I was going to start by giving a brief history of the Philippines, but I decided against it. The best way to learn about the Philippines is to read the Wikipedia article on the Philippines. What I'm going to do is to relate some of my own history and thoughts about the Philippines. Please be forewarned, if you're a regular reader, that I've deleted some old articles and recycled some of the information into this one.

Visits to the Philippines

I met my wife in Olongapo City, Philippines, in 1983 and we were subsequently married in 1985. Before the year was over, we had our only son together. In 1986, we traveled back to the Philippines for his christening and retrieved my stepson, who I later adopted. My wife and both children lived in the Philippines from 1987 to 1988 while I was stationed on Okinawa.

While my wife and children took trips to and from the Philippines in the 1990s, military commitments prevented me from joining them. It wasn't until 2003 that I returned with my wife and younger son (the older son being in the military himself at the time) to attend my father-in-law's funeral. He lived with us in Phoenix, Arizona for 10 years before he was killed in an auto accident. We shipped his body to the Philippines on the same flight we took.

Moving to the Philippines

In 2005, my widowed mother-in-law returned to the Philippines along with my younger son, who was going to attend college. Shortly thereafter, I and my wife decided that I would retire in the Philippines. We sold our house and moved to where we now live in April of 2006.

Despite what many may believe, it wasn't an easy thing to do. My military pension was and still is enough to live on, but idle retirement was not for me. Within a few short months of arrival, I started writing as a means to pass the time. More than 2 1/2 years later, what started as a hobby has blossomed into a full-fledged writing career. A career, I might add, that I have complete control over. Work at home jobs aren't for everyone, but this one suits me just fine. My secondary income may soon become my primary income. My writing career, however, is completely separate from the online business I recently started (which I mention later in the article).

My Health in the Philippines

Although it's taking me a long time to get used to the extremely high humidity here in the Philippines, living here has already proven to have some health advantages over the dry heat of Arizona, where I previously lived.

I had LASIK surgery on both eyes a few years ago, in Scottsdale, Arizona. After surgery, I had 20/20 vision. I was lucky; some people never get that result. Because of the dryness of the desert air, however, my vision didn't remain at 20/20. This is something the doctor told me about before I had the surgery: It can take a year or more for the eyes to obtain a permanent focus.

Because of the high humidity here in the tropics, my eyes remain moist all of the time. Ever so slowly, my vision returned to that magical 20/20 number. I'm now able to stare at the computer screen for long periods without getting the intense headaches that near-perfect vision can cause. My brief trips back to the US dried my eyes out and recovery took about the same amount of time when getting back to the Philippines.

I'll tell you one thing, though. It was the most frightening experience of my life. Although each eye was held open by a speculum, if I moved for any reason while the laser was operating… I cringe at the thought of the consequences. My younger son wants to have it done to his eyes but I told him to forget about it. He involuntarily shudders once in a while and the risk is way too high for him. LASIK surgery isn't for everyone.

The dry desert air also causes a form of dandruff which is really just dry scalp. I don't get that kind of dandruff here in the Philippines. When I lived in Arizona, I used to massage my scalp with baby oil once a week to prevent my dry scalp from flaking onto everything.

Needless to say, I no longer have to deal with the baby oil or the dandruff anymore.

Dining in the Philippines

There are a lot of restaurants in the Philippines. There are probably more restaurants per capita than the US. Like the US, however, people are expected to behave and dress appropriately. In some restaurants, particularly in the Manila area, blue jeans aren't part of the recommended attire while in most restaurants local to me, blue jeans are perfectly fine.

People who've never been to the Philippines would probably never expect to see so many American-style restaurants and franchises from the US. In Olongapo, we have KFC, McDonald's, and Kenny Rogers Roasters as well as the local favorites of Jollibee, ChowKing and others. In the SM malls in various places, there are even more local and American franchise restaurants.

Surprisingly, a number of good restaurants are popping up at the Subic Freeport Zone next to Olongapo. I've been to a few of them, although I can't remember the names. I have a tendency to hunt down the coffee shops.

International Travel to and from the Philippines

My wife became a dual-citizen before we moved here and she has a second passport (Philippines in addition to US). I have a permanent resident visa card for the Philippines with a US passport. We can both move back and forth from the country at will and without restrictions.

Being able to leave and come back anytime we need to has been a blessing. I've left twice, once for my older son's wedding and once for my wife's surgery. Soon, we may have leave again for a longer period of time. It all depends on what happens with my online business.

Business in the Philippines

While my wife has attempted to establish small businesses a couple of times here in the Philippines, the results were disastrous. Once she tried to raise chickens and once she tried a crop of mangoes. Both times, the profits were eaten up by carelessness on the part of the people who were supposed to take care of everything.

I, on the other hand, decided to establish an online business. It didn't start out as an attempt to make money online, but it DOES make money. The business has absolutely nothing to do with the Philippines and I prefer it that way. I made the US my base of operations, for legal and tax purposes, because I'm very aware of the local corruption. Corruption exists everywhere in the world, including the US, but nowhere have I seen it as visible as here.

Although I'm getting off the beaten path, I want to quickly mention that I won't have anything to do with politics in the Philippines, not even at the lowest level. Politicians and journalists blame all the country's woes on US imperialism. They seem to forget the centuries of Spanish domination and several invasions by other countries. Instead of fixing the country's problems, they prefer to put the blame on the US, completely forgetting the billions of dollars that were poured into this country during the 20th century. Looking a gift horse in the mouth has never been a problem for them.

Living in the Philippines

If you read what I have written, you may get the mistaken impression that I don't like living in the Philippines. On the contrary, I love it here.

When I was living in the US and moving through public places, people would rarely even notice me, much less speak to me. The Filipinos here are polite and hospitable. When I'm walking down a street, any street, people smile and greet me just like I was one of them. The fact that I'm white makes me stand out in a crowd, but most Filipinos don't seem to notice the skin color.

Shopping is not as easy as it in the US, but so far I have been able to find almost everything that I've been looking for. That speaks a lot about the improvements to the economy here since the mid-1980s. Advertising isn't as intrusive as it is in the US, therefore people just don't know where to go to find specific items. Heck, when I first got here, all of my relatives swore up and down that I couldn't find American-style washing machines and dryers. I found them in a furniture store by accident when I was looking for beds.

There are other Americans, with websites as well, living amongst us in the Philippines. Some are in the process of moving here and Dan of "Moving To The Philippines" is one of them. I would like to mention others, but I don't have their information handy (hint: leave a comment and I'll take care of it).

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• Why the Philippines?