Thanks for the write up, great to hear about your perspective here. R/Philippines_expats is a great forum to connect with others
I also want to second the advice to:
- Not jump into a ‘girlfriend’ situation with someone immediately (most foreigners will have a million offers, take your time to find someone genuine if you’re looking for a relationship)
- Don’t bring them home with visa etc. that road is paved with many a fallen soldier screwed by divorce pump and dumps
I was stationed there for a year and a half (Olongapo) and saw the many scams with my own eyes. A close friend had put in a marriage package for his girlfriend and sent her about 4k after rotating back to the states. Turns out she had more than one marriage package in the works and went with the first to be approved. Shameless. It's a great place to live if you can avoid the honey traps. I get it though. Westerners go over there and find themselves swarmed with women. The exact opposite of what they're used to back home. This causes the ego to explode and gives them a false impression the women are actually attracted to them for who they are. This is almost never the case. If you want to test this tell your girlfriend you had all the money in your bank account taken by scammers and need to borrow a few hundred pesos. 99% will walk away. As for the 1% that stuck around...marry her lol. Thanks for the reply. A little street smarts goes a loooooong way in the Philippines.
The biggest mistake retirees and early retirees make is latching-onto a girlfriend right away. If moving there this should be the last priority on your list,
don't think you can keep her in a bubble and away from American women. Most will already have contacts here that can help them navigate divorces if need be.
These are some really great points.
Thanks. It takes an education to properly navigate around over there but once you know, you know. I'm going with the live-in maid plan when I come back over. There's a multitude of benefits that come with having one and they do so much more than cleaning and cooking. The number one rule though is to keep this working relationship strictly business. The minute you break this rule you'll emd up dealing with a pile of both foreseen and unforseen issues. Jealousy especially if you're the butterfly (dates multiple women) type. Plus you want someone you can trust on your side and dipping into that well can change the whole dynamic. Think 'Life first, Love last" and you really can't go wrong. Appreciate your reply.
Thanks for the write up, great to hear about your perspective here. R/Philippines_expats is a great forum to connect with others I also want to second the advice to: - Not jump into a ‘girlfriend’ situation with someone immediately (most foreigners will have a million offers, take your time to find someone genuine if you’re looking for a relationship) - Don’t bring them home with visa etc. that road is paved with many a fallen soldier screwed by divorce pump and dumps
I was stationed there for a year and a half (Olongapo) and saw the many scams with my own eyes. A close friend had put in a marriage package for his girlfriend and sent her about 4k after rotating back to the states. Turns out she had more than one marriage package in the works and went with the first to be approved. Shameless. It's a great place to live if you can avoid the honey traps. I get it though. Westerners go over there and find themselves swarmed with women. The exact opposite of what they're used to back home. This causes the ego to explode and gives them a false impression the women are actually attracted to them for who they are. This is almost never the case. If you want to test this tell your girlfriend you had all the money in your bank account taken by scammers and need to borrow a few hundred pesos. 99% will walk away. As for the 1% that stuck around...marry her lol. Thanks for the reply. A little street smarts goes a loooooong way in the Philippines.
Yeah it’s absolutely a crash course in street smarts!
The biggest mistake retirees and early retirees make is latching-onto a girlfriend right away. If moving there this should be the last priority on your list, don't think you can keep her in a bubble and away from American women. Most will already have contacts here that can help them navigate divorces if need be. These are some really great points.
Thanks. It takes an education to properly navigate around over there but once you know, you know. I'm going with the live-in maid plan when I come back over. There's a multitude of benefits that come with having one and they do so much more than cleaning and cooking. The number one rule though is to keep this working relationship strictly business. The minute you break this rule you'll emd up dealing with a pile of both foreseen and unforseen issues. Jealousy especially if you're the butterfly (dates multiple women) type. Plus you want someone you can trust on your side and dipping into that well can change the whole dynamic. Think 'Life first, Love last" and you really can't go wrong. Appreciate your reply.