy.
But I would like to make some remarks to your conclusion.

Some people are lucky lo live on the right place (like, assumably you did not in the USA).
I know enough people here (in the Ph) who can't leave their things in the yard or their motorcycle unlocked.
I know enough stories of foreigners "robbed" ( what you call the 'digits on their bank accounts') by their beautiful Filipina.

IMHO.....it's a quite one-sided view if you state that in general US women are so (and Filipina's are NOT).
I have been a lucky guy so far as well however :D
No lawsuits here ? Well you are again very lucky and maybe because you don't have a business to run here. Some of us get lawsuits by "good friends".

But it is good to read your positive reaction and I agree with it, be it with previous marginal notes.

 

Theft issue. True enough, a couple of dogs makes a lot of difference. Different areas are different too. There is very little crime in Valencia.

I too know personally several foriegners who have been robbed at gunpoint in Dmgte, and two that have been shot. However, compared to where I lived in the states, this wouldn't even have made the news.

I do run a business here. I support myself here with no outside income or savings operating numerous ventures. I have recieved the normal threatening letters from lawyers, but knowing a little about the law myself (from necessity living in the US), my return letter generally lets them know I cannot be bluffed. I do in fact write a better legal letter than any lawyer I have met here.

Note taken on the women issue. A bad generalization I agree, but not completely off base either in my experience with American women.

It takes some time to adjust here, and this I think is where a lot of guys go wrong. They come here thinking it's all going to be peachy king in just a few months. It takes most people more than a year or two to adjust to the different lifestyle. Some can adjust, but others just cannot get around their preconcieved ideas of how things should be. One thing I have learned, things are often done much differently here than stateside. Sometimes there is a good reason for it, for one reason or another it works better that way here. Other times it doesn't work better, but you are not going to change the way it is supposed to be done in the mind of a local, so there is no sense beating your head against a wall about it. If you must have it done that way, do it yourself!

Sometimes there is no right or wrong, just a different way of doing it. Some are openminded and can accept alien ideas, some cannot.

Larry.

Larry.

 

Daffs,
It’s called pesonality. At a certain point in life attraction has a lot more to do with pesonality than personality. Even 40 years ago I didn’t look like Tom Cruise so it is not hard for me to realize that women aren’t looking at me as the fulfillment of their sexual fantasies. I wonder if all the hotties that Donald Trump winds up with think he’s sexy or maybe it’s the money. In the Philippines it just takes less money to play the game.
As a fat 66 year old who has been married for 25 years to a Filipina I still enjoy being eyed up and flirted with by young beauties rather than being treated as a dirty old man. I feel sorry for guys who don’t get to enjoy this, and really sad for guys who fool themselves that it is something more than it is.
Kenny

 

Different people have their different reasons.

I am not there yet but will be soon. I am not going for the cheap living. I am not going for the women. There are LOTS of other places you could go if it is for the women. Personally, I have always had that S. American fetish.

Asia is an exciting place. China is rapidly rising. The Philippines is a great place to be if you want to be close to the action. Cheap tickets to other Asian countries and then come back home to recharge and go out again. The greatest thing about the Philippines is that the visa is as tourist friendly as any. You can stay here for up to 16 without having to leave if you do it right. Of course I will be leaving much more often than that but I don't want to have to worry about leaving the country every month like I would have to do in Thailand.

I also will have a business there making my money from clients in the U.S. and Europe. I could have selected anywhere in the Philippines but I have a relative living in Dumaguete.

 

Why move to Dumaguete?

Interesting reactions on this thread.
I only question myself WHY Bandit did start this topic and at the same time enumerating only a lot of negative "facts".
I should expect (with his findings in the Ph.) a search by him for possible different experiences and observations then the ones he had himself.
I don't see the purpose of making a posting "why move to Zimbabwe" on a Zimbabwe-forum when I had only bad experiences the 2 years I was there.
I did like very much the reaction from Ken, by the way.
There have been other threads on DI about this same topic to find out what people do especially like to come or select Dumaguete or its surroundings.
It's only good (for getting the pro's and con's) also to read the disadvantages of staying here. But ONLY con's ????
How come ?

 

I just remembered to look back at this post. I'm glad to see the replies weren't full of rabid Dgte foreigners questioning my ability to assimilate into a foreign country etc. I really get tired of hearing people infer that I'm the Ugly-American type. I'm far from it,and really enjoyed the people of the Philippines for the most part. Just fantastic.

I started this topic here, because it's the best place to ask the question. And, as I read about more and more foreigners proclaiming their intent to move to Dgte, I think they should know some realities about the area.

I posted the cons because frankly my memories of Dgte are mostly cons. The longer I lived there, the longer the list on cons became. Many of them small, but still.. Mind you there are plenty of towns the same population as Dgte in the USA that aren't worth uprooting to. I hate to say mostly cons, because the word Dgte always brings a smile, and it's not so much Dgte per se that's the problem.

With the thought that I might find myself living in Dgte again next year. I know I could adjust and be happy diving, snorkeling etc of course, but I was kind of wondering if I'd missed something while I was living there.

I mean I spent a lot of time roaming back roads north and south of town on my motorcycle,and riding towards the mountains as far as I could go. Eventually I felt I'd seen pretty much all of it. The next town worth going to (Bacolod) is 4hrs away. Not much in between.

Rental prices have certainly skyrocketed. At current costs, the advantage of moving there seems to be over.

I know costs can be cheaper in Valencia. If one is going to compare minimalist living expenses in Dgte/Valencia etc, I could counter with the fact that one can live in a tiny home or trailer here in the US, live on rice and fish, and not leave so much behind.

Ken experiences notwithstanding... After my first trip to PI and Dgte back in 1999, I was all romantic about the place etc. I went down to TN while back here, and finding myself a bit lost, pulled over into a strip mall in town to check my directions. I wasn't there long before a local walked over and asked if I need help.. It struck me there are of course nice people in the US, not just in PI. Which had me question the 'need' to go so far overseas just to find nice people etc.


Like the sailors in Mutiny On the Bounty who had to return to Tahiti, there's a part of us that can't forget the islands and Dgte, I agree.

 

Bandit,
I'm originally from NY which may color my impression of Tennessee. I hope that when you get back to Dumguete we can have a beer or two together and compare notes.
Kenny