Yesterday, I was doing my normal rounds of reading different blogs. I have maybe 50 different blogs which I read daily. One of the blogs that I read daily is called Problogger, which is about earning a living online through blogs and other means. Problogger is operated by a very well known blogger, Darren Rowse. Right now, Darren is on vacation with his family, but he is featuring a number of Guest bloggers to keep the blog moving ahead while he is out of town. Yesterday, I caught an article by Lea Woodward, from “Location Independent Professionals” blog. It’s kind of funny, because when I went to check out Lea’s blog, I found that she calls it the “LIP Blog,” which is what I used to call this site until I turned it into the “Live in the Philippines Web Magazine,” or LiP Web Magazine. So, I was surprised to see that we were basically using the same name for our sites, and also the subject that she covers is of interest to me, and to some extent fits in with the subject of this site.
For Lea, “LIP” doesn’t mean Live in the Philippines, it means Location Independent Professional. By this, she means that she can travel all around and do her work from whatever location she happens to be visiting. For those of us that Live in the Philippines (and those who want to) we often discuss how we can do our jobs from the Philippines, or how we can figure out a type of work that we can do from the Philippines. Click! The two sites match each other pretty well.
Well, one article on Lea’s site kind of caught my eye. It’s called “20 Signs The LIP Life Isn’t For You.” Hmm… different meaning of LIP, but as I read the 20 signs that Lea pointed out, I found that the exact same signs could mostly help you decide if Living in the Philippines would be for you. Let’s look at a few of Lea’s signs (the bold text is Lea’s sign, the non-bold is my comment on how it applies here).
- You have never owned a passport nor do you plan to. Certainly this fits in for us! No way you’re even going to visit the Philippines without a passport!
- You don’t like trying new things – like food, drinks, activities. No doubt, if you live in the Philippines, you have to get used to trying new things! Even if you don’t want to try new things, you can’t get all the same items that you are used to from your former home, so you will need to try some new things, and relish them!
- You can’t imagine life without your walk-in closet or shoe cupboard. Unless you have a ton of cash to custom build your own place, you will most likely need to kind of conform to Philippine design when it comes to your house. Generally speaking, that is not going to include every amenity that you are used to back home.
- You are computer illiterate. These days, being able to operate a computer will bring so many of life’s conveniences to you no matter where you live. You can make it if you are computer illiterate, but you’ll be more comfortable if you can operate a computer!
- You’re a xenophobe. If you are xenophobic, better just stay home!
- You’re of the opinion that everyone should speak English…godammit, don’t they know it’s the only language to speak??!? No doubt on this one! Better get used to hearing language that you don’t understand! Even if you learn the local language, there are over 80 different languages/dialects in use in the Philippines. You can be sure that you will be in for a lot of conversations that you can’t understand!
I’ve just chosen 6 out of 20 on the list! Go check out the rest of them, and I think you will find that every one of them applies to readers here too!
I’m going to subscribe to that “other” LIP blog too! I think she will have some other posts that are of interest!
Hi bob I look in the site http://locationindepent.com/blog/ and have the Google translation and I make direct the site translation in greek language.
You can put in your site liveinphilippines the google translation
and I make direct your site translation in greek language.
regards
Hi zois – Nice to hear from you! I was just thinking of you today. I'll look into the translation tool. Thanks for the tip.
Checked it out Thought it was very tongue in cheek and funny. Bob – Wished I had as much time to Surf the net as you.
Hi Anthony – "Surfing the net" is my job. That's how I earn my money! If I didn't do it, I couldn't eat dinner or feed my wife and kids.
Hi bob I no come yet in philippines because I wait the sister
of my wife come in greece I try find work for the sister
of my wife maybe finis my problem the march 2008.
About the traslation google make many language translate
from english to greek . spain german . french etc.
regards
Bob,
I also read problogger. I've gotten many good tips on how to run my website from there. Just wish I had more time to read more of his site. Actually, I found that site from the last time you wrote about it. Good tip.
Hi zois – I see. Well, good luck with that project with your sister in law.
Hi Kevin – Yep, for anybody who is operating a website, reading Darren is a great idea!
Anthony, I 100% agree with you! It thought it was only the slightest bit cheeky but undeniably funny!
Bob, your remarks were spot on, they really do ALL apply to people living in the phils and I would actually look forward to seeing what you would have to say about the rest of them. I am keenly interested on your remarks about Fifi, the Chihuahua. Knowing that you guys all have a soft spot in your hearts for the 4-legged members of the family, I am certain that you could speak volumes about it.
I really found that Problogger site to be very interesting and I look forward to starting a jumble of blogs myself. Unfortunately, this year and a large portion of next year will not permit that kind of dedication. But… if it brought in only 300 dollars a month… WOW! That kind of money goes far in the phils and that is an opportunity that is open to many foreigners in a land where the work force gathers very few 'outlanders'. (Pardon the obscure reference. 😎 )
Hi Lawrence Johnson – I will consider doing a comment on each item on the list.
hey Bob hope all is well – speaking of differant dialects i was reading your learn bisaya site and going over some of it with riza, she says that is how old bisaya is spoken and the younger people would laff at me if i learned that way lol can't keep up with the "new" english much less a changing dialect of bisaya ! tc – Tommy
Hi Tommy – It's true that all languages grow and change over time. Imagine the English that is being spoken by the kids today compared to when we were kids! But, the phrases that you can learn on that site will be helpful to you next time you are in the Visayas or Mindanao.