10 min read

·

Jul 25, 2022

When I came to the Philippines in 2011, many things were different than they are now. Today, people aren’t traveling as much. Whether people are scared of viruses, or they just don’t have the money, we don’t see as many people coming to the Philippines as expats.

But, eleven years ago, the world was accessible. After meeting my future wife online, I decided to move my life to the Philippines instead of going through the long and unnecessarily complicated U.S. visa process for her.

The problem was, I had never been anywhere. Sure, I took a few drunken trips through Mexico border towns and traveled the States extensively for business, but I had never been on an international flight or immigrated to another country.

I researched the internet, but back in 2011, there wasn’t much free information for someone like me, except for a few hastily-written blog posts on Asian dating blogs and expensive travel services for expats who wanted to marry and settle in the islands.

I was flying blind when I bought a one-way ticket to Manila and left the only home I had ever known, and I would not ever advise someone to make the same mistakes I did.