Expat-to-be...A few questions

[Snowy79]

You seam to have done your homework in most areas, the only problem I could see is your PTSD. There's that many guys I've met that taught Rambo everything he knows that sadly a forces background is taken tongue in cheek. 

If you have a run in with a local you may rub them up the wrong way and end up in a bad way. They don't fight one to one or to your face. I'd pick an area with a high ex pat contingent or lots of tourists where locals give ex pats more leeway. 

Subic, Angeles or Puerto Galera. 

Edited May 1, 2018 by Snowy79

[Jollygoodfellow]

6 hours ago, BrettGC said:

opening an account with a Philippine bank which you'll be unlikely to be able to do until you receive your ACR-I card;  having said that, there's a few expats that have got lucky on this front but not for a number of years now that I'm aware of

RCBC will open a foreigners account with proof of Philippines address. My friend opened an account a few months ago and another friend did the same maybe 6 months ago. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

10 hours ago, ElevenSeries said:

Anything I should completely stay away from or avoid?

Certain other expats  but you will figure that out as you go.  All the other advice here has been good.  About the visa, there is a special deal for a military retirement visa that you may want to look into, other than that you can stay as a tourist for quite a long time.

As to your other questions, when you get your boots on the ground and find the right group of friends they will be only to happy to fill you in with answers to all your questions.  Most expats are sociable here.  You will quickly figure out the ones to avoid.  If they start out by offering you some kind of investment, put them on the top of that list. 

[BrettGC]

36 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

RCBC will open a foreigners account with proof of Philippines address. My friend opened an account a few months ago and another friend did the same maybe 6 months ago. 

Good to know.

[Balisidar]

4 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

You seam to have done your homework in most areas, the only problem I could see is your PTSD. There's that many guys I've met that taught Rambo everything he knows that sadly a forces background is taken tongue in cheek. 

If you have a run in with a local you may rub them up the wrong way and end up in a bad way. They don't fight one to one or to your face. I'd pick an area with a high ex pat contingent or lots of tourists where locals give ex pats more leeway. 

Subic, Angeles or Puerto Galera. 

Since you love the outdoors, beaches etc,like Snowy said, check out Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro.  It's a touristy kind of place but has good vibes.  It's the diving capitol of the Philippines.  Welcome to the forum. 😀

[Gerald Glatt]

Santa Fe, semi civilized nice beaches......aways from a city 

Don't let the legs get you down......remember it's hard to soar with eagles when you walk with turkeys.

UP THE HILL...........AIRBORNE

[ElevenSeries]

10 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

You seam to have done your homework in most areas, the only problem I could see is your PTSD. There's that many guys I've met that taught Rambo everything he knows that sadly a forces background is taken tongue in cheek. 

If you have a run in with a local you may rub them up the wrong way and end up in a bad way. They don't fight one to one or to your face. I'd pick an area with a high ex pat contingent or lots of tourists where locals give ex pats more leeway. 

Subic, Angeles or Puerto Galera. 

Yes. I'm worried about my PTSD also.  Mainly cause it will be untreated there. Here in  the US I am legally allowed to treat my PTSD with Medical Marijuana. Where as I've gathered will probably Get my Killed or Locked up over there.  I can part ways with that though, Just have to make sure I stay busy, my Idle mind is a bad thing.  

I'm not a "Special Forces Delta Ranger Recon Sniper Operator" if that's what you mean...Lol.  Just a Humble Paratrooper, Got deployed, lived through some shit, Did my time and got out.  I'm definitely not there to start shit with the locals either. Like I said earlier, I'm going to a country I've never been to, With no one but myself, and unarmed (obviously).  Im just there to enjoy life and not piss off anyone in the process.

I appreciate the suggestion on location too, of the three which one would you recommend the most?

[ElevenSeries]

10 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Certain other expats  but you will figure that out as you go.  All the other advice here has been good.  About the visa, there is a special deal for a military retirement visa that you may want to look into, other than that you can stay as a tourist for quite a long time.

As to your other questions, when you get your boots on the ground and find the right group of friends they will be only to happy to fill you in with answers to all your questions.  Most expats are sociable here.  You will quickly figure out the ones to avoid.  If they start out by offering you some kind of investment, put them on the top of that list. 

Bahahahaha!  Yeah, i'm not investing in shit.  An I'm sure as hell not there to play games with people.  Appreciate the advice.

[AwesomeLife]

48 minutes ago, ElevenSeries said:

Yes. I'm worried about my PTSD also.  Mainly cause it will be untreated there. Here in  the US I am legally allowed to treat my PTSD with Medical Marijuana. Where as I've gathered will probably Get my Killed or Locked up over there.  I can part ways with that though, Just have to make sure I stay busy, my Idle mind is a bad thing.  

I'm not a "Special Forces Delta Ranger Recon Sniper Operator" if that's what you mean...Lol.  Just a Humble Paratrooper, Got deployed, lived through some shit, Did my time and got out.  I'm definitely not there to start shit with the locals either. Like I said earlier, I'm going to a country I've never been to, With no one but myself, and unarmed (obviously).  Im just there to enjoy life and not piss off anyone in the process.

I appreciate the suggestion on location too, of the three which one would you recommend the most?

Just playing devil's advocate; U.S. marijuana use is still illegal at the Federal level yet most states allow it for medical use and to a lesser extent, for recreational use.  Who knows, maybe some day soon the VA will start distributing it as medicine to PTSD patients!

[Snowy79]

1 hour ago, ElevenSeries said:

Yes. I'm worried about my PTSD also.  Mainly cause it will be untreated there. Here in  the US I am legally allowed to treat my PTSD with Medical Marijuana. Where as I've gathered will probably Get my Killed or Locked up over there.  I can part ways with that though, Just have to make sure I stay busy, my Idle mind is a bad thing.  

I'm not a "Special Forces Delta Ranger Recon Sniper Operator" if that's what you mean...Lol.  Just a Humble Paratrooper, Got deployed, lived through some shit, Did my time and got out.  I'm definitely not there to start shit with the locals either. Like I said earlier, I'm going to a country I've never been to, With no one but myself, and unarmed (obviously).  Im just there to enjoy life and not piss off anyone in the process.

I appreciate the suggestion on location too, of the three which one would you recommend the most?

For me Puerto Galera if you don't mind brown outs. A great ex pat community, enough things to keep the mind occupied and with easy access to a big city and other tourist destinations due to local sea plain flights. 

As long as you're not seduced into believing you'll convert a bar girl into wife material there's plenty of girls here to learn all the ways they try to get money out of you before you go looking for a decent partner.