I have been at my current job for 15 years, and to be able to retire I would have to work another 15 years. This did not sound like a good option for me. I am only 48 but I seem to have a vision problem – I simply can not see me working another 15 years! So, after lots of thought and financial woe I have decided it is time to quit and move overseas. To stay in America I would have to work for at least 5 years after dying just to make ends meet. South East Asia is calling!
On this blog I hope to leave a trail of my journey. For good or bad, I am still blazing a trail.
A little background is order, I suppose. I will try to sum it up for now and fill in the blanks with (amusing?) anecdotes later. I’m 48, gray haired, and overweight. An average American man for the most part. Some college – got married, had kids – didn’t finish college – joined the Navy for a few years and was in during Desert Storm (the sandbox part 1) – disabled vet, air conditioning/refrigeration tech, single dad, kids are now grown – one in college, one graduated – time for me. Good enough? Sure, why not.
The plan for the last 10 years was to retire in South East Asia (SEA). Thailand or Philippines were the top of the list. Probably Thailand. It is beautiful, inexpensive, and Buddhist. The Philippines is beautiful, inexpensive, and Catholic. I understand Buddhism more than Catholicism so I figured Thailand would be it. But you know as I got older I realized the English speaking aspect of the Philippines was a bigger draw than I earlier thought. So I went to Cebu, Philippines for Christmas 2011 and fell in love with the country again! I first went to the PI’s in the Navy and saw the sailors view, which is similar in all countries. Bars, shopping, and girls, not necessarily in that order. But going back and spending 9 days there I got to get to know the area better, and was very happy with the people I met. Everyone is so friendly (hopefully not just for my money).
Now I have decided on the Philippines, maybe the Cebu area. Time to start planning… where do you start planning? I started checking out all the expat websites I could. I found most to be almost dead sites, some were inclusive and angry sites, but I finally found a couple friendly, helpful sites. If you are interested in finding some useful info for expats I recommend http://www.philippines-expats.com/ (it is a free site and I get no commission if you click or join ha ha).
Next: the planning begins.
