if I spent that much time studying in college I I'd be a doctor by now they all tell you on on videos like this to come with the plan a b and c I came with plan eight I
grew up uh 10 miles across the river from Louisville Kentucky are you going to feed your your workers am not going to have to feed them I'm not going to cook you know not unless you want hot dogs
it's the fact that you're outside your comfort zone I'm retired what else I I do I'm the one that has to adapt hey YouTube Alex here and in today's video we're going to sit down with my good friend
Jerry Jerry is an American who has been married to a Filipina in the United States for almost 20 years now and they recently decided to relocate here to lzone where she is from and they're really enjoying their new
life so I thought we would sit down with them and get to know them Jerry has recently retired after a career with the US Postal Service after completing a career with the US Air Force and without further Ado
let's get into it Jerry if you could please introduce yourself I'm uh Jerry I'm uh from Indiana retired in Kentucky now we're retired in the Philippines talk a bit about your career are you comfortable with that oh no
problem uh I'm retired military I spent uh for your service you're welcome uh spent 20 years in then I uh left the military then I uh played around for about a year and then I uh joined the postal
service and then I retired from there with 20 years as a postmaster I've got two 20-year retirements wow you really planned very well you're going to be very you know comfortable here in the Philippines how long have you
been here in the Philippines been there 3 weeks now wow so you're fresh yeah yeah we uh spent the first week at uh her hometown where will'll be building a house and uh been on vacation since so uh
yeah as far as the uh setting yourself up you know they don't have a manual in high school or anything college that you know word for word and you'll guarantee you're going to be know success in life uh
it was always that U mitigating Factor called life so I just you know threw did what I could and it it turned out all right uh unfortunately for a lot of people they they're not as blessed so uh
things didn't turn their way and now they struggle so yeah we've been in the Philippines for three weeks now we're heading to sharal for another week and then uh then back uh to the hometown and uh back to
reality so you're not yet here permanently yes oh oh you are here permanently yeah I'm on the right now we're on the B buying Visa oh wonderful uh Heidi from uh CNG Consulting uh is setting up my wife
to get her dual citiship she let her passport run out uh so for any of y'all back in the States don't let your Filipino passport run out it's a it's a major pain but uh Heidi's going to take
care of that then I'll be getting my 13 AV Vis it so right now we're on the one-year B buying and so a lot of guys you know they part of what brings them here is they want to
meet a Filipina but you actually met your wife in the states how did you guys cross paths I was down in Atlanta excuse me I kind of got a head cold going on but I was down in Atlanta
on a little uh vacation and uh went to a restaurant and uh she was there and had to talk to her so started talking and next thing know she moving to uh Indiana so uh we've been together about
19 years married for about 17 so yeah wow so that's so atypical you know I think it's really cool um but a lot of guys of course they come here as a bachelor where you're coming here as a
committed man yeah it's uh when uh we made the decision or actually I say I came up with the decision to move uh kind of funny story uh we were sitting at there watching TV one night and I
was kind of doing a little bit of drinking and uh leaned over to to the wife and I said uh let's move to the Philippines and she looked at me she said uh what said let let's move to
the Philippines she said well let's talk about in the morning I said okay so we get up next morning and she said do you remember what you were telling me about last night and I said I was drinking
a little bit and I said yeah let's move to the Philippines she said if that's if that's what you want to do let's do it so and then it all started from there the amount of uh research I
put in the past two years oh goodness if I spent that much time studying in college I'd be a doctor by now so but uh between the the Google and the Thousand hours of YouTube and and uh I
did my research I did my homework uh did I mess a few things up yeah I screwed a couple things but nothing that's you know life-threatening or uh you know they all tell you on on videos like this
they come with the plan a b and c I came with plan a might be some variations of plan a but there's not going to be any andc so yeah what what prompted you to make the move it
was a plethora of reasons um first off not the most important but first of all the states is not a pleasant place to be right now the uh political divide is so uh obvious I mean used to be
you know when I was growing up and even up to 10 years ago nobody cared about political side you were on you know now oh yeah so uh and everybody's mad over there it's like you don't find too
many pleasantries anymore you know even the small towns in the country you know it's like people are mad but U one of the major reasons I decided was uh you know with my pensions and everything we could survive
over there just fine uh even with our mortgage we had a real Beau house on the lake but if I died then she's in trouble uh she wouldn't get any my she would get half my uh postal pension
and she would get my Social Security you know come out to maybe you know 3,000 3500 a month that's she couldn't she would have to sell the house move into a little tiny apartment or something like that you
know we over here with that 3,000 3500 month you can live just fine plus we you know we're building a house uh we have solar and our own well and so are once we get everything done our operating
expenses are going to be uh very small so uh you know when I kick the bucket as they say then uh she'll still be well off you know but uh that was one of the major factors uh when
I was working I had plent of insurance you know she could paid the house off oh she could buy St a pool boy you know but after I retired that's expensive I the insurance is expensive and then you
know able Aid into my uh budget pretty good another reason is I like Adventure you know I I spent so long in military that I love to travel did you travel in the military oh yeah I've been to
over 50 countries uh and it's different because you're getting paid to do it yeah yeah you know so it's a you got some money in your pocket yeah so it's uh you know they give you pum and and
stuff like that and uh so it was it was fun you know uh and we plan on doing that here um once we build our house uh we're going to travel the Philippines extensively cuz our plan is to
find that magical Beach that we both love and either build or buy a house there where we can spend a two you know 6 months there six month at the beach uh but we also plan on traveling southeast
Asia you know Cambodia Vietnam Thailand uh she wants to go back to Hong Kong uh she was a uh overseas worker when she first left the Philippines and she was in Hong Kong so she wants to go back
there and uh you I'm going to go la might even uh South Korea um I was station there for a year I missed the food so uh but uh that's our that's our plan whether it happens or not
so it remains to be seen but we're going to give it a shot that's incredible um in over over the years now I know you guys have been married almost 20 years now had she told you about the
Philippines or or you were just was it more travels you you had yeah I had already been here oh You' already been oh yeah yeah I spent three months at Clark uh when I was in military uh spent
uh before I right before I retired I spent another few weeks uh before I came back to the States 2018 we spent a month with her family uh she we don't property outside of bagio uh so uh that's
where we're going to build we first was looking into it we looking at Thailand and Vietnam as well uh the the tiing factors Vietnam uh is just as cheap if not cheaper than Philippines uh language big barrier language
barrier big barrier in language Thailand I know you spent a year there I think yeah I love Thailand yeah uh I think the people are nice inside the bigger congested areas when you get outside to pop you know
populate it I found them not to be as nice they weren't mean but they weren't smiling and you know the language you definitely get outside of of your bigger Bangkok Paya puket they don't speak English at all but
their food their infrastructure and they're just as cheap as the Philippines so why we chose fill was she own land here and English they uh speak English you mentioned having vacation here a few times I think the cost
of living is obvious did you feel pretty welcome here as a non Filipino guy absolutely yes I nowhere that you go you're going to see frowns uh like I said we've only been in 3 weeks two of those
uh weeks been vacationing uh you know I'm not a uh I'm not going to claim to be an expert on the Philippines I just combine with while I've researched my experiences and you know throughout the last 20 or
30 years when I visited last time or first time yeah people just so friendly period you know I'm sure that uh enough time here you'll come across a few that you know may not want you here or something
like that but compared to the states it ain't nothing like the states so but uh we we're going to enjoy it and uh see where life takes us you mentioned you want to check out some other places in
Southeast Asia uh what kind of places have you and your wife thought about or maybe you haven't been there or you have been there but you want to go back okay I've been to Thailand uh but we're going
to go back uh she's never been she wants to hit up Hong Kong where she uh worked as a uh OFW for I think two years before she went to the states and uh so she wants to go
back there uh Vietnam definitely Cambodia La uh Malaysia Singapore not so much uh I think the Singapore is extremely expensive it's mainly major city so you know when I go to to anywhere I don't like to you know
Manila take it away you know uh Bangkok no way you know uh you're from Indiana I'm from Indiana yeah um you know our biggest city is Indianapolis and I try to stay away from there so you know I
I grew up uh 10 mies across the river from Louisville Kentucky I stayed away from there like a plague you know so I don't like traffic uh congestion congestion yeah you know I enjoyed this right here we're at
just I could sit here all day it's gorgeous but uh you know you don't have people running in and out you feel pretty safe here in the Philippines oh absolutely yeah I mean it as much as I have
traveled Common Sense takes a long way you know I don't think you need to keep your head on on swivel but keep your surroundings you know uh be aware of your surroundings um now back when I was in
military I might have done a few stupid things that uh I wouldn't do today amazing one a little alcohol and uh you know uh Superior already uh complex will get you but uh yeah I wouldn't recommend it today
and I won't do it today so uh but uh yeah just beware your surroundings I've seen where uh I guess somebody got robbed and uh terminated and uh local theore was it it's in C parts of mind now
the southern southern part yeah Southern mind now I've been to Northern mind now but you know I was very mindful of where I went and I think you know you mentioned where your wife's from in lison perfectly safe
place you know very friendly people uh welcoming to to foreigners like us you're going to chargo next uh can you speak a bit about what what brings you and your wife to chargo well I want the I want
the beach I want the White Sands unfortunately this stretch of doag Getti and DWI we were in dwin yesterday uh doesn't have the White Sands I wanted to go to sikor but other places that I would stay at
hotel- WISE they're booked up until like the middle of March so uh you know they had your backpacking Place hot sales and I'm too old for that you know I want my air conditioning you like your comfort yes
and uh so so uh we uh thought about spending another week in doag Getti but um we also kind of need to get back and start our house build too so uh then she's got a niece that's being
married uh first week of March I think so we need to get back and help out for that too so we decided no we're going to hit sh gal for about 5 days and uh you know as much
research I've done and it seems like that's a uh beautiful island uh obviously we want to head like uh paoan and old corome uh Barack ey uh will hit there not really that enthused to go there because everything
I've been seeing that's really become uh touristy so uh but we'll have to go just because it's baracy but uh then there's some beautiful places up there on the northwest side of uh Luzon um probably about four or
five hours from where we're at that has the for White Sands apparently they got the connecting Highway they building so uh might not be a bad investment uh spot too you know pick up a couple lots and so
uh we're going to check those out cuz uh once we get to the house start building it's going to be almost like a job I'd be there every day you know uh Q the process yeah and that's what
I did in military for 20 years I was a construction engineer so um of course it's not Philipine con construction but uh it's uh I should build Q see it pretty well but uh you know we're lucky if
we'll be able to take a two or three day weekend you know maybe combine with a holiday or something like that you know when they're not working and uh then do some uh weekend trips around in the area
one question I am curious about I know that you have this construction engineering background I think that will help you a lot with guiding your process um how did you find the people that you wanted to bring on
board to carry out these plans I know a lot of guys struggle there I'm just curious if maybe you have any insight to share what I've got right now is I started months ago I've kind I've got the
contacts about 12 different uh that I've narrowed down I contacted like 50 uh but I got like 12 of them narrowed down as far as the architect uh engineering uh companies and uh I'll go visit each one of
them I got a list of questions uh and just do it methodically like that then whoever has the most uh Pros versus cons is uh one we do uh I have a tendency to stay away from any foreign
Builders got it uh I don't think they have as much to lose as a local uh does so uh they're in bagio they're they're all over the place you got tons of Architects shot I got a nie that's
architect for the city of bagio so wow yeah uh but uh the main thing is just uh for me is to fill my fill my boxes you know like said I got a list of about 20 Questions uh
and it's as minute as something is are you going to feed your your workers or am I going to have to feed them CU a lot of your construction especially if you hire local labor the owner of the
house has to feed give them their lunch and snacks like that uh I don't want my wife having to be there every single day you know um you don't want to buy your wife another job yeah exactly you
know I didn't I didn't bring her here to be a full-time cook so uh but if the contractor brings their own people in then you know they're responsible you know they'll pay them a few extra pesel or something
and or you know ride their on lunch something small as that you know uh can really I've seen a lot of YouTubes that uh yeah they're having to fix the workers lunch and snacks every day it's like that's
got to be a pain you know well if my wife wants to go do something you know uh you know I'm not going to cook you not unless you want hot dogs you know so uh I'm not going
to waste my culinary skills on on a lunch you know but but uh and then uh more important things like uh do they have their own crew do they have their own equipment um can they do a bank
to bank transfer you know I don't want to pay them off and you know never see them again 500,000 P dollars and or 500,000 pesos you know and that much have that much cash you know I ready to
do a bank to bank transfer and uh you know I toyed with the just getting architect building the floor plan and me hiring local and me doing the general contracting and all that no you know I've got a
strong construction background but they do things different over here so uh you're not have to worry about the cold for example here more about humidity and well it's uh rain a lot of rain um then uh we're about
30 minutes from the ocean so uh we don't have to worry too much about salt um termites are a big problem in Philippines uh that's why you see mainly uh concrete yeah concrete Hollow block uh that's another thing
uh you know our property is on a side of a mountain you were talking a bit about your service and growing up in Indiana how has that prepared you for for Life over here well like I said I've
done extensive traveling even though I was in the Air Force but we still had a few times that was kind of rough you know unlike the popular belief that we stayed in fivar hotels chair Force yeah chair Force
you know uh I I I spend a lot of time in a group called red horse uh it's like the Navy CBS or the army combat engineers we go around uh build stuff secure the area then leave and
you know but uh the traveling uh It prepares you for for things that aren't the most comfortable okay uh I don't care what service you were in you know you didn't have it you know uh red carpet rolled
out and all that uh Indiana is not obviously New York City or San Francisco or you know uh we don't have the uh Finer Things in life at least down where I around from but the military as I
told you before traveling is in people's blood all right you know I growing up in Indiana it's been my last several years in Kentucky there people never even been out of the state you know 40 years old never
been out of the state you know uh or uh anything going out of the country is going down to Florida or something like that you know uh so and they have no desire you know I got uh a
ton of friends that when I told him I was moving over here they said good for you he said now I don't have the coonies to do something like that you know and I said well I don't think
it's so much that it's the fact that you're outside your comfort zone you know A wise man once told me that some of your best times in life is when you are outside your comfort zone and I think
about you know of all the years and he's right you know it's my best memorable times or when I was outside my comfort zone uh also you know your friends and and family uh especially back in that area
you're from Tennessee uh you know grand grand children you know they uh I couldn't do that ain't no way I could move overseas you know i' be too far away from my grandchildren well I'm sorry but I'm on
my last 20 years of life or as my channel channel says final chapter and you know I can't let anybody else dictate that you know I can't uh my life to live you know I spent my first 60
years of my life conforming to everybody else it's my turn out so that means I leave a grandchild behind or you know they can always come over to visit I can always go back there once in a while
to visit but you know it's uh this is what we want to do and we're not going to anybody else you know affect that so you've earned it you you spent 20 years military 20 years Postal Service I
feel I've earned it you know uh but even even if I hadn't done that it's still your life okay uh my mom tried to guil me you know to not living well she's 83 years old and tell you
TR she's going to out live all of us okay so you know and I told her I'm supposed to sit around waiting for you to and I'm going to end up yeah I'm going before you anyway so and
of course she didn't want to hear that she doesn't want to uh any of her children to you know uh go before she does but uh I tell her sorry mom you know that I I got to live
my life you know you can always go back to Indiana visit anytime you want you know oh absolutely not a wanted man no uh no no had think about that Kentucky no I'm good I'm good Florida maybe not
so much but uh uh but yeah we're uh we're just having fun Alex it's uh you know I break up my life I break up into 20 year increments the first 20 you know you're trying to find yourself
okay you're trying to decide what you're going to do I don't think you're so much becoming a man your next 20 is what makes you a man okay well that 20 was in Military and then 20 years in
the post service so now hopefully I get another 20 years and close out that book you know so uh uh people ask me all the time you know aren't you scared of over here or you know your medical
you know I mean me personally no I don't want to uh time soon okay however I live a good life you know uh I can just as easy over the United States as I can here you know and
obviously if it's something serious really really bad I'll just hop on and playe to Thailand you know uh but uh just uh if you plan on coming to Philippines do your research I've seen so many Vlogs so many
channels talking to people and you just shake your head going how could you not know that okay it's I mean it's good go one onone you know uh so just do your homework I mean you don't have to
do as extensive as I did but uh uh figure out where you want to live out what that looks like what's that going to cost you all depends on your sture I mean if you're single you know I
would suggest like a lot of other people do rent you go go to do MTI for a month rent go to U sheral for a month go to Elo Elo uh just travel around rent and then uh when
you find that place it's going to hit you you know you're going to know uh I'm not sure if you know the Regular Guy Channel yeah yeah Scot Scotty boy yeah he he's been doing it for years now
just going around going around but he's got his top five areas that he would live in and the only way he knew that is he traveled around and found out whether he will or not I don't think so
that's a whole another story with him but yeah just uh take the chance you know don't I'm not going to say do what I did sell everything up and go you know uh only have plan A uh I
said that's not for normal people I'm not normal but uh uh I'll make it work regardless so uh but uh yeah just try out you know come over for a few months uh travel around the only thing I
wish Alex that was 20 years younger so that's the only thing I wish let's see uh what else you got it's kind of hard to stay on topic because it you know these little branches and oh yeah that
oh yeah that you know one one question I have um and I know it's a little bit different because your wife lived in the states for many years you mentioned your wife as Americanized so you feel like different
from the guy that comes here and meets a Filipina you guys are more um learning together exactly uh first of all she's my best friend okay uh we laugh all day every day uh we've been together I said
about 19 years and I can count on one hand the number of arguments we've had okay so uh we have an unbelievable relationship so any your viewers out there say don't buy a house or don't we're fine okay
uh don't have to worry about that but uh as far as her helping here getting me accustom Phil uh accustomed to the Philippines yes and no uh she helps me more in the province type setting uh but she's
been in America for unit Sayes for 37 years something like that you know so when we met I was surprised I met the only redneck Filipino I've ever seen she was so big in the NASCAR wow she not
only knew the drivers the numbers of the car she knew the owners of the cars me NASCAR no I I'll look the results up the next day see who won you know but I'm not going to sit there
and watch you know but uh but yeah she's definitely Americanized um and uh coming over here uh it's kind of funny she'll give me little hint and stuff that I had already known for either my experiences here or
from my research but she helped out in her Province you know uh getting me prepared for you know uh life there you know I would say in the country but I thrive in the country but the country over
here is different than the country back home you know you got a a uh Dollar General Store two miles away you know over in the states and over here you got a Sor Sor store that uh you know
5 miles up the road so uh but she's really helped me so far in that Province area uh out here in the uh vacation uh no she's uh patience is a virtue over here hey using that cliche as
I told Mike the other day you could watch a thousand videos on patience and you can't experience until you actually you just can't explain it uh you know I was prepared you know when we come over for shopping
it's going to take a half day of shopping you know just get through the lines and stuff I'm retired what else like I do you know I wasn't prepared to sit down for lunch and 2 and a half
hours later you finally get your bill okay so uh I got kind of you know little things like that yeah I got to I got to remind myself it's uh the Philippines uh and the wife is worse than
I am when it comes to to the patience aspect you know uh she uh she gets upset and calm down calm down you know this Philippines this the United States so I'm slowly trying to get that American out
of her well I don't want put I don't want to get it out of her I just want to get that Filipino back in her you know uh and uh it's tough cuz in America we have a convenience
culture everything is des to be as fast as it can possibly be and here people prefer the social element to them it's more about the communication and the the kind of the friendliness than it is about I want
it done yesterday I'll settle for getting it done today where here it's like okay it might take you a while you know but you know to me I would like to pick and choose that you know dinner like
we had there other night dinner I don't care if it took four hours you know yeah but I'm going out for a quick lunch I don't want you know 2 and 1 half hours later I'm still sitting there
uh it's on me I'm going to have to just get used to it cuz I'm not coming over here to change anything you know I'm uh I'm the one that has to adapt and uh I've only been here
3 weeks so I'm adapting those just some little things I think it I think it hit me around the 3 month Mark I think in about 3 months is when I I stepped down because I was in such
a rough this was in Thailand I was walking really fast and all of a sudden I caught myself I'm like I rushed around the high person on the sidewalk and I was was going to the gym so this
is not an emergency your workout in it's not an emergency and I caught myself I'm like why am I trying to get to the gym where I'm going to be for an hour 15 seconds faster it's 15 seconds
isn't going to no blow my workout you know and I stopped and I thought I'm going to just slow it down because you know it's going to get done so Jerry I know you and your lovely wife Bella
need to get to the airport could you uh uh plug your YouTube channel oh okay yeah we have a tiny tiny YouTube channel that uh we set it up for family and friends just to follow our adventure over
here uh the wife has has a habit of blowing up Facebook and it could be on anything you know uh I went out to eat pictures of food Etc ET you know the the female Filipino thing to do
and uh and I'm thinking she's going to go crazy over here you know uh so I said well me set up a little YouTube channel and inste of blowing Facebook up you know we'll let the people decide if
they want you know when you're on Facebook you know somebody post something you're going to see it whether you want to or not you know so at least with the channel they had a choice you know they not
see it or see it uh and basically we're just going to be uh documenting our travels uh and then then I'm also going to do a uh house build uh cuz I've noticed that uh there's kind of a
lack of that over here yeah not many people cover that and there's a huge demand for it um cuz on the videos I do have it a lot of people going hey what about this what about that you
know there's Facebook groups uh dedicated just for this so uh I think I'm going to document our house build for the good or the bad you know point out the the good things that happen point out the mistakes
all that stuff uh and um people want to join and see on that that's perfectly fine uh just don't expect a Alex type production okay uh I don't edit and two reasons I don't edit first I don't know
how and second reason I don't want to okay it's not and you know uh I I said doing it for fun so far it's been fun doing doing some videos you know when it becomes work I'm done with
work I've already done my work you know so uh so if you want tojoy some unedited uh sometimes nutty stuff you know it's a jury and Bellas Final Chapter Philippines and guys we'll link it uh down below um
any final words for us before we wrap up Jerry if you decide to make the move do your research period That's that's it I mean uh there's so much information out there that if you come over here unprepared
on something it's your own fault you know there's bills on banking phones uh visas I mean everything you know so if you're serious about uh coming here just for a visit or even making the plunge just do your
do your homework and uh that's it oh well thank you so much everybody we want to thank Jerry for his service and for his time today go and check out their Channel and we'll see you soon byebye see
you later everybody see you
