#adamliliths

adamliliths

replied to your photo

“The view from my window last night (about 3 am Manila time I think)....”

Congrats on the move!! What made you want to live in the Philippines??

When I was in the Army in the 80s and stationed in Germany, a couple of guys in my unit were from here--one of them used to tell funny stories about growing up here in the 60s--so that’s when I developed a casual interest. It sounded cool in a “someday I should visit there” kind of way.

For a long time my dream was to go back to Europe--and I’d still like to do that someday--but then I started reading up on Pilipinas a little more, and met some Manila-area folks through Tumblr (a couple of whom I will get to meet in person this evening for dinner!), and just, the more I read and the more we talked about it, the more fascinating it seemed, until I finally found myself daydreaming about living here and trying to imagine what it would be like. Then I talked to Social Security to make sure I could still receive my disability benefits here, and compared cost of living and discovered I can live comfortably here for a lot less than I can in the US. (In most parts of the US, it is really hard to live on disability.)

I guess that’s a really long way of saying it was a gradual thing that came about mostly from talking to various people from here, and that the more Filipinos I met and the more I learned about the country, the more I wanted to see it for myself--but as a local, not just as a tourist.

So here I am!

8/10

Sorry it’s a lil late, happy birthday man!! - Adam