One of the most annoying questions I've been asked during the last three years and some odd months is "Why are you living in the Philippines?" My answer is always something along the line of "because I can".

Family, Relatives and Friends Do Not Understand

Not only do they not understand, they tend to irritate me to no end. When my wife and son showed up at my parents' house, both before and after my father died, one of the questions that relatives asked (more than once) was why she was there and I was here. She's a Filipino and I'm an American. What they fail to understand is that my wife is also an American, having been naturalized sometime between 1988 and 1992 (I don't have the certificate handy and I'm lousy with dates).

Since I could not make the round-trip from Manila to Phoenix, my wife acted as my proxy and why not? She may not have their "blood", but she's just as much a Cunningham as I am. I have sisters that have been, or still are, married to men of various ancestries. The questions they asked, and how they asked them, were completely inappropriate considering that single fact.

Why Do I Live in the Philippines?

Why is the sky blue and why is the grass green? Why I live in the Philippines shouldn't even be a question. I retired from the regular work force in order to pursue more lofty goals. The majority of people who work all of their lives and end up retiring in the US (on a Social Security pension and other pensions) can barely make ends meet. My military pension (I am considered fully retired as of January 2008) was barely enough to cover a house payment for a house I bought in 1994. House payments for newer homes wouldn't even be covered by that amount.

I own (rather my wife does) the property and the homes in the compound where I reside. Some of my relatives think I'm naive and that's just because they've never been able to stay married. I've been married to the same woman for nearly 25 years (and it WILL be 25 in January) and there's no friction between us other than the friction we intend, if you know what I mean. Some American/Filipino marriage combinations (a lot of them) do not work and divorce is inevitable. Between me and my wife, "divorce" is a dirty word that is never to be spoken.

Why Olongapo?

I chose to live in Olongapo because that is where my wife's mother and siblings live. It's that simple. If they had lived in Manila, I would have chosen to live there. The exact location isn't important; family is important. Despite all the headaches that my wife's relatives give me, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Olongapo is adjacent to the former Subic Bay Naval Station, now called the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. The city looks about the same as it did when the base was active, but most of the Freeport Zone looks a lot better than it did as a base. A lot of foreign investors are turning this economic zone into an Asian force to be reckoned with. The prices of the various facilities (shopping, hotels, etc.) are about what would be paid in the US for the same things, so it isn't an expensive place to live for foreigners like me. Most of what's available in Olongapo City proper is much cheaper.

Plans

Other than my Internet work (which I wont dwell on at the moment), I plan to spend some time visiting and taking pictures at various places I end up at while looking for things that I use every day. My wife is in the US and I'm just waiting for her to return because I don't want to wander about the countryside by myself or with one of my other relatives tagging along.

There are a great many things that Americans don't know (or perhaps don't want to know) about the Philippines and I plan to make sure they understand why the Philippines is a great place to live despite any drawbacks I may encounter.

• Olongapo City, Philippines – My Home
• Fear and Loathing in Metro Manila, Philippines
• Surprised by Forex Cargo
• Living in the Philippines
• Philippines Hotel and Resort Offerings – Olongapo City and Subic Bay