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Living in the Philippines offers expats a significantly lower cost of living, a vibrant social life, and a more fulfilling lifestyle compared to Western countries, despite potential challenges.
The video begins with the host waking up in Dumaguete, Philippines, discussing the pleasant weather and the consistency of its climate. He touches upon his YouTube content strategy, acknowledging areas for improvement like thumbnail design and consistency, while thanking viewers for their support. The conversation then shifts to the busy holiday season in the Philippines, contrasting it with the more relaxed holidays in the US, and recounting a humorous experience of being picked up while walking to a gathering in Valencia.
The host elaborates on the social aspect of living in the Philippines, highlighting the strong sense of community and inclusion that combats loneliness, a common issue in Western countries. He discusses various visa options for long-term stays, including tourist, marriage, and retirement visas, while also reflecting on the cost of living and financial benefits of living abroad, noting it's about a third of the cost compared to the US. The discussion touches on the challenges of content creation, the time commitment involved, and the potential for outsourcing tasks to maintain quality and avoid burnout.
Further insights are shared on the expat experience in Dumaguete, noting the presence of a significant expat community and the convenience of local amenities like shopping malls. The host contrasts the lifestyle in the Philippines with Thailand, mentioning the heat as a growing concern with age but appreciating the more substantial social life available in the Philippines. He concludes by discussing the importance of breaking free from societal norms ('the matrix'), pursuing a desired lifestyle, and the inspiration drawn from other content creators who forge unique paths.
Expat life in the Philippines offers a significantly lower cost of living compared to Western countries, allowing for greater financial freedom. You can expect a vibrant social life and a strong sense of community, which helps combat the loneliness often experienced abroad. While there are adjustments like navigating visas and daily life, the overall experience is rewarding.
Yes, the Philippines is highly affordable for expats, with the cost of living being about a third of what it is in the US. This affordability allows for financial independence and potential investment growth. It enables a lifestyle that might be unattainable in Western countries.
Key benefits include a much lower cost of living, a strong sense of community and social inclusion, and a unique lifestyle with beautiful scenery and friendly people. Expats often find a slower pace of life appealing and a fulfilling alternative to Western living.
Dumaguete has a notable expat community, contributing to a welcoming environment for foreigners. Expats can find social inclusion and combat loneliness through this established community. The city offers conveniences and a supportive atmosphere for those living abroad.
Expats might face challenges such as adapting to the heat, navigating visa options, and understanding local transportation and daily life. Content creation also requires a diverse skill set and significant time commitment. However, these are generally manageable with research and adaptation.
Retiring in the Philippines can be an excellent option due to the significantly lower cost of living and the availability of retirement visas. Expats can enjoy a comfortable lifestyle on a budget, with access to a friendly community and beautiful surroundings. The overall financial benefits and quality of life make it an attractive destination for retirees.
Living in the Philippines is significantly more affordable than in the US, costing about a third of the price. This lower cost of living can allow for greater financial independence and opportunities for investment growth. It's a key benefit for those considering an expat lifestyle.
The Philippines offers a strong sense of community and social inclusion, which can effectively combat loneliness. This is often contrasted with the isolation that some individuals experience in Western countries. The local culture emphasizes connection and belonging.
Several visa options are available for those looking to stay long-term in the Philippines. These include tourist visas, marriage visas, and retirement visas. Each has its own requirements and duration, so research is recommended for your specific situation.
0:04 Hey, good morning guys. It looks like the mic is working. Good morning. Good morning. Uh, we are live here from Dumaguete, and it's, uh, already looking like a beautiful morning. I'm just waking up here, got up about 30 minutes ago and wanted to hop on here to catch the last of the weekend crowd. And, uh, yeah, let's see here. Thought I could do some housekeeping.
0:48 Yeah, just hop on here and, uh, feel free. Hey, what's up? Hey, good morning, Justin. It's good to see you. CBL Daddy, not happy holidays, Merry Christmas to all. Yeah, Merry Christmas, everyone. And, uh, yeah, it's, uh, it's really a nice morning here in the Philippines. I'm, I'm just waking up and the sun is coming up. And, uh, it's, I think it might be a sunny day today, which is always really nice.
1:20 Sunny. Let me look up the forecast today. It'll be okay. It'll be a little bit cloudy, but cloudy is like, uh, well, it'll rain around noon. But cloudy is kind of, uh, cloudy doesn't always mean cloudy in the Philippines. Like, so it does a good chunk of the time, but it, uh, you know, the sun likes to come through and it's, um, yeah, the weather consistency is awesome here.
1:46 My buddy told me that the Philippines has like the second most consistent temperatures of any country in the world. I can't remember what number one was, but it kind of makes sense. If I look at the forecast, I'm thinking, wow, this is like, uh, I think it was Bea too that mentioned. And for those who haven't checked her channel out, Bea's got a good channel that every day in the Philippines, it's either hot and humid or it's cool and rainy. Uh, and it kind of basically oscillates or fluctuates between those two. It's either going to be hot and humid and sunny or kind of cool and rainy.
2:21 Um, 3 AM here in San Diego, California. Uh, you make great content. I'm shocked you don't have way more followers. You're definitely on your way. Stay consistent. Well, thank you so much, CBL Daddy. There's some things that I could do. I know I need to do to improve. One is thumbnails. I need to get better at making thumbnails. That's probably my biggest weakness right now is not doing, uh, not figuring out how to do thumbnails in a quality way.
2:53 That's attractive. Sometimes I think they, if I do them the way I'd want to do, they could get a little too busy looking, like visually distracting. But, uh, a lot of some of my friends that are very, very successful on YouTube, guys that have taught me a lot, uh, they really do nice-looking thumbnails. And so that's a big reason why, uh, I haven't grown quite as much as, um, maybe some of my subscribers would like to see. Uh, but that's something I can fix. That's something I can work on. That's something I can improve a lot on.
3:27 Uh, two is, is, um, I think consistency. You know, some days I've tried to put out something every day. Uh, and I think sometimes when I do that on a long enough timeline, then my quality starts to suffer. I start to get, not so much burnt out, but like I need ideas. Uh, I need, uh, I need to let certain ideas marinate and like, uh, kind of like, um, you know, meditate on them and really work them out.
4:00 Because sometimes I got a good idea, but I just don't have, I haven't put enough time into, like, okay, these are the points I want to hit. And usually after every video, not every video, usually after a decent number of videos I make, I'm like, ah, I should have included that, but it's too late. It would look kind of out of place if I tacked something on at the end. But, uh, yeah, I've been walking to Valencia lately.
4:24 Oh no. Um, yeah, so that's funny. I recently attended a get-together in Valencia, guys. And, uh, Critter Hunter, by the way, guys, check out his channel if you haven't already. I'm sure many of you are familiar, but for those who aren't, and for those on replay, check out Critter Hunter's channel. But yeah, Justin saw me walking along the side of the road, uh, because I'm not a motorbike rider. And so he actually pulled over and picked me up.
4:49 And it was kind of funny because Goldfinger, uh, rode by me, but he was in such a hurry and he didn't even stop. I said, hey, I turned around, hey Goldfinger. And, uh, he kept on riding. I thought, okay, I see how it is, Goldfinger. I see how it is. I know I don't blame him at all. He's, uh, he's trying to keep his eyes on the road, not on, you know, some random pedestrians on the side. But that was, that really made me, uh, really made me laugh. And I was just really glad Justin like, uh, pulled over and picked me up.
5:22 So, um, yeah, that was hilarious. And it was, it was great because I, that saved. I wasn't sure how far up the mountain I was a walk. And, um, so that was really reassuring. So I'm like, okay, well, Justin knows where we're going. Like, yeah, he knows the area like the back of his hand. He'll be able to get us to where we need to go. But yeah, um, and thank you again, man. Like that was, that was so nice of you. And, and yeah, always, always appreciate it.
5:50 Good morning, Doug. Uh, good, yeah, good morning. Uh, good to see you, Doug. Um, let me check my email. And I'm trying to set up something with, I, I'm just so not used to, you know, these busy holiday seasons. Um, in the US, it seems like the holidays are the one time of year I get to pull my foot off the gas pedal. Um, and, uh, you know, it's, um, the holidays here are busy, right?
6:40 For me, I've already celebrated two Christmases. I'm actually invited to another one, uh, tomorrow. And I wouldn't be surprised if a fourth one pops up. And then on top of that, all the people that are here in town. So it's a real blessing to be here for Christmas. But if you haven't yet done Christmas in the Philippines, be prepared that you're going to have, uh, your schedule's going to pick up in busyness. Where back home, like, oh great, I get to nap and I get to not be at work on Christmas Day and maybe not Christmas Eve either.
7:15 Uh, but here it's like, wow, okay guys, okay, I gotta meet with this person, gotta meet with that person. So many people are just in town for, uh, for a short time. That sounds good, Doug. Yeah, I can appreciate that. One of my buddies actually, Doug, said the same thing. He said, look, I told my girlfriend, I'm not going anywhere until after Christmas. So the stores are packed. I went down to Robinson's mall yesterday and it was the busiest I've ever seen it.
8:07 Uh, CBL Daddy, okay, so I suggest you interviewing local women. I'm sure your subs will. So the challenge there, CBL Daddy, is I looked at the, um, I looked at the audience for the interviews I do with the local women, and it tends to be limited to, um, it tends to be limited to people here. So, uh, nothing wrong with that, but part of the goal for me, uh, and CBL Daddy, you're one of these gentlemen, uh, and also gals too. I, you know, I welcome men and women to watch the channel. My channel tends to be predominantly men, but I have some wonderful lady subscribers as well.
8:47 Is the goal is to, some of what the goal is, is to try to help people who want to move over here, right? So there's a lot of guys that live here that they don't need to watch my channel. You know, I do get people here watching my channel, they're very kind and approaching me in public and thanking me and just being very kind and welcoming. But I feel that I don't have much to teach those guys. Like, same reason people ask me, why don't you make content for Filipinos? It's like, well, what am I going to teach them?
9:16 Um, there's some things I could maybe comment on or add my voice, but I feel that the people I have the most help to offer or the most service to provide are the people who are back in the US who, you know, they want to be coming over here in a year or five years, uh, maybe even 10 years for some people, and they want to know some stuff. And so that's kind of where I'm going with it.
9:39 I am open and happy to interview more, uh, local women. Uh, I just want to do so in, I don't know, like a tactful way. I also tend to, you have to kind of present it a certain way too. Like the last one I did, I got, um, a lot of negative feedback. You know, that's one of my friends that I interviewed, the sandwich girl, and I got a lot of negative feedback on that one. And so that's another area where I do want to listen to the audience and consider, uh, even though I love making that content.
10:14 Right, what beats, you know, talking to a pretty Filipina and asking, uh, you know, questions about her life or her thoughts? Uh, but simultaneously, you know, people, I, I don't know, I think sometimes it just seems like the audience isn't always super receptive to it. But it's good to keep in mind, you know, maybe I interview some more and audience reception changes. Maybe doing a live, maybe including Filipino on a live stream, like live streaming down at the Boulevard or something like that, uh, you know, might be interesting.
10:53 Um, hey Mr. Schafer, good to see you. Uh, research Flat Earth. Oh, I'm not, I'm not into Flat Earth, but you're welcome to believe that, Biff, if that's something that, uh, you feel strongly about. Thank you so much, Justin. I appreciate that. That's good to know about, uh, one tomorrow at 1 PM. I really appreciate that. And, uh, yeah, I'll keep that in mind. That's so nice of you.
11:25 Um, yeah, it's, it's, uh, I really appreciate. So that might make four. That might make the fourth Christmas that I've been included and invited to, which is, uh, you know, it really touches my heart. Guys, because I, I was at a party last weekend, a Christmas party last weekend, and we, it came up that I'd spent a lot of Christmases alone. And I'm sure some of you that are back in the US, whether you're watching this live or on repeat, especially if you're like a single guy, you know, you're a bachelor, you probably spent some Christmases alone.
12:04 Maybe you live far away from your hometown, uh, maybe you live far away from your family, and it's tough. And then you come here and you start to meet people and you start to get included in social events and social gatherings. And for me, like I have a tendency to back home to be a little, I don't know if depressive is the right word, but kind of like, uh, you know, lonely. And I think a lot of people feel that way back home.
12:32 A lot of people feel that way back home, but then you come here and you're like, wow, I'm getting included. Like I'm part of the group. I get to socialize with people and talk to people and relate to people, and it's a beautiful thing. I think that that's one of those things that's underrated about the Philippines. A lot of people talk about dating, a lot of people talk about constant living. For me, a big thing has been social life. I always felt like my interest in socializing, not that I'm not happy alone, but I think it's important to have friends with shared values, people that you could relate to, people you could talk to.
13:11 And I think a lot of guys will find that here in the Philippines. And I think it's just a beautiful thing because there is a loneliness epidemic in America. And I don't think that's as much the case here for expats. I think there is some loneliness here, but I think that if you kind of make a conscious effort to try to put yourself out there, you know, when I got here, I was worried like, oh, are they going to like me? Are they going to not like me? Not because I got any being rude, but I'm so used to back home where, you know, people could be kind of like, I don't know, not always the most welcoming.
13:54 And I found that to not be the case here. I found most people here to be quite welcoming and warm. And I talk about some of the difficult dynamics at times here, but those are issues that really stand out in my mind. Nine days out of 10, especially now that I've found the right neighborhood for me, especially now that I've kind of gotten settled in more, I'm not needing to add to my sort of friend group or circle as much. There's less and less friction.
14:28 So most of my days are pretty chill. Go to the grocery store, go shopping a bit, get some food, meet up with some friends. Usually, I run into at least one person per day that is either a friend or a subscriber. And yeah, it's different from back home where I could go a week without talking to somebody outside of work.
14:52 Doug, what is the track rate here per person at the bus terminal and airport? They were really high. Got them to cut their rate by over 50% and still think I overpaid, LOL. Yeah, Doug, so the standard rate in town is 15 pesos. I try to give like 20 at least per person if you're going far, like you're going out of town. You have to negotiate a little bit different rate, but yeah, I mean, you know, I've heard some pretty high rates. Like when I first got here, I made the mistake of asking how much and I would get told, oh yeah, two or 300 to ride across town.
15:37 And now, like I said, I try to kick him a little bit extra on time. The standard rate's 15, right? That's what many locals will pay as the standard rate. But I try to give a little extra, especially being the holidays. Now, I'm not going to go way over the top, but you know, an extra 5, 10, 15 ain't going to make or break me, but it could help them out. It could make for them to have, you know, it's yeah.
16:09 But now, on the other hand, now some people will say, oh, go over the top. I'm not saying don't. I think each person has to make their own decision about what they feel comfortable with. Certainly, the driver is going to have a lot of gratitude for any kind of gratuity or additional tip or something like that. It could really make a major difference in his week or his month, his ability to put food on the table.
16:34 The one caveat there is that if it goes too high. Now, this is what I've heard. I haven't seen this in person. Um, yeah, exactly. Very yeah, exactly. Justin, it's only 15 or 20 if it's around town, not far, and if you share with other people. They will stop for not private or far. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Like, um, and yeah, so that's a great option if you're not a motorbike rider. Like I'm not a motorbike rider, but I still like to get around town sometimes. I have things to do that day and I can't just walk it. Then yeah, I'll hop in a trike and like I said, 15 or 20 is a standard rate.
17:27 Dog, and every, to be fair, Doug too, everybody overpays when they first get to town. Like, I overpaid when I first got to town. Most of my friends overpaid when they first got to town. By the way, guys, please hit the like button if you can. It helps to boost the live streaming. The algorithm. Uh, dream thread, the only thing flatter through fear is Spar itself. Hey, Al, that's pretty good, dream. Hey, Alex, is it easy to get a long-term Philippines visa as a US citizen?
17:57 Yeah, so, so I'm on a tourist visa now. I get up to three years here. I know most of my friends seem to be either on marriage visas, I think that's the 13A visa, or retirement visas, the SRRV visa. Those two are the more popular long-term visas. I've heard some people have some concerns that the, what's it called, the, um, yeah, so the tourist visa, there's maybe more scrutiny being placed on that. I haven't had any issues, but long term, if I were to stay in the Philippines long term, then I would be looking more at one of the other visa options.
18:52 There's also a couple others that are less common that I've heard of. I don't know as much about them, the language visa, like if you wanted to study in a language school, or you want to study Tagalog in a language school. Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, I think are also options at language schools. I think there's probably some kind of visa process there, and then also medical. I know I don't know as much about these, right? So these are more niche, but, um, yeah, if you, I think under certain circumstances, people could use like a medical visa. So these are just some different options.
19:36 I recommend consulting with like a visa service provider that can help to answer more specific questions. But I'm looking more at the tourism visa in the, let's say, the medium term. And if I were to stay here long term, I'd want to do so in a committed relationship, probably looking at like a marriage visa. And, um, yeah, that's probably what I'd be looking at.
20:05 Peter, yeah, I just, I'll comment on this as respectfully as possible. I get it that, um, you know, there are people that have not always been respectful of that situation. I think it's unfortunate. Um, and, um, yeah, I agree, Mr. Schafer. I'm not going to get, I'm not going to hang on this too much because I just want to be respectful and considerate of the situation. It's a tragic circumstance for Mark's wife and son. I don't think that regardless of how a person, you know, felt about him as an individual, why they would make light of the situation.
21:19 I got a lot of flack for making the video that I made, um, but I thought I'd get ahead of it before the trolls did. Um, anyway, I don't, yeah. Um, yeah, so, so Justin mentions he stayed for three years on a tourist visa. Yeah, as long as you're, they just want you to be able to provide a coherent reason as to why you're extending, right? They'd ask people, you know, why are you extending your tourist visa? Oh, I want to open a business. You're not allowed to open a business on a tourist visa, right? Or, you know, I don't know why I'm staying. Well, you've got to have this kind of logic to explain to them.
22:07 Hey, I'm here, I'm visiting this gorgeous country. I think it's a beautiful country. There's got to be some logic of reasoning there. I mean, that's how I feel. That's why I'm staying here long term. In my opinion, you could, reasonably speaking, if you wanted to see absolutely everything, you could probably do quite a bit here in like 10 years. If you were thinking, I want to see all the highlights of the Philippines, then you could probably do it in 10 years. If you, like, week after week, went to new places, you visited Caticlan, Boracay, and Davao. You visited, uh, Palawan, a place I'm a fan of. I met one guy, I think he was a fan of Puerto Galera. This is closer to Metro Manila, so there's so many different places to go and see.
23:05 And so it's legitimate, in my opinion, like to, I mean, it's very tourist-friendly country. There's buses and ferries and jeeps and trikes, and like everything is set up here, in my opinion, for a tourist to have a wonderful time. I've found that everything I've experienced here has been great value for money. Like, for what I'm paying versus what I'm getting, I've never been let down here. The Philippines is a beautiful country. The people speak great English. I could go on and on about it, but I'm sure if you're watching this, you're probably familiar, at least to some extent, of the magic of the Philippines.
23:51 How do you survive in the Philippines? Yeah, so I have savings and some investments, Scott. And of course, I'm a bachelor, and I live a pretty simple lifestyle as well. I think a lot of people would probably not be happy with my lifestyle. I live in a fairly modest studio apartment, albeit near downtown, so a pretty convenient location. I'm not a hardcore dater, right? I'm not out dating every night or every week.
24:23 I, what else? Um, I don't buy a lot of stuff, you know. I'm, but it took a long time to get to this point. As far as just travel experience, like this ain't my first rodeo, so I've traveled extensively to close to around 20 countries. It's like depends on if you include a layover or two, but, um, yeah, it's, uh, yeah, Justin, so my channel is monetized. I've been monetized since summer. Yeah, I think June was my first month of monetization, which was just, you know, like a very modest amount of AdSense, and greatly appreciate it too. Don't get me wrong, guys, I appreciate everybody's support. I don't know if I say that enough, but it's, um, it's just been surprising and shocking to me how many people have.
25:28 It's shocking to me how many people have approached me in public thanking me for my channel. I look at it as a lot of fun, and so the fact that it provides value for other people is really special to me. Just knowing that people find it helpful is great.
25:46 Are you ever going back to Thailand? Absolutely. I still have bots, so I've still got like 10,000 bots. Unless a friend of mine is going there soon and needs bots and pesos to trade me, I'll probably go back to Thailand. I'm not sure when it'll be. If it will be next year, Indonesia is on my radar for next year, but Thailand was my first love.
26:09 I say this a lot: Thailand was the first country I went to in Southeast Asia. It was the third country I ever went to, actually. Thailand for me is a lifelong favorite. It's so easy. I don't know if anybody didn't have a good time in Thailand.
26:36 Maybe I'm biased, but if you told me I had to live there for the rest of my life, I wouldn't have a problem with it. I spent a year there in Thailand and I'd like to go back in the future and spend some more time there. One thing that could be challenging is the lack of English.
26:54 In the Philippines, my social life, if I'm being transparent, is much more substantial here. That's a hard one to downplay, but my social life here is fantastic. Where in Thailand, people keep to themselves. I found expats keep to themselves a bit more. The Thai people are friendly, but most of my Thai friends live in Bangkok.
27:16 So if I wasn't in Bangkok, then it was a little bit harder. I wanted to explore Thailand; I didn't want to just spend time in Bangkok. So that's something that's kind of the balancing act.
27:28 The airport was wanting 300. As I walked through the gate, the price kept getting lower, but I still paid 120 at the street. I'm sure it's because I had a suitcase that was screaming 'newbie'. That's not a terrible price from the airport. I think they do pay an extra fee at the airport to be able to take, to be able to like enter and exit. Most airports have like a special fee for the drivers, like an airport fee. So 120 is not a terrible price from my experience. I've had friends pay like 400 from the airport, so 120 is not the worst price.
28:11 Yeah, Scott, you're a young guy. How do you survive? Bill, how long have you been there and where are you located? Yeah, Bill, so I'm in Dagat and I've been here since early August. So I've been here for about four and a half months, and I'm not sure how long I will be here. I would like to stay at least until like March or April. We'll just see how things go.
28:46 There's a lot on my radar. I'm still not at the financial independent point, so I thought I'd go back to the US, work for a couple of years, and then be done. Because it's actually been financially beneficial for me to live over here, because I live on a small amount of money and my investments keep growing. Which might be a spin-off channel. I might do just a spin-off channel where all I do is talk about finance, that kind of thing.
29:18 But yeah, it's actually been financially beneficial for me to live over here for a year and a half. When I look at the growth in my investments versus how much I've spent, I spend probably about a third of what I would spend in the US. Everything, if you average everything out, visa fees, rent, apart from food, all these things added up together, probably about a third. And so that's just a really nice benefit for me.
29:47 And it's, I think it's going to be more and more popular for American people who don't like the cost of living, don't like the issues in the United States right now, to just try something else out.
30:11 I am a senior software developer, and I think I was the first guy to subscribe to Eastern Dreamer. The last few years have been extremely good, and I don't need to work again. I work remote anyway. That's wonderful. Peter, congratulations on your success. You earned it. Software engineering is not an easy job, contrary to what some people believe. It takes grit and determination to persist through technical problems.
30:44 I congratulate you for your success. You earned it. And to be able to live in other places or to explore the world is a real blessing. I tell myself that all the time if I get stressed out. We're living the lifestyle that very few people could even approach. Hundreds of years ago, nobody had a laptop like what I'm using right here.
31:12 But beyond that, being able to not worry about how I'm going to find something to eat, energy drinks, all these things in the modern world are super convenient.
31:34 My wife is Thai. I was okay visiting Thailand before, but the older I get, the less I can handle the heat. I'm almost 38, getting old sucks. Yeah, Peter, that's a good point. I feel it too. Compared to visiting Thailand the first time in 2018, about six and a half years ago, the heat definitely can get to me.
32:05 I think I spend more time indoors, more time running the air conditioning, than I did when I was younger. It's definitely something to be mindful of.
32:27 I think I'm going to run down probably here pretty soon and meet up with Jay. I don't know if any of you have watched Jay from Jay's Philippines, but he and I have been in touch. He just got to do meetups maybe a week or 10 days ago. I think Jay's from Kentucky, so he's from a state that neighbors the state that I grew up in. I've been watching his channel for a while.
32:58 But yeah, I'll go here in a half hour. I'll probably see keep rolling. Thank you so much for joining, Peter. It's great to see you, and I hope you have happy holidays as well. I hope you and your wife enjoy your relaxing time.
33:13 Gerard, happy holidays. Alex, hey, good morning, Jay. Good evening, Gerard. Good to see you. Welcome. How time-consuming is it to create content for your channel? Asking because I fantasize about moving abroad and starting different channels for different topics.
33:32 I think there's a steep learning curve. I do think that there is a steep learning curve because you're learning many different skills at once. So you're learning video editing, how to work with a camera, audio, thumbnails, marketing, collaboration. In a way, you're learning sales because you're essentially selling your content to the global audience.
34:00 You're learning how to negotiate brand deals. Right now, I'm negotiating a sponsorship, and that's not easy. How much can I ask for? So there's the content creation, and then there's the business element on top of it. Some people get angry when content creators want to see something for it, but for me, it helps to make the content better.
34:30 It would not help anybody in the world if all the full-time content creators, even part-time content creators, had to quit making content and go get a standard nine-to-five job. That wouldn't help, because we all benefit a lot. I've been watching YouTube since I was in high school. I'm 32 now. I've been watching YouTube for over half my life.
34:58 I've been watching YouTube since I was 14, so I've been watching YouTube for almost 20 years. And just now I'm getting into full-time content creation, like last year. It's weird this time of year, you start to forget what this year is and what last year is. But yeah, so as far as time consumption, I probably spend anywhere from like 20 to 50 hours a week.
35:29 Some weeks I'm slam busy, I'm doing collabs three or four days. I'm getting up at like 7 or 8 o'clock now that I'm in town. I was far south of the city and I'd have to tack on 45 minutes to come to town, 45 minutes to go home. Now that I'm in town, I can get around town a lot faster, and that's shaved off a good amount of time.
35:56 But I would say when you're starting out, if you're doing it full-time, like you're living overseas, you've got savings, aim for 30 to 40 hours. I'd also focus on one channel until you master some of the basic skills, because that way you can stumble a bit, you can make some mistakes, you can learn. Balancing three channels right off the bat, unless you're pretty experienced like you have experience as a video editor, you have experience doing a job where you're on camera, I think it would be too much.
36:32 So yeah, try focusing on the idea you feel most confident about or the one that you're most excited about, and then you can kind of branch off from there. For me, it's a lot of fun. It doesn't really feel like work. There are a few elements that can get a little bit stressful, but I find it to be less stressful overall, especially once I learn certain thresholds and learn certain things. Then it becomes less stressful.
37:08 So yeah, I would say on the higher end, like 40 to 50 hours a week. On the low end, if I just want to do maintenance mode, which I just, you know, if I need to take a step back, like I have the last week, maybe 10 days, I've been focusing on my passport renewal, which I need to actually fill out the paperwork for that and go turn that information in, because I've got to get my passport.
37:33 Because I've got to get my passport renewal rolling, and that takes top priority. So if something comes up that's time-consuming and I really need to be focused on it, then that will take priority, and I'll take a step back. But the more successful and large content creators do try to outsource some of the work.
37:53 Like I have friends that have people that will make sure for them, like just take their pre-existing content and make shorts. Some people outsource the thumbnail creation. That's really the long-term goal, even for me. Like now, that's not going to be anytime soon, probably, but in the long term, I will try to have people bring people on board to help me out because I don't know that it's really sustainable for one person to do all of the jobs forever.
38:26 Some people do, and there's nothing wrong with that. But most of us have certain parts of the job or the work that we like more than others. Allowing the content creator to focus on the things that they like will reduce burnout and will benefit the audience as well.
38:45 Orion, I apologize if you've already mentioned this, but what has the feedback been since that Inside documentary episode? It's been good. I think a lot of people enjoyed that. It was a great opportunity to be on a really large platform and to help communicate some of these ideas, and I'd be happy to do future programs at that scale.
39:14 But guys, I'm going to run to the restroom really quick. I'll be right back.
40:26 All right guys, I'm back. So yeah, great, great feedback on that, Orion. And I enjoyed making that a lot. It was really a lot of fun. The team was great, and CNA is just so professional, and I learned so much from doing that. They had so much to teach me about production.
40:45 And like something I had a bad habit of doing was this, well, when the mic is there, then it just, oh, it's not good. So, yeah, that was a tough one.
40:56 Good morning, Alex. Happy holidays to you as well, Bea. Good to see you. I hope things are going, your morning is off to a good start. And Elo, Elo, it's a beautiful morning here in Dumaguete. The sun is coming up, and it's going to be a cloudy one today. I think it's going to rain around midday.
41:15 So after this stream, I'm going to be heading downtown to meet up with Jay of Jay's Philippines, and that should be interesting. I need to get back to him real quick.
42:15 So for income, you're living on residual income from elsewhere and doing YouTube? Yeah, something like that, Bill. And like I said, I may go back to work for a few years in the US. I enjoy doing YouTube, but as far as my work back in the US, it's, how to explain it, it's much more lucrative.
42:51 And while I prefer doing YouTube, and YouTube is a lot of fun for me, in practical terms, it's more practical for me to work for a couple of extra years, save every extra penny I can, and then, you know, come back over here once my investments fully cover my day-to-day expenses.
43:25 I would like for my investments to fully cover my day-to-day expenses and put YouTube on top of that. But yeah, that's a good point. Doing YouTube for a couple extra years will make it grow much faster and sustain you for life.
43:50 That's not a bad idea. I go back and forth on it. Yeah, so.
43:59 Sunny, there it's raining here this morning. I hear lots of thunder. Maybe it may be thundering. Actually, Doug, because I have, I'll be honest, I haven't looked outside. I see that there's light on the curtain here, but it may be actually cloudy. I know it was raining like last night.
44:25 And yeah, it was raining pretty late last night, like maybe 10 o'clock, even.
44:33 Justin says maybe doing YouTube for a couple extra years will make it grow much faster and sustain you for life. Treat it like a full-time job every day, and it'll grow like any business.
44:43 You know, Justin, that's a great point. These are really good points, and I got to just push harder on it. It's weird to transition from looking at this lifestyle, like being a digital nomad, as going from vacation to, it's the word I'm looking for, like working.
45:10 Because you're trying to break out of gravity. Like gravity wants you to be stuck. The Matrix wants you to work a 9-to-5, wants you to do the safe thing. But a lot of the people that do that are unhappy. Not everybody's. Some people are very much happy doing that.
45:28 But a lot of people that do that, they're not happy with things. They don't really like their job, they don't like their boss, they don't like their manager, they don't like their co-workers. I've been there, dealing with all those situations and dreaming about leaving.
45:46 Dreaming about leaving and living somewhere else, living a different lifestyle, doing things differently. And yeah, you're fighting against gravity.
45:59 Not to say you can't win. Not to say that you can't win. And Justin says, it was the same for me, but a gap year wasn't enough, so I found ways to make the life I wanted sustainable.
46:14 That's the way to do it because you're not getting a do-over. Like, I have guys tell me all the time, oh, you're 32, you're too young to be living here. It's like, well, I might not make it to 62 or 72. We don't know. We're not guaranteed anything in life except for taxes and expiration.
46:36 Those are the only two things guaranteed in our lives. And so, you know, I've had this conversation with people back home where it's like, well, you know, on one hand, there's it's not the most practical. On the other hand, there's a way to make it sustainable.
46:49 And I don't want to live with tons of regrets. I already have some regrets, and I don't want anymore. And so, yeah, they wish exactly. People always, these same guys wish they had come here 30 years sooner.
47:05 But people always say you can't do things because they couldn't. And to add your point, Justin, like it's not the same as coming over at 18. Like, I think if you're 18 and you have no savings and no work experience, and you may have never lived on your own, it's going to be a higher learning curve. But in my age, I've lived on my own for very close to half my life at this point.
47:45 Let me know, by the way, guys, if you hear background music because I hear somebody playing. I didn't expect it this early, but if it's not an issue, all good. But yeah, so what was I saying?
48:17 Oh yeah, you can hear the background music. Critter.
48:32 Oh, I see he's answering his question. Okay, good. I see no response, so hopefully, okay, wonderful.
48:39 And let me, I'm going to get caught up on some of the comments I missed. I didn't run today for the rain. I'm here until January 3rd. Okay, great. So after Christmas, we'll be solid. That sounds good. We had thunderstorms last night, but the sun is out this morning. It's good that you've been meeting more people in Dumaguete.
49:06 Okay, thank you, Doug. I appreciate it. I'm always paranoid about background music. Thank you so much, everybody. I can't hear. Yeah, yeah, like Justin is super talented. I mean, that's part of what sold me on coming back to the Philippines is actually Justin's content.
49:30 Because I think a lot of us, we didn't grow up in Florida, right? We didn't grow up in, like, I don't know, like Texas or some state that borders, like, kind of the tropics. I don't want to say tropical, but like warm enough water you could just go get in the water and look at critters or creatures. Like where I'm from in Tennessee, most of the water is kind of gross, and you don't really want to go in there.
49:55 But here, there's so many beautiful beaches and options of places to look at and see. And so seeing like what he was doing, knowing that he is also an American, came from the same country I did, we even lived in certain similar areas at different times. And knowing, like, hey, there's a lot of potential out there to do something different.
50:27 And not just the standard city life, which nothing wrong with that. Like, I'm a city guy, I spend a lot of time in cities in Asia. But where you're actually going out and seeing some stuff very few people ever get to see in their lives.
50:44 Right? I mean, the stuff that Justin does is like very, very unique and one-of-a-kind, and I don't see people doing what he does. That's what I've always found exciting. There's people that do things that nobody else does, that are very different from the crowd, very different from the standard way of living.
51:11 It inspires a lot of people too, to like try to think outside the box and live outside the box. And yeah, it's cool. I wish more people could find these ways.
51:29 But no, I can't hear. Oh, yeah, yeah. Let's see. I saw more expats yesterday in Robinsons than I saw in 10 months in Quezon City. I don't hear music. Thank you so much, Doug. Yeah, there's tons and tons of expats here in Dumaguete, and I think a lot of them congregate around the same businesses, like Robinsons mall.
51:55 I was at Robinsons yesterday, actually, Doug, and went to have lunch there and get some data and do some shopping. And so many, I mean, Robinsons was probably the busiest I've ever seen it yesterday. And you do see a lot of other foreigners here, and it kind of makes sense, right? If you're looking for a western-style shopping mall, I think Robinsons is probably your best bet in Dumaguete.
52:20 There's some other good options too. City Mall is one, Lee's Plaza, Ever Mall. And what else? Tops and Bottoms. There's some really great shopping here, like much more than I expected coming to a city of 150,000. In the US, a comparable city, they might have like one shopping mall and a couple of department stores. But here, there's a lot of options.
52:48 You can buy most of what you need. Anything that you can't find, you could probably find online. Like some stuff I buy, I just buy online and have it shipped to my apartment. And it's, yeah, it's convenient.
53:04 Yeah, it's a convenient place to live for sure. Some people suggest living in the far-off provinces, like Dumaguete, and what I would call the suburbs, places like Daan where Critter Republic is based, or Siulan or Valencia up in the hills. You have so many conveniences combined with a more small-town atmosphere. It's really hard to beat.
53:28 Hey HP 84, good to see you. If you're up in the hills of Valencia, some people might think, 'Oh, it's super provincial,' but you can be downtown Dumaguete in like 20 minutes if that, depending on your mode of transportation. I rode out to Daan a few days ago, and I think it was like 30 minutes on the Jeepney, and that was in pouring rain. The rain was coming down really hard, and so I was out to like, basically, I could have walked down the street from where I was at and been at Critter Republic. That was just a half hour.
54:07 Paul, are you in Valencia? No, I'm not, Paul. So I'm actually pretty close to downtown Dumaguete, actually kind of in the center of things, which is convenient for me as a guy who's not a motorbike rider. Then I can easily get around town, and it's very convenient.
55:02 Last weekend, I went to a party at a friend's place. Then Friday, I think it was Friday, I went to another Christmas party, and I might be going to two tomorrow actually. I was just invited to another Christmas party. Compare that to back in the States, where I would just sit in my apartment alone. Having four different Christmas parties is really incredible. It really speaks to the community vibe you have in the Philippines, and here in Dumaguete especially.
55:37 The Philippines in general is a very community-oriented, family-oriented country. But then in Dumaguete, you really get the sense not only are you enjoying time with local people, but you're also enjoying time with people that have some common ground in terms of home country and the experience of being a foreigner. Filipinos are not foreigners here, and foreigners are not Filipinos here. So it's helpful to have both kinds of social circles. I have Filipino friends, I have foreigner friends, and Dumaguete is a special place. You get the best of both worlds, and I'm glad I found this place and I'm grateful toward bloggers like myself who came before me.
56:45 Yeah, I spent some Christmases in Thailand. I know what you mean. It's nice to be around countrymen, at least. Yeah, I agree. It's nice to have that kind of atmosphere spending your holidays with some folks.
57:18 Yeah, it's great to have this atmosphere, but what are everybody's holiday plans? Does anybody have any special holiday plans or anything that they want to do or plan to do?
57:37 Good morning, Jim. Good to see you. Take care, Justin. Good to see you, man. Have a good day at work. Merry Christmas to you and yours from our family here in New York and Poo Island, Philippines. God bless. Stay up. Love your content and perspective. Thank you so much, T-South. I really appreciate that. That's so nice of you, and I hope you're having a wonderful holiday in New York and Poo Island in the Philippines.
58:05 I'm staying in my home country this year. Plan to come next year. HP, what's your home country? Holiday plan: finish my ebook and leverage that as income for moving abroad.
58:24 Dream thread, feel free to drop a link when you finish it. Oh, you're from Denmark. Okay. Yeah, next year sounds like a great option. And I say this a lot: the Philippines will always be here. It's going to remain a popular place, and nobody gets tired of tropical weather and beautiful beaches and sunshine.
58:52 Proto Galin, good morning. Alex, good morning to you too. Thank you for calling out the speed of my content. It's all about Bitcoin and cold storage techniques. Very good. Yeah, I have some crypto and I have some stocks. Assuming my income grows, then I'll continue to add more to those. Right now, I just want to hit break-even where my income covers my month-to-month or day-to-day expenses. And then once it goes beyond that, I'll add.
59:31 Valencia lifestyle sounds good to me. Yeah, Valencia is a really popular option for a lot of foreigners that feel it's a bit more peaceful, a bit more quiet. You could call it a bit more upscale. I have a lot of friends that live up there, and they really enjoy it. It's a little bit different from being in the city. You don't have like a big shopping mall up there. It's more oriented towards single-family homes.
1:00:09 I'm looking for a place to get a bicycle for a 10-year-old. Nothing in Robinson's. They had bikes for very young kids with training wheels and for adults. I'm kind of hoping to find a midsize one.
1:00:50 Good call, Doug. Yeah, there's a lot out there, but guys, I may wrap this up because there's some pretty loud music over here, and it's kind of distracting. The bass is really loud. Do you guys hear anything? I hate to bug you guys, but I wasn't expecting this music at this hour.
1:01:20 Yeah, guys, so I'm going to go ahead and call it since you guys can hear it. They kind of turn it up pretty loud. So, yeah, thank you so much, everybody. I'm sorry to end this early, but yeah, Merry Christmas, everyone. Thank you so much. Like I said, I hate to call it early, but thanks so much, everyone for watching. If you're watching this on repeat, give us a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel down below, and we'll see you soon.
1:02:08 Well, I'm so sorry, guys. I just gotta call it because it's just really, really loud on my end.
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