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The Philippines, particularly Dumaguete, offers foreigners a blessed experience due to good health, diverse food options, a strong sense of community, safe living environments, and a welcome break from the pace of Western life, all supported by personal responsibility and a positive outlook.
The video highlights five key blessings the host experiences living in the Philippines for the past five months: personal health, food variety, community, safe living environments, and a break from Western life. He emphasizes gratitude for his physical and mental health, noting that sunny weather contributes to his well-being. The host also expresses appreciation for the ability to walk around and explore, finding the city artsy and full of character, and has actively built a social circle with enjoyable company.
The abundance and variety of food options in Dumaguete are a significant blessing, with diverse cuisines like Korean, Japanese, and Filipino available at modest prices. The host contrasts this with his past experiences in the US, where such variety was not always accessible. He also praises the local produce, mentioning good mangoes and bananas, and points to various dining hubs like malls and the boulevard, noting Dumaguete's impressive restaurant scene for its size.
A strong sense of community and a solid circle of friends are highlighted as a major blessing, providing a sense of belonging that can be hard to find when living abroad. The host notes the prevalence of English-speaking foreigners who share similar experiences, making socialization easier and more enjoyable. He also appreciates the safety of his neighborhood and apartment, finding it a calm and comfortable place to live, unlike some previous living situations. The break from the fast-paced and sometimes exhausting environment of the US is also seen as a significant blessing.
The video concludes by stressing the importance of personal responsibility and a positive outlook, acknowledging that not every day is perfect but that choosing what works best for oneself is key. The host defends his positive perspective on the Philippines against criticism, asserting that individual experiences vary and that focusing on the positive aspects is a valid approach. He encourages viewers to find places that are a good fit for them and expresses gratitude for his current life in the Philippines while remaining open to future discoveries.
Foreigners often find blessings in the Philippines through good personal health, diverse and affordable food options, a strong sense of community, and safe living environments. Many also appreciate the slower pace of life compared to Western countries, finding it a welcome change.
Prioritizing both mental and physical health is crucial for enjoying life in the Philippines. Factors like sunny weather can contribute positively to well-being, making it easier to appreciate the surroundings and daily experiences.
The Philippines offers a diverse and abundant culinary scene, with various cuisines like Korean, Japanese, and Filipino food available at reasonable prices. Expats can enjoy a wide range of dining options, from local eateries to more established restaurants, making it a significant blessing.
Building a strong social circle and community is a major blessing for foreigners living in the Philippines. Connecting with other English-speaking expats who share similar experiences can foster a sense of belonging and enhance the overall living experience.
Many foreigners find safe and comfortable living environments in the Philippines, particularly in neighborhoods that fit their budget and preferences. A secure and pleasant home base is considered a significant blessing for overall well-being.
Adopting a mindset of personal responsibility and positivity is key to navigating challenges and fully appreciating the blessings of living in the Philippines. Focusing on what works best for you individually is more important than comparing experiences.
The Philippines is considered a blessed place to live due to several factors highlighted in the video. These include maintaining good personal health, enjoying a wide variety of affordable food options, building a strong community and social circle, finding safe and comfortable living environments, and experiencing a welcome break from Western lifestyles.
The Philippines offers an abundant and diverse culinary scene, with options ranging from Korean and Japanese to local Filipino cuisine. These diverse food choices are available at modest prices, with notable mentions of good quality local produce like mangoes and bananas.
Building a strong sense of community and a social circle is highlighted as a major blessing. The presence of many English-speaking foreigners who share similar experiences can make socialization easier and more enjoyable, contributing to a sense of belonging.
The video suggests that safety is a key blessing, with the host appreciating the safety of his neighborhood and apartment. He describes his living situation as calm and comfortable, contrasting it with potentially less secure environments elsewhere.
The walk and talk video style involves filming while moving through scenic or interesting locations, often with the creator speaking directly to the audience. Viewers find this format more engaging and creative than static presentations, as it provides a sense of the environment.
While the video highlights many blessings of living in the Philippines, including affordable food, one comment suggests that the Philippines can actually be expensive to live in. The overall cost of living can vary greatly depending on individual lifestyle and location within the country.
0:01 Hey YouTube, Alex here. And in today's video, I want to talk about my blessings here in the Philippines. For many of us foreigners living here in the Philippines, we feel like we get to enjoy many blessings. These are just five of the blessings that I have noticed since I came here five months ago.
0:19 Number one is my health. I am grateful for my health, and not just my mental health, but also my physical health is decent here too. I'll never say it's perfect. I do struggle with some ongoing autoimmune issues, but overall, I'm doing pretty good here.
0:34 It's such a beautiful day. Definitely on the sunnier weather days, I'm probably more upbeat than some of the cloudy weather we get here in the rainy season. Admittedly, I am more cheerful on beautiful sunny days like today.
0:48 It's been a really nice break from some of the overcast weather we've been having here in the rainy season. It's hard not to feel gratitude when the sun is shining the way that it does here in the Philippines. It's really a calming and yet energizing effect.
1:05 I admit that I do have a preference for the sunnier weather, and fortunately, we get a lot of that here in the Philippines. That definitely contributes to the overall greater sense of well-being that I have here.
1:18 It's always intriguing to me to see these. I don't know if these are crab traps. Let me know if you know down in the comments if these are crab traps. They're very intriguing to look at. We're currently in an area called Esano Beach, in close proximity to the Phil Invest Mall.
1:35 One of the things I try to remain grateful for is being able to walk around and do meetups. Not everybody is in such good health that they get to enjoy this privilege and to get to see things up close and personal.
1:53 I happen to think it's a really cool city, and part of the reason I think it's cool is that I feel like I've gotten to see every inch of this town. It's artsy and interesting and could be a little rough around the edges, but it's got so much character and charm.
2:11 Interacting with lots of different people is part of how I built out my social circle. I had to sort through and sift through a lot of different people to find the people with whom I get along best. Out of the 5,000 that are here in town, I met at least five, okay, more than that, whose company I enjoy.
2:30 Joy, like look at that blue and look at that green. Just stunning. I'm blessed to be able to afford to eat at most of the restaurants in town. Not all, but most of the restaurants.
2:40 There's so much good variety here of different kinds of foods that I really like. I'm a fan of the Korean food here in Dumaguete. I'm a fan of the Japanese food here. Of course, I'm a fan of the Filipino food, and there's just so many different kinds of places to eat here at a modest price point.
2:59 I reflect back on my time in the US where that's something that I really like because I haven't always been able to just eat at whatever restaurant I wanted to eat at. And so to be able to do that here, that is a blessing, that is good fortune.
3:15 I can choose many different kinds of entrees or items that I like. I happen to like seafood, but there's a lot of great chicken here too, and pork, and beef. So that's something that I try not to take for granted while I am here in Dumaguete.
3:31 Is the amount of variety of food options that you have. I think that there's something for everybody here in terms of food options, and it's hard not to find something that you will enjoy as well.
3:47 I also like the produce here. The mangoes are particularly good, the bananas are good. I think I'm about to actually pick up some bananas here in a few minutes at the fruit market. I'm here in Quezon Park in Dumaguete, not too far from the fruit market, and then I'll head to Robinson's.
4:02 But you know, you go to Robinson's, you've got five or six really good restaurants in there, maybe more than that, and that's just one mall, right? You've also got Phil Invest here in town. You've got the boulevard that has a lot of great restaurants.
4:17 Dumaguete has a great restaurant scene, especially for a city of its size. It's not the biggest city in the world, but you've got a lot to choose from, and I've enjoyed a lot of the food I've had here in Dumaguete.
4:31 It's not necessarily the cheapest place in the world to have good food, I will admit. If you are looking for a major street food scene, I don't think you'll find that as much here as far as like sit-down restaurants.
4:43 But as far as sit-down restaurants, I think there are tons of great options. If you're not sure how I found good restaurants, hello sir. Sir, if you're not sure how to find a good place to eat, then I suggest pulling up Google Maps and typing in 'good food near me' or 'delicious food near me,' and you'll probably find something that looks good.
5:09 I also recommend meeting up with people and making friends, and your friends will often be telling you, 'Hey, this is a good place to eat.' Ah, you know what? That other place was just so-so. And that's one of the things that I appreciate here in Dumaguete is that I've got so much variety to choose from.
5:27 Finally, I happen to really like eating rice, so I really like the rice dishes here and the prevalence of rice. Rice is life. The third way in which I'm blessed here in the Philippines is that I have a great sense of community. I built up a solid circle of friends here that is unmatched by anywhere else I've been in the world.
5:46 Up here on the right, you can see Fiber McGee is a popular place for expats to hang out and grab drinks. Let me know if you prefer this walk-and-talk style vlog to my talking-head style. It's not always easy to find that sense of community when you're living abroad, when you're away from your home country.
6:04 You feel like maybe you're out of your element, you don't really know anybody. You don't know what to expect. Some days you wonder what you've gotten yourself into.
6:17 I found that having foreigner friends can really help to make or break your experience, because some people, they just end up super isolated over here. That hasn't been my experience at all. If anything, I've had too many opportunities to socialize.
6:31 Popular phrase used to be, 'It's more fun in the Philippines,' but I think that phrase still rings true today. And I think part of what makes it fun is having your foreigner friends here.
6:44 And I think part of what makes it fun is having your foreigner friends here to guide you along the way and share difficult experiences. Having friends here really elevates the experience.
6:55 And I found that the Philippines has a lot of English-speaking foreigners. And so, oh, sorry, and oh, it really helps to elevate the experience where you feel like you're hanging out with people that have shared experiences with yourself, and that you're not alone in the process.
7:18 Of making this video, I've run into several friends, and it kind of just gives you that added sense of community.
7:25 To be fair, I've been to plenty of places that don't have such a strong sense of community and connectivity, and it's something that I love about the Philippines and Dumaguete in particular.
7:34 Edgar is a great guy to buy bananas from. Everyone from Dumaguete is so nice to meet you. Thank you, sir. See you next time.
7:50 Funny enough, I ran into my buddy Chad out here as well.
8:11 Having this sense of a social circle and lots of friends, not everybody is so blessed. I found the Philippines and Dumaguete in particular to offer many great opportunities for socializing.
8:23 I never expected when I watched my first vlog about the city to be living here five years later, to be able to connect with people, people that I really admire their craft, and I admire their skill set and the hard work they put in and their creativity.
8:42 And all these great colleagues, I mean, the friends that I've made here, the sense of community I built here is incredible and hard to really fully put into words. But I owe a great deal of thanks and gratitude to the people that have helped me to succeed and to sharpen my skill set to build this channel into what it is today and what it will be tomorrow.
9:05 I've gotten so much feedback from people I really admire in a lot of ways. Without them, I don't think this channel would be where it's at. Look at that beautiful ocean. The clouds have headed home.
9:18 I think for many normal guys that come here to do meetups, they will also experience many blessings in terms of friendships. Not all, but I think most people that come here, they give it a chance, meet different people. Don't just, oh, I at one jerk. Time for me to leave? No, actually get out there and meet different people.
9:37 You'll probably find people that you get along with and slowly start to build up a friend group. That's one of the things I've been most grateful for here.
9:46 The fourth thing that I'm grateful for is a nice apartment and a safe neighborhood within my budget. I found that I've had to make a lot of sacrifices in living conditions in the US that haven't really applied as much here in the Philippines.
10:00 I found a great option for me through word of mouth, and I'm thrilled every time I come home and I've got considerate neighbors, and my building manager is a sweet lady, and it's just all around a nice place to live.
10:15 I think about the times where I didn't really like where I lived, which has been much of my adult life, and that doesn't apply to my current home. I really enjoy having a nice place to live.
10:29 It's really a calming place to know I'm not going to get woken up in the middle of the night. I'm not going to get disrupted by inconsiderate neighbors. It's all around a good place to live.
10:40 I feel very blessed also to be in a safe neighborhood. I haven't always lived in a safe area, so to live in an area where I feel comfortable walking around at any hour is lovely. I mean, I've walked around my neighborhood at 1 or 2 AM, never felt threatened, never felt like I was in any danger, never had anybody accost me.
11:02 You know, where some other places I've lived are not particularly safe late at night. It definitely makes me feel very blessed to have such a chill place to live.
11:12 I'm blessed to have such a chill place to live and also to be in a fairly safe city like Dagupan. I feel pretty safe here. I haven't had any issues here, and I can't say the same for every city that I've lived in in the world. Dagupan is a calm and chill place, and it's just such a blessing to live here and to be able to enjoy these beautiful views of the South China Sea and the boulevard. There's just something special about this place, and I have immense gratitude for being able to live here.
11:39 I did have access to these amenities from day one, but having an actual apartment as opposed to short-term accommodation like hotel-style or Airbnb-style takes it to the next level. Knowing that I'm going from month to month, I'm more in what you could call a normal building, and I have more long-term neighbors really adds to that sense of gratitude that I have. Knowing that all my neighbors are living here for a while really builds up that sense of community when you like where you live, when you actually enjoy being at home as much as you enjoy being out and about in public.
12:15 I'm still surprised I found the place that I found, but I'm very grateful for it and consider it a real blessing to be living where I'm living. I thank everyone who's helped to make that possible. For those who have always lived somewhere they like, I commend you for having the good fortune and hard work for that to be the case in your life. I haven't always had that in my life, so I have an extra level of appreciation for having a nice place to live. I've got my own bathroom, have my own desk to work at, technically I have two desks, my own shower. I don't have a kitchen space, but it's fine because as a single guy, I find it kind of a pain to cook and do dishes.
13:01 One of the other is whatever, but to do both, I'd rather just go out to restaurants or get takeout, which is what I typically do when traveling and even back home a lot of the time, just to save time, to be more time-efficient. That's just what I found works better for me.
13:16 The fifth and final point is that I'm blessed to have found a break from the US, an alternative to the US for some time. I need a break from the US; the pace can be exhausting. To go to other places that are more laidback, more chilled out, more enjoyable in many ways for myself is a blessing. Of course, we have the US dollar as Americans, and so that clearly will contribute to our comfort level.
13:44 Now, I'm sure some of you want to lecture me about how awesome it is where you are, and I'm sure it's great. That's wonderful, you're having that experience, but I'm happy where I am right now. I'm living in the moment and enjoying every minute of it. I know it's not perfect for everyone here; that's not the point of this video. I'm sure some people would love it if I went into every single exception and, you know, just talked about how difficult things are.
14:09 The element of personal responsibility is missing from a lot of these discussions. I take responsibility for my choice to be here. I overall enjoy it really well. Is everything and every day perfect? No, that's not true for anywhere in the world. That's why I think it's good for people to pick what's best for them, what works well for them. And for right now, the Philippines is treating me really well, and I feel immense gratitude to be enjoying these beautiful views.
14:38 I mean, look at that, like something out of a movie. I get a lot of people that want to come on the channel and lecture me about how bad it is for them here or how bad their trip was, and that's on you. It's not meant to be a perfect solution for everyone. Trying to tell everybody, 'Me, me, me, this is my experience,' no, that doesn't represent everyone's experience. The reality is everybody has a unique experience, and just like how everybody experiences the Philippines differently, everybody experiences the United States differently. Not everybody has a great life in the US.
15:14 Trying to pretend that that's the case is deceptive and dishonest. Apparently, it's deceptive to say nice things about here, but if you say nice things about the US, that's not being deceptive. Make up your mind. Make up your mind if you want to be critical or be overly negative. You can make your own vlog, right? I mean, this equipment is not that expensive, it's not that time-consuming. I like to look at the positive. I feel that there's always a positive way to look at things, and even when you don't get what you want, sometimes what happens is for the best.
15:50 If things didn't work out for here, maybe you found some other destination that's a better fit. Everybody always has to tell me how many countries they've been to. Maybe you've been to somewhere that's a better fit for you, and if so, I hope it is treating you well. Discussing some of the issues that I had in the United States is not hating on the US, as everybody likes to say. There's this weird avoidance culture where bringing up any issues you had in the US is considered hating on the United States. That's nonsense, that's just facts.
16:20 Talking about facts shouldn't offend other people in the way that it does. But anytime you tell an American, 'Things didn't work out for me super well over there, you know, I had some issues,' it's like you're slandering them or something. I know I lived it. I lived the US life for decades. I'll probably have to live the US life for at least another decade. Is it amazing? Yeah, I think it is amazing for some people. But if it were amazing for everybody, you wouldn't see forums and videos and channels of tens of thousands of young men trying to figure out a way to leave the United States.
16:55 It's reflective of some issues in society there, and you shouldn't take it personal when people point these things out. It's not personal, it's reality. I mean, I could go into family issues, I could go into financial issues, I could go into the cultural mismatch. There's many factors at play. Look at these hardworking guys, very hardworking. It's a real blessing to be around such cheerful people. I feel grateful every day I have a fun or friendly conversation here.
17:27 Anyway, I get annoyed when people tell me that I'm not telling the truth about the Philippines. This is my experience. I can't speak for your experience. If you have a different experience, feel free to make a vlog about it. That's the beauty of YouTube. Anybody can start a channel and talk about their experiences. I can't speak for your experience. Once again, I have my own experience. I'm having a great time here. These are some of the reasons why I'm having a great time here and enjoying my life here.
17:53 If you're not enjoying your life here, I, you know, it's unfortunate. But if you're not Filipino, maybe it's time to go somewhere else. Maybe it's time to find some place that's a better fit for you. There's 192 countries in the world; I think there's something out there for everyone. I like the Philippines, I also like Thailand, I also like Peru, Malaysia. There's a lot of nice places to live, and they each kind of have these different flavors and different types of experiences. And I think it makes sense to just try to do more discovery and more figuring out where you might want to go, where you might want to live, where you can meet the visa requirements, where you can afford to live.
18:33 These are all things to consider. I'm not trying to sell the Philippines; I'm simply documenting my experience and my thoughts on it and wanting to show gratitude, in part through my videos and through documenting my life. If I didn't like it here, if I didn't want to live here, I could be gone tomorrow. I could get an emergency passport; my passport is currently out for renewal, and I could get on a plane, I could go somewhere else. But I want to do that. I actually like it here a lot, and it's an enjoyable place to be in many different ways.
19:06 Do I have plans to go elsewhere eventually? Certainly. I'm not a permanent resident here. There's a lot of places for me still to discover and to explore and to learn about and to try out. Indonesia is on my radar for next year. May go back to the US next year. I know that wherever I go, I'll manage to survive and to make it work. Let me know what you think down in the comments below. Let me know what you think. Tell us about your experiences. What have your experiences been like abroad? What are you grateful for? What are some ways in which you have been blessed in your travel journey? It always helps to generate interesting discussion. Next, give us a thumbs up; it helps with the YouTube algorithm. And finally, subscribe to the channel down below if you want to see more content like this, and we'll see you soon.
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