#expat life #digital nomad #Philippines travel #Thailand expat #travel planning

Will They Let Me Renew My Passport?

Key Insight AI-Generated

The creator explores the realities of long-term living in the Philippines, specifically addressing the logistical hurdles of passport renewal and visa management while abroad. He discusses the balance between seeking Western-style conveniences, managing the complexities of expat social dynamics in Dumaguete, and contemplating future moves to countries like Indonesia, all while maintaining his career as a content creator.

Key Takeaways AI-Generated

Passport renewals while abroad require significant lead time; consider mailing services or dedicated trips to Manila or Cebu.
Being an expat often involves a tradeoff between small-town community vibes and the increasing traffic or high cost of living in popular hubs.
It is a superpower to be comfortable alone, and as an expat, being highly selective about your social circle is essential for maintaining peace of mind.
Budget and personal preferences (like climate or local infrastructure) are primary factors in choosing between Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia.

AI-Generated Summary AI-Generated

This stream captures the raw and authentic spirit of the expat lifestyle in Dumaguete, Philippines, where the creator balances daily chores and travel planning with the unpredictability of island weather.

As the holiday season approaches, the discussion shifts from casual holiday social plans to the logistical realities of long-term travel, including the nitty-gritty of passport renewals and visa management.

The atmosphere is that of an intimate coffee-shop conversation, inviting viewers into the decision-making process of someone navigating life abroad.

The community engagement is palpable, as the creator tackles real-time questions from fellow nomads about dating, financial planning, and the specific challenges of living in expat hotspots.

By sharing personal vulnerabilities—like the annoyance of shaving or the struggle to find authentic connections—the creator fosters a transparent, adventurous, and supportive environment.

It is a candid look at the trade-offs between Western conveniences and the freedom found in Southeast Asia, resonating with anyone dreaming of or currently living the expat dream.

YouTube Video Questions Derived by AI AI-Generated

How do I renew my US passport while living in the Philippines?

What is the best way to handle visa extensions and exit clearances as an expat?

Is Dumaguete still a good place for expats to move to in 2024?

Key Moments AI-Generated

Mentioned in this video

Dumaguete Cebu Manila Thailand Indonesia

Frequently Asked Questions

AI-Generated Can I renew my US passport in the Philippines?

AI-Generated Yes, but you must typically coordinate through the US Embassy in Manila or via authorized mailing services. It is recommended to start the process well before your passport has six months of validity remaining.

AI-Generated Is Dumaguete still a good place for expats to live?

AI-Generated Dumaguete is popular for its mix of Western conveniences and local culture, but it faces challenges like increased traffic and a higher cost of living due to its popularity. It is best suited for those who can navigate the local expat social scene selectively.

AI-Generated Do I need an exit clearance if I stay in the Philippines long-term?

AI-Generated Yes, if you stay in the Philippines for six months or longer, you are required to obtain an Exit Clearance Certificate before leaving the country.

for hey that looks better good morning guys hi en call good to see you my hair is a little bit messed up but uh yeah welcome welcome you're from Melbourne um very nice I think this is the first time I'm seeing you here on the live stream I uh yeah I woke up and so I thought I'd just hop on here hey 3p good to see you yeah I'm just uh enjoying see we're about a week out from Christmas and I'm just uh enjoying my morning I'm gonna go out and film if it's not too rainy today uh it looks like it's going to be pretty rainy this week here in dagate um and so on Friday I'm going to another Christmas party I went to one Christmas party last weekend and that was a lot of fun with some friends uh some of you may have seen me on their channels like Paul and uh Justin uh was also there and it was just really great to see some of these friends and also meet some people I I'd uh I was familiar with for a while uh but just hadn't met in person so yeah great opportunity and then Friday I'll be going down to a sub let's say a suburb of dumag and getting together with some more friends for H another Christmas get together so it's great because I've had quite a few Christmases alone and so uh being able to get together with friends is fantastic um yeah I'd still like to keep putting out videos this week I took a couple days off this past weekend I just needed to refresh and kind of uh give my brain a little chance to um rest and also just kind of brainstorm on some new ideas I'm I'm trying to flesh out and work on and trying to find priorities um I've got tons and tons of ideas guys but trying to figure out which ones make the most sense or are the most valuable ideas I think that could be the more challenging part but uh yeah how how's everybody uh doing today any any plans this week I imagine most people are still working this week but hopefully you have some time off uh next week oh very cool so you're gonna be visiting Sabu for the first time in April very nice um yeah Sabu is great I need to go up to Sabu sometime I've got to find out if I could do it via mail but I need to uh there's a bunch of things I need to do up there one of the things I need to do is to renew my passport so let me grab my passport here is it [Music] here yeah so I got to renew my uh passport here this expires in um less than less than six months yeah so my my passport expires next summer and uh I need to go ahead and start on that renewal process by the way guys please give us a thumbs up if you can it helps with the algorithm um but yeah so I've got to I've got to renew my passport and um that can be done in either Sabu or in Manila and uh and then I have to either go to Manila or hire a service to have the Visa stamp transferred from uh this passport to the new passport which is fine uh I may make a trip to Manila out of it um I still haven't spent any time in Manila besides the airport so getting up there would be cool but yeah in SAU uh 3p I've got a bunch of collabs that I've kind of just been putting off for a while until I get up there uh but that would you know that that would be a lot of fun to collab with some people some of you guys probably recognize uh that I've been in touch with for a while and I've even met several people from Sabu that have come down here to do meete for vacation so it's uh yeah plus I like Sabu I'm just I happen to be a fan of Sabu I like the Cosmopolitan feeling of it um I like the variety of activities I like the restaurants I like just the Big City Vibe I mean it's just a very you know it's one of it's one of my I guess I've been to about a half dozen places in the Philippines it's definitely toward the top of my list um Mr Dave I'm in Thailand taking a break from the Philippines yeah enjoy Thailand Mr Dave I still have um some some Thai bot uh from um from Thailand uh so I I uh depending on when I go or if and when I go back to the US I thought about stopping in Thailand I I like Thailand a lot it's uh yeah Thailand is fantastic um I may end up living in Thailand in the long term uh like when I'm I'm fully what you could call retired I Thailand is definitely up there for me um there's just certain things I like in Thailand that uh you know meet my preference I mean I'm more of an introvert and I think Thailand is more introvert friendly uh there's some other things as well I like uh I like the urban landscapes in Thailand I think there's certain kind of City conveniences that are not necessarily as easy to find here in the Philippines um there's a lot I like about the Philippines too but uh I think Thailand too it was the first country ever went to in Southeast Asia so it kind of got a special place in my heart as far as uh just you know some of those formative experiences some of those early experiences in Southeast Asia uh I like Thailand a lot uh 3p watched a few of your videos so far heard a lot about dumag and xats how a lot of people are leaving not sure if that's accurate or not well I don't think the dumag ranks quite is high on people's lists today um I think it the Secret's gotten out and a lot of people have moved to daget uh because they find out that it offers a lot of Western conveniences uh it's got some big city amenities while maintaining a small town Vibe but the traffic's gotten bad you know like uh like anytime a city gets popular the traffic is is going to increase I've seen this happen in so many cities at this point in my life and it's a substantial tradeoff so if you're a person that you don't like the traffic you know that's that's going to be a reason to maybe go elsewhere um I think dag Getti is great but it's not for everyone I I that's why I hesitate to like suggest cities to people people ask me should I move there should I move there and I'm thinking I don't know like um it's not easy to find housing here in dumag especially if you're on a budget uh it's not easy to not everyone is easy to get along with um Filipinos are great but as far as the expats go not everybody's easy to get along with uh people are kind of can be kind of territorial here in dag uh people can be standoffish like xat specifically um [Music] they yeah I mean there are people that that want to like sort of like Lord overd meete and like act like they kind of run the place and they you know it's just you know some of those toxic American behaviors are present here anywhere you've got a bunch of Americans uh you're going to have some amount of toxic American behavior and yeah I mean it just you know I say it all the time I didn't come Halfway Around the World to uh you know to argue with other Americans and so as time progresses I become more and more selective about the people that I hang out with so I am more and more selective and I've weed weeded uh more and more people out of my Social Circles uh because there's a lot of people I don't want to hang out with and I think that you'll probably find the same if you go to anywhere that's an xat Hots spot it doesn't matter what country you're in doesn't matter what city it is if it's a place that is popular for foreigners to go and live then uh you'll probably want to be quite selective I mean I have friends that are super selective and don't really talk to anybody else um they'll be friendly if you approach them but they're not really looking to make more friends uh which is totally fine I think it's it's a superpower to be happy alone uh to not need other people for happiness I try to strike a healthy balance because I'm a content creator right so I've got to be open to and receptive to feedback and uh to talking to people that are viewers or subscribers I certainly uh you know I don't I don't want to act like I'm too good to talk to somebody that's supporting the channel um there's a lot of wonderful people that are helping to support the channel sometimes it gets a bit overwhelming uh just to kind of add to your your comment uh threepiece sometimes it does get a bit overwhelming getting recognized every day like when I go out and do meete I do get recognized a lot um yeah just at least once per day when I go out like I'm going to go out some point today and I and I expect to get recognized um and people are generally very nice uh like people that recognize me are generally very nice and uh you know polite and kind um nobody's been rude yet I imagine a will happen at some point uh but fortunately it hasn't happened yet um main reason I'm in Thailand is that it's not raining here for a few months it's not great for dating I'll be back in Philippines or Indonesia soon yeah I don't know it's um guys by the way please give us a thumbs up we've got 20 people in here it helps to distribute the video to uh more people when we have those likees um yeah Thailand I like a lot I mean Thailand like I said my first love in Southeast Asia the infrastructure is great easy to get around um food is fantastic the uh people are generally very friendly I had success in dating I think not as much as maybe I don't know six seven years ago I think the secrets gotten out more about Thailand and more and more people are going to Thailand uh but I still am a fan and and and you know there's there's a few women that I I've met over the years in Thailand that are still single that I'd be interested in seeing again uh assuming I'm single but um yeah I felt like the the the interactions I did have there were genuine um yeah they were they were genuine um and Indonesia's on my radar for next year Mr Dave I may I may try to go to Indonesia um and and see what it's about next year maybe maybe early next year I mean you've got to do this you gotta get you got to get this exit clearance if you stay in the Philippines for six months or longer uh which February will be six months for me then I'll have to get an exit clearance and that's going to be kind of a pain uh so yeah maybe I'll want to leave before then and uh yeah yeah I gota I got to look into getting my passport done though that's going to be that's going to be a priority for me because that if I want to go to Indonesia I'm not going to be able to get into Indonesia with my passport uh under with under six months of validity so maybe I hindle that in January and then and um and maybe I can go to Indonesia later I mean I will I I'll probably end up having to do the exit clearance which it's not a big deal to me it's just another thing you got to do uh I don't anticipate anything being a Miss there I uh I follow the rules here but it is it is something that you know probably didn't take like a couple hours probably have to go to take a cab across town or something like that you know uh wait for the processing and all that and then I'll have a Time window uh in which I can leave right so that's I think that's that could be part of the uh thing is that if you want to go within that time window then you're like okay now now that I've gotten approval I need to to hit this time window to exit I could probably buy the ticket in advance but it just requires a lot of coordination of moving parts and so uh I can see why some people they want to leave before that six months just to avoid having to do that and uh and saving themselves some some time there uh in Kenya I had a beautiful vibrant 20 girlfriend I love Africa I think it's the friendliest continent and it's usually safe Uganda is friendlier and it's good for dating I left just before six months to avoid the exit clearance I'd be an Indo now if it wasn't raining I love Africa but the flight is expensive um yeah I mean like Mr Dave I did a video it didn't get the well I got a decent reception talking about the expense of Africa uh I think Africa has a lot to offer um especially countries like Ken Kenya Uganda I've heard great stuff about Rwanda uh and I just pointed out the expense and I think a lot of people got offended about it because they thought I was like poo pooing it and I'm like no no it's not about like uh this it's not about trying to critique it it's more about just pointing out the expense right for the guy who is hyper pric conscious or like prices top of mind for him it's not going to be necessarily the most budget friendly option uh like I had one person from Kenya telling me that uh the real estate was more expensive in Kenya than Australia at least where they were from in Kenya um and so when it's that expensive then a person who might be thinking hey I want to buy a condo it's not going to necessarily be a deal that being said if the budget is not as top of mine I mean Africa is definitely of interest to me um if I go back to the States and work for a while and I get a two week vacation I might look at Africa there there's some places I really want to go that uh they're just more expensive and if I'm I'm not working it's harder to justify that in the budget but if I am working meaning I'm earning more money but I have less free time I'm happy to use some of that free time to check out Africa um if I go back to work top of mind is Argentina Brazil and Chile Chile I may only do two of the three uh or or do them in two separate trips if I'm in a short like if I've got two weeks off or something maybe Argentina and Uruguay or uh a week in like Chile a week in Brazil something like like that um but then after I get that done then Africa could could be on my radar because I'm almost done with new places in um southeast Asia as far as southeast Asia goes there's only there's four places and two of them are not necessarily practical for long-term living uh like I want to check out brunai but I don't know anybody looking to live in brunai uh and La um but I don't know much about long-term living and la like so the the two and then Myanmar has some challenges right now and so Indonesia is the last big one for me in Southeast Asia um and I'd like to to travel more in Latin America but I don't know that I I go back and forth on living in Latin America because I you know I was in Bangkok uh earlier this year and met made a new friend from Peru there and I asked him why don't you live in Peru like Peru is a great country I lived there for a few months and he said safety is a concern so he he told me the main reason he's in Bangkok is that safety is a concern um by the way guys I hate to bug you please give us a thumbs up if you can we have 25 people in here I think that's the most I've ever had on a live stream uh which is wonderful I really appreciate everyone supporting the channel and uh yeah definitely uh inspires me to keep rolling forward um but yeah what Mr Dave what are some places you're a fan of in Indonesia I have friends that are of course experienced with Bali um one of my really good friends here he lives in Bali now actually and he's loving it he uh he has a a business there he's opened up a sandals or business um and yeah I mean Indonesia see and I've got another buddy living in Indonesia as well uh I think in the Jakarta area um hey Kyle good to see you welcome to the stream I'm so glad you're joining us I think it must be Monday evening in the states it's probably late night early morning in Europe uh and then of course it's it's morning here in the Philippines I'm going to have some water really quick guys it's been a while since I've done a stream so um feel free to chime in anybody with any questions that you have or thoughts I know we're in the holiday season right now so uh you know you may be planning your travels for next year maybe planning some destinations for next year um Mr Dave I only went to Tanzania and Kenya on my trip Uganda uh let's see would much friendlier I don't recommend it because they're not so welcoming got it thank you for the heads up uh Mr Dave I appreciate you letting me know uh one of my buddies actually went to Tanzania because his uncle has a nonprofit there and he loved it uh I think he did uh the big mountain there as well he hiked that or part of it at least he said it was really a fantastic experience and Tanzania from the photographs and from his descriptions it seemed like a great experience um so yeah very cool uh good to know also about Uganda uh let me pull up a map here because I am curious to learn more I mean you know I I say Africa that it's it's for the sake of discussion right like there's only so much you could say with the massive continent many countries uh millions and millions of people but certainly it could be said that certain parts of Africa uh are more interesting or more open or more accessible than some other parts and I appreciate you uh adding that Nuance Mr Dave um biggie welcome welcome became a subscriber after watching your expat bachelor life video hope you are well thank you so much biggie welcome um yeah I'm doing well this morning I'm just uh just enjoying my enjoying my morning I slept really well last night I don't know why the last couple days I've been sleeping really great so I hope to continue that maybe because I have a little I've been having a little bit less caffeine um but I've got to go buy more caffeine because I'm I'm out of out of stock on caffeine I drink a lot of like energy drinks and coffee um and I'm feeling it a little bit but the other hand so I feel a little bit less awake but I feel more relaxed so sometimes it's nice to have a little break probably let some of the caffeine work its way out of my system yeah I don't know how long bachelor life will last I mean I'm have it's like I'm having okay experiences with dating here um Indonesia is on my radar for that uh it is you know it is something that is part of my interest in heading over there of course the Visa is not so easy um the Visa in the Philippines makes it a very attractive option uh Indonesia's Visa process is a little bit more complex I'm not going to say it's not doable but it's going to take more planning more research I'm very familiar with the VISA process here I'm a bit less familiar with the VISA process there uh good Dave cool welcome Dave uh good morning the process of renewing your US Passport would be an interesting video maybe different ways to get it done yeah so that's a good point um I've heard you can mail it I I worry a little bit about mailing it because if I've got to do a Visa renewal and I don't have my passport in hand uh it could be tricky I I like to I prefer to do things in person when I'm abroad just because I don't want to be in limbo where I'm having to go to immigration and say hey my passport is still in the renewal process can you uh you know can you give me some leeway what does this look like you know that kind of gray area where I'm following the rules but can I renew my Visa when I don't have my Visa in hand my Visa is still valid but it expires while my Visa while my passport is out of hand so that something I need to figure out maybe I could talk to a Visa service about it I'm sure that they've um they've encountered this situation before it's not going to be totally new um Mr Dave bogor is a great suburb of Jakarta but Jakarta is great despite its signs I get bored and B Bond I'm sure yoga is great I'm at a beautiful girl in bonding she was from Borneo um yeah yoga is top of mind for me like I yoga is the first place that was really on my radar for Indonesia uh more so even than Bali because I hear yoga is like the cultural capital and for me culture it food is the number one reason I travel let's just be I'm just G to be honest here guys uh number two is the culture number yeah number two is the culture just learning about different cultures uh learning about the world super interesting to me number three is probably dating um I that's top of mind for a lot of guys and number four cost to living um but it's hard to really rank them I mean I don't really I think different reasons are top of mind for me at different times different even different times of day like if I'm hungry then food but if I'm lonely then probably dating you know it it shifts around a lot um Tanzania is a super special country amazing people but it's Muslim so it's not great for dating but it's possible to date uh after my video watching Uganda seems like the best for dating that's great to know Mr Dave um okay I see it's north of uh Rwanda I used to watch one guy and he took his channel down I can't remember the name of his channel but he was a big fan of kalala he lived in kalala for a while and uh he really enjoyed it there he yeah he liked it a lot I don't know what happened to him he did some the original stuff I watched from him was in mareda Mexico and then he spent some time in Colombia um he was from I think he was from Baltimore and uh I still don't know what ever happened to him he's never resurfaced his content was interesting but uh he yeah hey Tony thank you so much Tony I appreciate that it's good to see you and I hope you're having a good evening in Canada yeah that's another so that's another big thing for a big appeal of Indonesia is here I get a lot of pressure to shave I'm prone to skin issues so a lot of people ask me why don't you shave why don't you shave why don't you shave I'm prone to break breaking out and so it just uh it looks and feels awful um when that happens and so for me having a beard um to me one I don't have like a an issue with with the way I look but two it's a comfort thing three that's the reason I'm looking at Indonesia uh is that the attitude toward beards in Indonesia is totally different um I think part of that is their faith Traditions right uh in Islam uh beard beards are like uh I think ranging from accepted to like uh maybe even for some adherence considered a requirement and so uh that's a a big um yeah that's a a big appeal is is um you know knowing that uh yeah let me do that's a good point uh biggie let me make a note of that um because that's a big appeal for me of Indonesia if I'm being honest like it's not that I'm it's a lot one it's a lot of trouble to shave two the problem doesn't go away unless I were to get laser hair removal on my face which I don't really that doesn't sound appealing to me the beer's just going to grow back right and so it so I get all these bumps on my face and then I've got to go shave it again which is painful uh and it doesn't ever really go away it just keeps growing back it just keeps growing back as I get older it grows in thicker and um it's not really like I know a lot of guys do it but to me it's like just a hangover from like uh a requirement from the military so the big reason why shaving became a big thing is there was this idea uh that guys will have to wear a gas mask right and I'm not in the service I shout out to our service members I have nothing but the utmost respect for members of our military uh but if the only reason if the only if the original practical reason to to get rid of it was for that reason and I'm not in the service and I don't make the connection there and I've had a lot of people tell me too um a lot of people tell me too like oh you need to do this for for dating and this and that and like I'm not opposed to doing it but all this dancing around to try to uh change myself around to to find someone um one like I said there's places in the world where beard is totally normal uh even a requirement for certain Faith Traditions if you can grow it I've heard in Indonesia it's seen as a blessing like oh wow you're blessed with a beard um and I don't I'm not faulting people for having that preference either if somebody would prefer to date somebody without like a woman would prefer to date somebody without a beard nothing wrong with that I'm not it's not about trying to um compromise on everything so that you become a totally different person like I I've seen a lot of relationship ship stress over compromise that people weren't really willing to make uh but they just tried to force themselves to make that compromise and uh there's 4 billion women on the planet and let's say of those 4 billion um even 500 million are are uh within my requirements or whatever um you know legal uh not far above me and age either like there's one of those women out there that's that's comfortable that's how I feel Big E is like I'm happy to trim I'm happy to shape it I'm not even opposed to shaving um on occasion but to to constantly be in there like um I don't know it just uh it's it is uncomfortable I'll look into the somebody recommended a a double a double- EDG safety razor okay it's a lot less irritating okay I'll keep that in mind VA because I'm not I'm not opposed to shaving it but the disc Comfort I mean it's just painful like I don't I don't understand like going through that pain just for that purpose um hey Doug good to see you welcome welcome uh beia good to see you beia how are you doing today beia and so yeah so that might be one area like I said guys where um a video about Red Rock hot springs in Ocean 24 hot springs in Valencia um might get views very cool yeah yeah Dave cool that's a a good call out I haven't been up there but I'd like to get up there at some point maybe I can meet a meet a lady with the motorbike the woman I've been chatting with she uh she borrows her sister's motorbike so she can only borrow it some of the time and I don't know if we could make it up there um she actually lives in Valencia too but yeah I need to I need to sh to her maybe uh that's something that could happen um I'm not a fan of a woman wearing a ton of makeup so it's okay that we have preferences exactly biggie like uh it's there's nothing wrong with preferences everybody has different preferences uh you know if I ask a hundred guys what do they find attractive I'm GNA get a hundred different answers right uh and same with gals what do you find handsome in a guy you're going to get a hundred different answers it's uh you know that's part of what makes a be the world a beautiful place is that we have unique differences and that we can uh we can make choices right we have agency to make different choices and and find what works best for us and so um yeah I'm right there with you I think it's it's a yeah it's a wonderful thing that we can make choices in in life uh beia says pretty good I hope you're doing well yes rainy in the Philippines today yeah it's it's definitely going to be rainy this week in the Philippines it's uh let's see here um the forecast let's pull up the forecast here just share this with you guys yeah so it's going to be so the temperature band is pretty small like it stays within the certain temperature uh band but it's going to be rainy today um so let's see it's cloudy now it's going to rain noon 300 p.m.

6: p.m.

9 9 p.m.

wow okay yeah so it's going to be raining until like probably 10 11 p.m.

maybe midnight and I'll probably go out uh I'll probably go out because I need to I do need to go to the grocery store I wanted to go last night but by the time I got around to it they'd already closed uh and I'd gone down to Robinson's mall but um it uh the there was a big line yeah so there was a big line at Robinson's mall and um I didn't feel like standing in the line so uh hey Paul good to see you hey Mark good to see you B says I don't check the forecast it's pretty much the same weather all year in the Philippines if it's not raining it's hot and humid that's what I'm starting to learn beia is that I just need to accept um I just need to accept the weather pattern here as being either uh raining or hot and humid and it does feel hotter up here like in dagate compared to where I was at before um uh Coman so this is for those who don't know this is like uh one of my favorite places in the Philippines and it did feel cooler down there now I don't know if that was just me I don't know if it was because I was in the water a lot more um it's pretty remote and so at first I thought H I don't know how much I want to put this place on the map uh because but it is it is pretty remote but it's so beautiful I mean this place is amazing and um yeah I hope to go back at some point you can fly in or you could take a ferry in but as you can see it's like off on its own it's uh you know it's not like connected to the mainland it's not um it's a very let's say it's a very specific place to go to I don't even think you can get there from like ble like I don't think the ferry goes there from ble um and for me I had to to fly into kagay deoro and then come up here and then take a uh take a ferry over you can fly they do have air an airport on the island and it's uh it's a lot of fun um just look outside your window you can pretty much tell if it's going to rain or not it does get a bit cooler around December to February got it be yeah it uh I was last here about five years ago and it did seem to cool off in December especially like toward the end of December um and so that was welcome I mean that in Thailand it got a little chilly even like when I was in changai uh we can pull up changai here I was in changai this time last year and uh and it got it definitely cooled off um but uh yeah what is everybody up to today um we got 22 people on here thank you so much everyone for uh joining us this morning or evening depending on where you're at in the world I uh I you know the weather here is pretty nice I I like the weather most of the time I actually like the Rainy Days Bea because it's it's soft it feels like it's softer on the eyes and it provides some contrast right like it makes you appreciate the sun I also think it's they tend to be good days for doing indoor activities like if I need to go shopping uh if I need to go to the mall if I need to handle certain like um chores then it's it's nice to have uh nice to have some rainy days for that where I could do the indoor stuff and I don't feel like I'm uh wasting you know wasting a nice weather day in southeast us warm here for this time of year 60s and also yeah I'm I'm from the southeast that is pretty warm uh for the southeast and and uh yeah it's good to get that rain I think that'll help with the uh you know help with the farmers and and that kind of thing it's uh yeah it's um that is pretty warm like for especially for mid December I remember where I'm from in the Southeast getting pretty cold in December even cold in November um hey good to see you Matt it's a cold wet one in Washington I'm curious about the California weather too um oh it's raining yeah it's raining in California too like uh East Bay where I used to live um I used to live around Oakland California and uh we could pull up Oakland here actually I used to live not too far from Oakland and um yeah it's uh it's a cold day cold rainy day in uh in Oakland and uh what else do we have going on what do I got to do so yeah I need to go get groceries I need to do more research into my passport renewal if I could just mail it up to the Consulate in SAU um I'd prefer to do that and that would just save me some um save me some hassle so maybe I'll go down there this week to the Visa one of the Visa services and ask them about passport renewal um because if that's something I got to do coming up probably want to get a a head s on that and uh and you know just just be proactive about it and know what I'm looking at because I don't you know I've got to do my next Vis extension the uh the first week of no yeah the first week of February and um I just don't want to be late on that um H topics topics what can I I talk about I do need to film a video today so maybe I could get that done uh on the boulevard yeah maybe I could get that done on the boulevard um Dave says my daughter lives at Lake Merritt oh very cool what a small world I have a a friend of mine sister actually lived near Lake Meritt as well um yeah Oakland's got a a lot of interesting stuff going on I'm I may be going back there um so I uh yeah so uh I maybe going back there um in the spring the job market starting to pick up and to be honest guys it's kind of hard for me to turn down you know some of these opportunities that are just uh you know really really high quality opportunities um I'm not quite at at at retirement yet uh so getting some of that money would be um yeah would be helpful for helpful for me and uh I know I'm starting to realize southeast Asia will always be here I like living here but I want to balance living here with also uh planning for the future and I'm getting closer like just for full transparency the living here for the last year and a half has been very beneficial for me financially uh my investments have done well uh but I've spent very little money so as far as the finance goes I benefited from living in Southeast Asia uh and I may stay I mean I spent such little you know money here compared to what I spend back home for a high quality of life uh I'm not opposed to staying here longer uh but if I get you know Money Talks let's say Money Talks uh can't you renew your p pport at the US Embassy hey good to see you Metal Gear so I can so that would be in Manila so I could go to Sabu or I could go to Manila um those are the only two places that I'm familiar with and if I could mail it in uh for more flexibility as to when I need to go to Sabu then I'd be happy to mail it in um yeah that that's that's top of mind um Doug says I just got a new passport wasn't too hard but then you need to get the new passport stamped at the main immigration office yeah exactly so you got to fly to Manila um now my thinking would be to just stay in Manila for a month um but now Doug I could do that okay so yeah so Doug thing is I could hire a service there's Services here in DTI that will do that for you uh it's it's like 7,000 pesos I think if you want to hire somebody uh to basically run your P run your passport to Manila get the visa transfer uh and then bring it back to you so you don't have to do the trip some people like that I need to make a trip to Manila at some point anyway uh and and for me if I'm going to Manila I may just make it a month um just to give it a solid go to to uh explore some of the city um spend some time up there just to you know I do the rounds as well I collaborate with a number of different vloggers um there's a lot of reasons for me to be out to go to Manila and if I'm going to go all the way to Manila maybe Mak it a monthong uh visit just to get a bunch of a a bunch of things done at once uh Mr Dave as of 6 months ago you can't pick up your passport at any consulate or Embassy mailing is the only op option uh you can have air21 pick up and drop off your passport to you yeah so thank you for the heads up on this guys uh I need to go ahead and get on it then if it takes a month I could send it in now and then ideally get it back in like mid mid January um yeah that would be that would be good um yeah I got to look into this because it's it's just coming up faster than I thought and this is the first time I'm doing a passport renewal the good news is it's not going to take me through or four months I've heard right now for PE for folks in the United States right now that passport renewal is taking like three or four months if you don't pay for the express option and I wouldn't want to wait three or four months that's a long time to wait uh just to get your passport renewed so a month isn't too bad um yeah not too bad I I'm not sure if you guys ever use these these inhalers are really nice uh this was like 100 pesos for this one and I'm not sure how long uh it lasts but yeah really nice thing to have in fact I can probably change the name of this live stream will they let me renew my passport that would probably draw drive a lot of attention um an idea is to have the passport mailed to a condo hotel in Manila then when you go get it go to the immigration officer for the office for the stamp transfer not a bad idea Mr Dave um yeah Metal Gear my my crypto is done done decent I didn't make the best picks but uh yeah overall you know things are going well for me in that Arena and uh yeah that'll create more opportunity right um and you know if I I get this new role then I'll definitely be buying more um because yeah I mean I think the we're we're witnessing a change in the financial system and uh and people are losing have lost a lot of faith in the old Financial system and they're seeing the rampid inflation and um yeah I mean it's driving a lot of people to Southeast Asia to Latin America uh parts of Eastern Europe parts of Africa uh where you can have a a more comfortable life without being on the hamster wheel um in in the US where where people are are seeing a decline in the quality of living and a decline in their standard of living and uh and they don't like that I mean it's it's nice when things are getting better it's not so nice when things are getting worse and I think things are getting worse for a lot of Americans and uh they're tired of it and so um yeah I mean I I've almost forgotten what it's like to be in the US uh and when I talk to people back home everybody seems very stressed out and uh and just kind of worn down and beaten down and um you know just this kind of like low grade frustration I got two Monon expense extension still two and a half weeks left on my old extension that gave me a big window to get the new one back and getting the new passport stamped by immigration um that's good to know Doug uh that you could do it a little bit early I tried to do that on my last extension but I didn't yet have my ACR card I have my ACR card now uh so yeah oh hey good to see you timh Hower [Music] um that gave me a big window to get the new one back and getting the new P press for S by immigration yeah what I may do is just make it a trip to Manila um I'd prefer to go to Sabu to do it but I mean Manila uh makes more sense for practical reasons Mr Dave now that I remember when air21 came with my passport I was not at the hotel and they refused to let the hotel hold it so my recommendation is to mail it in right now after you extend your Visa so I extend my Visa a few weeks ago and um yeah so maybe like it it's something where I'll reach out to them even today and just say hey what does this look like um I'll go ahead and mail it in I'll make the payment online I I've got the the money to make the payment online I just need to uh have the link to make sure that uh I compl it properly um Doom Hower says I've forgotten what it's like to be in the United States after four or five years I would probably have culture shock there after a week or two yeah I just I have culture shock talking to people on the phone like I forgot how kind of Ed up things are I forgot how stressed out people are um I forgot how riled up people are about politics American politics um I I don't miss it to be honest I Miss some of the people a lot um I miss some of the conveniences uh but aside from that I don't find myself miss it in fact missing it in fact I miss it less than I did a year and a half ago um it just isn't what it used to be uh it's a lot more stressful it's a lot more fast-paced people sound panicked when I talk to them um and it's you know the crime is has gotten to be pretty bad from what I hear uh I remember crime getting worse when I was there a year and a half ago and uh yeah it's just confusing I mean I feel confused and I know I'll feel really confused when I go back I'll have to go back even just to visit at some point it's uh it's just like another PL it's just like another planet in a lot of ways and uh yeah I don't know what the future bodess for it I think there I I suspect now this is not Financial advice I'm not making any suggestions on what to do I suspect there will be a melt up that asset prices will melt up of the course of the next few years uh and then it may you know and and we'll probably go from there but I I think um yeah that's it's Doom Hower it's just strange man like it's living in Southeast Asia feels more like the norm to me now where people are generally polite uh not everybody but you know people are on average more polite um and like I just forgot how rude Americans have become I don't know if Americans have always been this rude or always been that rude but that's one of the things I noticed when I I talk to people back home is that they they they have like this sarcasm infused in a lot of the interactions and it they just take so much time to be inconsiderate I don't know I don't know why that is I don't know if it's just the people I'm talking to um yeah I don't I don't miss that at all I don't I don't miss the way people treat each other back in the US like they just don't like each other I don't know what I don't know if it's just me guys chime in if you feel differently maybe your area is a little bit different uh maybe have a pretty tight-knit Community where people are nice to one another um but I I just have the sense that that's uncommon if that's the case for for you um how do I know when I'm finally ready to make the move abroad yeah it depends on on your situation dream thread I think it's uh I think a lot of it relates to uh your financial situation what is your investment income or business income like what are your expenses going to be like abroad I'm a fan of doing a discovery trip and getting a sense for what you'll spend each month and that changes with inflation and that changes with where you locate uh big cities abroad are going to be more expensive um vacation destinations are going to be more expensive small towns in M nowhere will be cheaper um college towns tend to be a little bit more budget friendly but yeah you need to I would suggest doing a discovery trip and selecting a couple places that you've read about you could see yourself living and then go figure out does it match my expectations what do I need to live here go and do a gr a trip to the grocery store make a note of the prices of the things that you like it's really more and more it's a financial uh question you're ready when you're financially ready um health is also up there uh but it's really just a question of do you have the money do you not have the money uh I think a lot of American people would leave if they had the money I think if they had the financial resources with the amount of information that's available on the internet I think you'd see a lot of people uh packing up and leaving especially men especially single men Bachelors I think a lot of Bachelors would just be like ah you know what there's nothing for me here in the US anymore um might as well go somewhere else where I feel like there's more on offer for me uh when you go to the Embassy I would go and I get there an hour early it was a long line waiting to get in thank you for the heads up Doug I appreciate that yeah I've heard about that that the embassy tends to be quite busy and you got a lot of people uh you know a lot of people down there by the way I think we may have a different batch of people guys please give us a thumbs up if you can it helps with the algorithm Doom Hower says mistrust jealousy annihilism are taking hold it'll get worse as the country does yeah I agree jimh Hower um you know as the economic Gap widens and and you have a a tale of two countries um and people lose faith that they're going to be able to improve their sis their life improve their education um in uh you know move up in the world yeah I mean people will become more and more uh unhappy because that was the promise of the United States that was why people wanted to live in the United States was that they could improve their lot in life and if they feel that they canot not it's it's not going to be pretty I mean people uh when they feel that the system is no longer a ladder up but they're just on a treadmill um it's going to have major consequences I mean it's just GNA that's just the way it is uh maybe things will change you know but I I don't I don't rely on Hope as a strategy I don't I don't sit around I hope things are going to get better I hope things are going to get better uh I believe in taking action I believe in trying to do things that could set you up for success and I think one of those things Americans are going to find increasingly to be the case is that they could leave the United States they're financially prepared they could go to some other country uh even just spend some time traveling abroad maybe they don't make them permanent a permanent move but maybe they take six months or a year to go travel in Latin America uh or southeast Asia or maybe the Balkans or um maybe even parts of southern Europe I mean parts of southern Europe can be much more affordable than the US I had a friend in Denmark of all places recently and said yeah I felt like the value for money was better in Denmark which is a notoriously expensive country yeah I get along with with people in the Philippines but certainly there's some challenges Mr Dave there's there's uh yeah um yeah I I there yeah anyway have air21 pick up your passport I mailed mine at an LBC office and they sent it to okay got it um but yeah guys um feel free to chime in with any thoughts you have um I think most of the folks in the chat either want to leave or leave the us or um they already have left the US depending on where they're at their journey and uh you know I commend everybody for being willing to try it I have more and more friends willing to try life abroad people I never would have thought would leave the us to go visit somewhere else are more and more willing to do so and so that's yeah that's always really interesting to to see and and hear people's reasoning and um yeah oh biggie I if you're still here let me know um yeah you you know you make what you think is good money but it just seems to not have the same purchasing power I mean that that was what I dealt with is I finally got to a sixf fig job and uh oh great great to see you and people were telling me Oh man you know you you got this great job and and it's like ah you know I rented a small very small studio apartment uh in California and people say oh it's California it's California well a lot of the really well-paid jobs in the United States are in California or are in Texas or are in New York um you know that's just the nature of the game is that the high paid jobs are in the places that are expensive most people don't have jobs that are high paying in cheap places um cost of living is related to people's income so um yeah I made what I thought was good money and I I now I did live far below my means I by the time I got to the good paying jobs I uh I just basically no lived it I I didn't spend any money on entertainment I would I work from home part of the time uh and I would just go straight home home after work and research southeast Asia that was what I did for uh well over a year I'd already visited southeast Asia just researching like um you know where do I want to go what you know how can I moderate my budget um you know these kinds of things and uh it um yeah that's how I spent a lot of my time was just trying to figure out how to get out and uh and not spending money realizing hey if I spend you know $20 on a meal here which I would do once in a while that $20 can I can eat for multiple days uh in good good quality food uh if I take this money outside of America so yeah that was a a uh something that was top of mind for me yes everyone thinks I have a made and compared to them I do but still doesn't feel like I have the wiggle room I used to have no you don't uh they're going to keep they don't want deflation the only way that the Ponzi scheme of the US Financial system continues uh is if they just keep um inflating they just keep making the money worth less and less uh because they can pay back the debt with weaker dollars and also weaker dollars means Better Business for for US exports um so they don't want the dollar to be so expensive that other countries cannot afford to buy americanmade products like software uh Hardware construction equipment um American food right America produces a lot of excess food that gets sold to other countries um so there's this battle of trying to uh figure out how to maximize Revenue they don't really care about the American people uh as much as they care about the business interests and uh and so it's that's why it's good to invest is that that's what the system is set up for is to help investors and to help business interests um you know the regular American Joe is seen as disposable and uh yeah uh I'm starting to get ready for my trip hey Doug uh holler at me when you come down here it be great to meet up uh while you're in town uh you know if you have time Doug be great to meet up you know uh get a cup of coffee or uh you know something like that I yeah yeah I always like to see folks when they come here to do meetti and um it's yeah I mean it's uh do MTI is a Charming City in a lot of ways no it's not perfect but I happen to like living here I I think it offers uh great value for for what it is is it a manila it's not a manila is it a bona pasio Global City it's not a bona Global City but it is an interesting place with a lot of characters I mean there's so many interesting characters here in uh in dumag Getti that it uh yeah it's got a lot of unique charm uh Doom Hower no lifing it is a good process to go through every successful person I meet still carries that mindset even younger guys with money to retire already yeah and I think too it's it's valuable to um to lower your threshold for happiness my threshold for happiness when I was younger was super high I had to have this I had to have that I had all these desires that I couldn't control and I was deeply unhappy and now I just want for shelter but I don't I don't want for shelter I have an apartment I actually really like here um I want for food but you know I don't really want for food I have prettyy good food here in DTI uh Transportation I walk a lot which I know is not what a lot of people would prefer but I look at it as like a blessing that I'm in good enough shape to be able to walk around uh it's I'm very fortunate to be able to walk around not everyone has that uh Good Fortune uh like you did Big E says like you did I'm putting away money away now in hopes that it will go further in my retirement years in a place like southeast Asia I've lived abroad before and I enjoy being in and around different cultures I'm really only in the US now because I want to be near family um hey that's awesome that you've lived abroad you've already taken a big step that a lot of people haven't yet taken so you already get it and you already know that there the grasses uh can be greener you know some people tell me oh it's not that much better of BR the most important decision anybody can make is where to live it affects their jobs their health their cost of living their weather uh just about everything in life is location dependent um go and talk to somebody working in Tech in Bay Area could you make this money elsewhere they would tell you no I need to be in the heart of the industry tell somebody working in film could you do this elsewhere besides LA or Atlanta they're gonna or New York City no you're not going to move to rural Wyoming and and work in film uh like unless there's some secret out there I don't know about uh location makes yeah it affects every part of life and and that's the beauty of the modern world is that we're more mobile than ever and that we can go and live in different places and experience different places uh and yeah being close to family is a valid reason biggie I don't blame you there um you know for for you like family being a priority there's nothing wrong with being in the US and being able to spend time with the people you care about uh family is not a priority for me so that's part part of what makes this so easy is I uh family is just not a concern for me and so uh makes it a lot easier to be over here uh yeah so I'll drop my email um in the the chat Doug and uh feel free to to send me an email uh Doug and you can um yeah we can we can exchange contact information and um uh see okay you so I I see where you're staying yeah um yeah I have a general idea of that area uh we could always meet up at Robinson's mulg uh Robinson's is a great option uh they've got you know it's nice and air condition and there's some good uh you know good restaurant options and but feel free to send me an email Doug and we can hammer out the details but that sounds great uh Mr Dave I rented a house in b mind now for 15K it's still the nicest City that I found still though it's nice being in Thailand for a while um yeah you know bhan sounds really nice I know this uh there was a guy from Tex or Oklahoma and he lives in bhan he had a channel for a while uh that did really well but um I think he took his channel down he decided it just wasn't for him but uh yeah um it's a tradeoff for sure Mr Dave I mean I I'm a fan of the cities in Thailand that's something that will never get old to me is exploring Thai cities I mean the the energy and the vibrancy um the safety I like Thailand a lot I would not be unhappy um I would not be unhappy living in Thailand I the only reason I left Thailand by the way guys the main reason is that my Visa was close to expiring and I wanted to try something different if I had to get on a plane and go to Thailand tomorrow no Pro not a problem there uh and if I were to stay in the Philippines tomorrow not a problem there I look at it as their different flavors um neither one is superior uh they just offer different like different things um but both are interesting I like the English and the Philippines I like the nature in the Philippines um I like the food in Thailand a little bit better I like um I like just like you know exploring um some of the cities in Thailand a lot uh Jerry says I spent my whole life living for family just thinking maybe my turn if not now when I'm in my 60s now yeah I was fortunate to come from a messed up family so I'm the first to admit it my family's got a lot of issues and so I found out at a young age I don't want to be like them and so uh it was a no-brainer to to travel and to go experience life abroad um you know I was harassed about it told this and that and and I just ignored it and I've been no to low contact with my entire family for most of my for all of my adult life so as soon as I turned 18 I cut off the majority of my family uh and what little family I speak to I speak to very infrequently like once every coup once every few years um they're very very toxic uh and and I don't want to be part of that Dynamic um I know some people they're too embarrassed to talk about this kind of thing um but that's just been my experience and uh and I'm not going to be apologetic about it you know I try to do my best and I I follow the rules and and I found that uh for my life I'm just happier traveling I'm happier being around people I choose to be around right uh that's a beauty of social media is that we're all um I don't know if you could say volunteer but like it's you know there's there's we're all agreeing to be here on this stream right and so uh it's um yeah uh biggie I visited Thailand I need to visit the Philippines before retirement yeah the Philippines is worth a visit like the beautiful thing about the Philippines is I think even for people that maybe living here isn't the right fit because it's not going to be the right fit for everybody it's an awesome country to take a vacation in I mean the islands are gorgeous there's so many beautiful islands uh the people are generally friendly to Outsiders in my experience there's a lot of friendly people here it's set up to get around very easily for tourists like there's fairies there's boats there's planes um they they want people to come here and have a good time and so even if you find out you know what it's not for me for living maybe the heat isn't for me uh maybe I um you know maybe I I found that there's some other places that that are closer to home right I mean you're halfway around the world from the US so if you want to be close to family the Philippines isn't necessarily the easiest option for for Americans um but yeah and and once again with the family thing I'm not s suggesting that applies to everyone I think a lot of people have great families and Healthy Families I wasn't blessed in that way uh and that's okay I'm blessed in a lot of other ways I have um I've had a lot of a lot of Fortune in my life and and I don't want to downplay other parts of my life that I'm I'm very happy with um yeah hey HP good to see you not sure what I want to film today I've got a bunch of ideas uh in the tank and yeah uh HP I'm not part Filipino but I do get that question Sometimes some people think I'm half uh or or maybe a quarter or something like that um no I'm not not Filipino but I do love the Philippines uh Big E I've lived in Djibouti 117 in March I think the heat wouldn't be a problem for me that is very hot I could not handle that kind of heat especially with humidity I'm not sure if jibuti is um is is humid but um yeah that's uh that's really hot um I think the heat wouldn't be a problem yeah if you're the heat to me I get I mean I run an Aon a lot um so that that's a big that's an expense that I pay for I uh if I averaged out all of my Aon bills of the last year and a half in Southeast Asia it probably works out to like 50 60 bucks a month something like that uh for me to run Aon as much as I do I do spend some of my time at malls uh and air conditioned environments which helps to moderate the cost um and also I just always end up in a mile or in a mall to uh to you know to handle errands to have lunch uh malls in Southeast Asia are generally very nice environments you can do several different things at once like phone service food uh some shopping Pharmacy all these things you can just handle in one place and uh and you have airon so it's I'm a fan of the malls here I think they're great it's something that isn't really as much of a thing in the US anymore so um uh I'm close with them just that I'm mostly ignored at home don't blame them I'm older they love me found myself 90% of the time alone just wanted a little Adventure yeah well Jerry that's a great point is that in America people are so busy I have people tell me oh why don't we why don't you take care of your relatives this and that I've got to work in the US it's a very luxurious experience to not have to work as a young person there are some young people that they're very fortunate to not have to work uh maybe they married into wealth maybe they uh you know bought some crypto early or something like that most young people have to work they do not have the opportunity to skip out on work uh many young people have to work second jobs they have to drive for Uber they have one SEC guys well I'll let it run um they have to drive for Uber you know they've got to work all the time so as much as they'd like to spend time with family uh doing so would put them in financial Jeopardy if they want to pay their bills if they want to pay their rent for their food their transportation uh it's a luxurious experience to to be able to just hang out um most young people are not in that position most young people are trying to get ahead trying to stay float uh to have this experience where they could just hang out is not realistic I I had to move for work so I did not find jobs to be to my liking and my home state and so that's part of the reason I moved to California is that there were far better opportunities for me in California um what kind of laptop do you edit on yeah so I use a M2 MacBook Pro uh dream thread I it's uh it was pretty expensive I spent about 3,200 on it it a year and a half ago and um it's still running strong it's help it really is helpful for me for chopping up 4K footage it just yeah it just get it uh it gets right through it and um I'm I'm very fortunate to have this laptop it makes it saves me a lot of time saves me a lot of time in editing and producing my content it's on the coast so it was also humid yeah 117 and humid is woo that's really hot Diggie um TJ you always come up with interesting topics it's refreshing from the same old videos thank you so much TJ yeah I plan to do some of the topics that have been covered already to give my own original take but I that was one of the things I set out to do with this channel is what could I talk about that other people aren't talking about now I'm starting to notice some people picking up some of my topics which is fine I don't mind I I get it but uh I think a lot of people are afraid to offend people I think a lot of people are afraid oh I got to I've got to cow out to expats because if I don't tell them what they want to hear they're not going to watch and it's like yeah I want people to trust me I don't really care if um if I'm not the absolute most commercially successful YouTube channel catering to expats that's fine with me um but I want to prepare people that are are going to come over here because they're sold these these house on dreams that living overseas is perfect it's not perfect I see it as a tradeoff we're making a conscious tradeoff we're giving up some things to get certain other things and it's important to discuss those because pretending it's all good and everything's perfect does nobody any favors um I think that's where we run into some of these these problems that we see in expat communities in the Philippines but also in other countries uh where people have mism mismatched expectations they they think that it's going to be a certain way that it's not uh they only have ever seen the positive and I don't I don't think that I'm negative either I think I'm neutral some people would call me negative because they see neutrality as Negative they they think the default is positive and I tend to be an optimistic person but I I also don't believe in in being so optimistic uh that it becomes toxic positivity right um there's a lot to love about life over here I'm generally very happy uh but now am I happy 247 365 no that's not really realistic either there's some times where uh it's you know it's not all sunshine and rainbows there's I think sometimes people also get it in their head that vacation mode will will reflect day-to-day life and that's not always the case um you know coming here on vacation is generally different from living here like I came here for a month vacation five years ago and that experience was different from me living here for over four months now I've been here in the Philippines for over four months and it's wonderful in a lot of ways but uh that you have to have a different attitude toward budget you have to have a different attitude toward um you know things that could be Charming on you're on vacation can wear on you when you're living here that's that's a big thing and it's also to help people find the right place for them some people they they're unhappy as an expat not because they're unhappy as an expan because that location isn't the right location for them and so maybe they need a bit more money to live in a different location that would be more in line with their preferences maybe they need to um get maybe they need to look at some other visas in some other countries like they want to live in a certain country but uh they would need to do jump through some more Hoops for that Visa right um I think there's something for everybody abroad but there's not but everything is not for everybody not every PL you know every place is not for everybody uh I think I'm getting robbed my power and subbu is 10K that's pretty expensive Jerry that's a pretty high bill um my bill was like my last bill was I think 800 but that was for two weeks this bill will probably be 2 and a5k I've been running my aircon a lot this month and I expect to pay for it maybe 3K or more uh I have friends that their electric bills run around 5K and uh so I'm expecting it to be a little bit pricey if you like heat 115 or higher come to Arizona dry heat or not I didn't find Philippines any worse than a Missouri summer I edit with iMovie on iMac yeah uh I don't find Philippines bad because where I grew up in the Southeast you know it reminds me of that um it it reminds me a lot of the South East and uh so it doesn't feel like I mean it's hot but it's not something I'm I'm inexperienced with it's what I grew up with in um in Tennessee uh yeah um yeah so I use iMovie as well I just want to clarify that that I I do use iMovie uh I've had people suggest cap cut to me and also Final Cut Pro so those are uh potentially on the menu in the future but yeah um how about the reality making money with YouTube I'm still in the red on YouTube so the amount of money I've spent on equipment um the amount of money I've spent on uh software um I don't expect to make money on YouTube for a long time I'm I'm covering some of my expenses but uh it you know that's one of the reasons I would consider going back to work in the US is that you know six figures in the US or very very modest amounts of money in Southeast Asia uh I you know I if I'm looking at just the financial it doesn't make Financial sense to do this but I enjoy doing it so for me it's a lot of fun it's a hobby uh the bigger thing for me has been connecting with people I get along with I met a lot of people that are really cool and interesting and um helping people is also valuable to me in the long term I uh I think that the channel will grow and that that more and more people will be watching um but it's uh yeah I mean if I looked at it surely from business like I also don't push people to donate you I don't push people for super chats uh I ask for subscription I ask for people to subscribe or to give thumbs up or to give comments but I don't really like push the audience to contribute if people want to contribute it's welcome um certainly my equipment is not free certainly my software subscriptions are not free but to uh yeah to try to to try to rely on that it from a Time perspective like it makes more financial sense for me to be in the US and working uh but it costs more money there my quality of life is not as good uh it's more stressful it's a rat race kind of feeling I don't I become a very different person when I'm in the US I'm I'm stressed out and uh I'm just not very happy in the US so I'm I'm trading money earning potential for a quality of life in the present with the idea that YouTube may eventually become big enough or grow large uh large enough to um you know to to help to sustain me over here uh but I don't count on it either I mean like my bigger goal is to have my investment income pay all my bills and then do YouTube on top of that like ah if YouTube doesn't work out whatever my investments recovering my day-to-day expenses doesn't really matter if it succeeds or not I think those are the most honest channels um where it's icing on the cake as opposed to okay I have to have this work out um that's just my thought about it because if it has if it has to work out you can get into click baiting or you can get into um doing shock content or you know hun takes or just trying to kind of stir up drama which I'm not interested in HP I am in my early 30s I am 32 uh Big E the difference in attitude is what I found most refreshing when living abroad generally people outside the US are more appreciative of what they have yeah I mean that's a big part of that is is um you know the industry in the US they they want people to feel insufficient they want people to feel uh insecure uh because they're easier to be sold to right if person feels bad they're going to go out and spend money to feel better uh and that's good for business right but it's not necessarily good for people in the long term I think it's better for people to hold on to their money uh to be to make wiser more wise financial decisions uh live below their means prepare for a rainy day one split air runs most of the time three kids here two but still 10K yeah that's a lot Jerry um that might be worth kind of maybe it might be worth getting you I don't know if have you gotten your aircon cleaned I've heard that can be an issue Sho I probably need to get my airon cleaned uh I would yeah I would look into that Jerry like not so much saying that you're being overcharged or not being overcharged but rather maybe there's some things you could do like getting the airon cleaned uh maybe having it service maybe calling out a technician and saying hey can you take a look at my airon my bills running pretty high is this something that we could adjust um biggie how would you describe the quality of food compared to the US most of the population in the US is overweight and I theorize the food products or at least part of the culprit yeah so one sec guys I'm going to just turn off my air oh man I got I had to turn it back on because they're playing music yeah they're always always playing music um it's okay biggie I eat some imported food like I eat imported Stakes uh the chicken is good it's like a meat and potatoes kind of country or meat and meat and rice um I would say there's somewhat limited uh vegetables here not that they're not here but um you're you know it's uh it could be yeah um I think Big E you want to if you're a healthy eater you want to budget more for that uh I think healthy food here can be costly um it's just the nature of it you know I I think if you're your top of Mind concern is food then a lot of people would struggle in the Philippines I like the food here um personally like I like uh I like the food in the Philippines but I have I'm pretty adaptable I can find things that I like everywhere I go uh I haven't been to a country where I haven't been able to find good food I think you do have to seek it out in the Philippines I think you have to look it up more it's not like Thailand where Thailand I can just walk down the street and find good food here I have to do some Googling I have to ask friends for recommendations I have to be willing to spend a bit more money uh Thailand they have a lot of uh food on the street or or very modest cost restaurant options where I could spend say2 $3 for a good meal I think it's harder here in the Philippines to spend $2 $3 for a satisfying meal uh they import a lot of food and so that drives up the cost but yeah I think if your your top of mind is food you're gonna have to make more adjustments here I like the tuna here a lot uh I like the some of the fruits that I find here to be quite nice not quite uh the same variety that you might be used to in uh you might have encountered in some other places and that's and part of that just the nature of being an island chain being tropical um it's yeah there's there's a lot that goes into that I think that uh food could be what's the word um it's something that that that some people do struggle with here some foreigners they they do find that they're not able to get the foods that they like or the foods they're accustomed to um that kind of thing can't even hear it thank you for the heads up TJ I appreciate it um I I always tend to be cautious about it because sometimes they they'll turn the volume up anywhere uh there's music sometimes the volume uh can get turned up and so yeah um we thought about using patreon I have dream thread but I'm not sure exactly yet what I would offer U but it's a great call out that I could do patreon I have some Channel membership stream thread if you want to check the memberships out I I got to be honest at this point the memberships for my channel are more in supportive capacity like hey you want to support the channel um I've had members tell me just release content for everybody I just want to see your channel succeed um with with live streams for members it's not always easy to find a time that works for everybody I think uh several of my members are back in the States and so the coordination there can be challenging I think also the interaction right uh it's you know here like with with uh the audience being The Wider Channel it could be easier to get uh interaction with the um it could get it could be easier to get more interaction to make the streams more engaging or more interesting uh but yeah thank you for the call Dream thre like I said you know if you want to help support the channel at this point dream thread memberships uh you know great way to help help support the channel uh what do you think about these uh people like that guy trashing um that's a great Point um you know I don't really like any kind of drama or any kind of attacking person I have uh experience with you know dealing with some trolls I think you've got some people on the internet a small amount of people but but a nonzero amount of people that are deeply Disturbed and uh and you know it's it's unfortunate I think the best way to to handle that is to ignore them to not give any attention a lot of these people are desperate for attention they're looking for attention uh any and it's a risk anytime you're trying to build wealth which is part of the value of vlogging for me is not just the financial but also the social capital right I've met so many cool people through vlogging which could be described as a form of wealth that I wouldn't have known if I didn't put myself out there but anytime you put yourself out there you are going to get people attacking you anybody trying to build wealth will always be attacked by people trying to play status games um they think that that some of for some of these people that want to attack they don't want people to come to the Philippines they don't want people to come to Thailand they want to be the only Foreigner in town uh they want to be the only Pat around um they don't want people to succeed they don't want people to be informed and anybody that's vlogging uh in a way that could um you know benefit them the the vlogger right through financial benefits through Social Capital uh through also learning new things I learn a lot of things just because I've got to do vlogs and so I've got to be paying more attention in a way that if I wasn't vlogging I wouldn't have to do um and there's the wealth component I mean uh financially vlogging can be lucrative and some people say oh I've had people tell me oh don't do it for this don't do it for that anybody that's good at anything wants some level of compensation for their time to focus on it I mean does it help anybody if uh you know all the vloggers went away I don't really think it helps anybody I think the vloggers actually do a lot of good for a lot of different places and they increase tourism and they increase informed tourism and they increase awareness and knowledge and uh you know like that's just the way it is uh some people don't some people are anti- business right some people don't like the idea of people engaging in business activity in general uh and vlogging is just an extension of that they would prefer to live in a uh more um I don't know like a society without any business and uh that to me doesn't sound too pleasant but you know to each their own yeah dumag Getti in general is a very polarizing City a lot of people either really like it or they really don't like it I tend to be one of those people that overall likes it I think it offers a lot of convenience I think it offers great value for money I think it offers a Charming small town atmosphere I think it offers different neighborhoods for different people a lot of people that are in relationships they like Valencia I happen to live near downtown because I'm a single guy uh and I like walking a lot too so being near downtown allows me to walk around a lot um my diet has really gone downhill uh I was moderate carb in Colombia and was training for a marathon here I still run daily but I'm sluggish I've gained about 5 kilograms high carb yeah I think Doug the big thing here is that uh you have to um you have to be more mindful here right like I'm not saying you're not I have the same issue here too I've lost weight coming here from Thailand uh mostly because I just eat less I I find that in Thailand uh I have a tendency to overeat because um the food to me is just just some of my favorite food in the world and it's also so cheap so it's like oh I can go out and eat uh uh breakfast for $2 and lunch for $2 and uh a late lunch for $3 and dinner for you know $6 and so I just am constantly eating here I just don't eat as much you know for better for worse I eat lunch and dinner that's about it so I've actually dropped weight uh here because of that um and rice is a is a big one too Doug it's not easy to go without rice here rice is so huge and uh it's I found rice to be even more prevalent here than in Thailand um rice is big in Thailand don't get me wrong but here a lot of dishes are like meat and rice or vegetables and rice or Fish and Rice Thailand I found some places especially in changai that are just like vegetables like stir Fred vegetables um with some rice but like I don't know I get what you mean though uh HP I lived in Thailand for one year I'm excited to try out the Philippines for comparison did you ever consider trying out other countries and how long do you plan to stay in the Philippines so I lived in Thailand for a year HP uh from last summer to this past summer I lived in Thailand primarily changai uh hot Yi um Bangkok uh Krab Province and Paia I love Thailand and I'd like to go back there at some point I also visited Vietnam and yeah uh yeah so next up on my my radar HP is is Indonesia I'd like to go to spend some time in Indonesia I'm not sure when I will do that I'd like to do that next year we'll see how things go do you use WordPress for vlogging or just YouTube uh just YouTube at this point but I should probably do a WordPress uh that would really help to expound my uh Horizons um yeah snacking at night there's a lot of good snacks Doug like Philippines has amazing desserts I mean the desserts here Thailand gets a lot of credit for their desserts the Philippines has some fantastic desserts I was at a party last weekend and the desserts were fantastic the coconut uh and the rice desserts and the cakes and the pastries like the pastries here are incredible um I go to this bakery at the W not all the time there's uh like a club and bar here in DTI called why not and they've got a bakery and I'm there almost every day I'm embarrassed to say that but I'm I'm there almost every day it's um you know that's something that's preventing me from losing the last probably like five kilos that I need to lose is I stop in there and I get these Apple uh desserts like there's this apple custard kind of bar thing they have uh they also have Donuts Cream filed [Laughter] Donuts they have some cakes too uh one that I want to try they have this blueberry cheesecake they do that looks really good and uh there there's a lot of desserts there's a big dessert culture here that makes can make it you know challenging to lose weight uh what district did you live in in Bangkok I lived all over the city of Bangkok so I spent time mostly in East Bangkok uh also time in North Bangkok I like uh I'm partial to echi I'm partial to um a uh Victory Monument is a nice neighborhood as well there's uh there's dream thread there's a lot of great neighborh you can't go in my opinion you can't go wrong in Bangkok I will say if you're new to the city look at East Bangkok because uh West Bangkok is cool but like you have to what's the word it's a little it's kind of like the Brooklyn like if you go west of the river it's more like Brooklyn not in terms of danger but just um it's you're not going to get as much of the tourism like kind of vibe as you will East now they're developing it and they're it's growing but uh east of east of the river and and uh that tends to be where like on the circum vet line of the BTS system uh that tends to be your e like your I think your best introduction as a tourist it costs a bit more but you're going to have a ease of access to transportation and getting around the city I think that's where I would recommend starting out at as far as my favorite District I I keep that close to my chest because I I have some haunts that I like to go to and and I'll keep them on the DL for now uh I'd like to try Indonesia as well yeah Indonesia is uh it's you know a lot of people really like it a lot of people have been telling me about it uh my buddy that introduced me to Cambodia he lives in Indonesia now and he likes Indonesia a lot it uh yeah it's uh it seems like a cool place it's on the up and up like the country is on the up and up they're improving a lot of things they're uh you know the economy is growing they're they're bringing some manufacturing there uh Indonesia seems really interesting and a little underrated um compared to some of the more well-known uh neighbors like Thailand I think Philippines as well so I'm looking forward to it um Donuts are God food and I wasn't a I I like donuts uh Mr schaer I like donuts a lot guys I'll probably wind down here in the next few minutes because I'm starting to lose my voice a bit Doug I like the coffee shops and after a run I shower and then go to the coffee shop and get an cafe Americano and a pastry yeah the coffee culture here is really good in dumag I like that part a lot um it's yeah good coffee is everywhere in this city it's it's such a nice thing about living here dream that thanks a lot yeah anytime but yeah any last questions or thoughts guys feel free to chime in um it's uh yeah it's it's I think um I think it's going to be a wonderful day and and I hope everybody is doing well wherever they are in the world uh we're so so fortunate to live in the modern world in many different ways and um I've I've enjoyed this conversation with all of you and look forward to chatting again soon anybody watching this on replay gives a thumbs up it helps helps with the YouTube algorithm please comment down below do you have any plans to travel next year um you have any uh anything on your radar finally if you want to see more content like this please subscribe and we'll see you soon have a great day everyone um thank you Mr Dave and uh I'll see you I'll see you all soon all right take care everybody bye bye

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