Nine Months In

I’ve been living back in the States for 9 months

Where do things stand?

After living for nearly 2 decades in the Philippines, I arrived back in the USA on January 17, 2019 along with my wife and one of my sons. The other two sons had already been living in the States before we came back.

So, we’ve been living here for a little over 9 months now.

How are things going?

Well, I would say that things are going quite well. For Feyma and all of our kids, things are going great. They all have good jobs and are well adjusted to life in the States.

Things are going pretty well for me as well. I have a good business going, doing work that I enjoy and is profitable. I like my life here. My only real issue with living back in the States is loneliness, which I am dealing with.

Overall, I would say that as a family we are doing great. All of us are productive and enjoying our lives.

Will I go back and live in the Philippines?

This is a question that I hear often, at least once a week.

The answer is… I will never say never. But, I think it is unlikely that I will ever go back and live in the Philippines. I am not against the Philippines, I had a great life there. I like the country and have pleasant memories of life in the Philippines.

If my life was so good, why would I not move back? Well, I’ve done it already. I am ready for some new things. Right now, living in Indiana is new, and I am enjoying experiencing the changes and differences from other places I’ve lived in my life. So, the reason I probably will not move back to the Philippines is this – “been there… done that.”

Why did you leave the Philippines?

I have gotten so many inquiries about this. Many times every week I hear this question.

A while back a guy that I don’t know sent me an email anonymously. It was so ludicrous that it is funny. He claimed that I was wanted in the Philippines and had to rush out of the country before the law caught up with me. LoL. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Off the top of my head, here are some of the reasons we decided to leave the Philippines:

• We had lived there for a long time and were ready for a change.
• My wife wanted to work in the USA for long enough to earn her own Social Security.
• My son had a lot of opportunities here compared to no opportunity in the Philippines, read this article to learn what I am talking about.
• Time for a new adventure.
• My wife told me that she really wanted to go back and live in the States, and I told her that it was her turn, and I supported her in that decision.

Some great things we are experiencing

Here are some things that we are experiencing after 9 months in the USA, these are things that we are enjoying.

Fall Colors

It is our first fall/autumn in 20 years. We last experienced fall in 1999 in Washington. Fall is different in Indiana, and at first, we thought it was not looking too nice.

But, this week, the trees seemed to come to “life” color-wise. The colors were a little dull and seemingly slow to come until this week. This week, though, the colors are very nice, and we are enjoying it.

Feyma’s work

Last weekend, Feyma and I went out for coffee one day and ended up having a really nice discussion. We talked for a long time, and mostly we talked about her job. She got a new job a month or more ago, and she is really enjoying that. Feyma was talking about her future plans with her work, her goals, and such.

I really enjoyed seeing her showing some ambition to move up at Tyson, and do a good job there. I do know that she has developed a reputation for being a very smart hard worker there, and I am so proud of her.

My work

I am doing Pallet Flipping. Basically, I buy pallets of liquidation merchandise from various sources, then I sell those things on eBay and other venues. It is a lot of fun, I enjoy it a lot. It brings me back to my roots in retail.

I got started in retail when I was 15 years old and worked in retail for many years until I became self-employed in 1991. Doing this pallet flipping really brings me back to things I was doing for many years, and I always enjoyed doing.

After becoming self-employed, I quickly got into eCommerce, and pallet flipping is a combination of brick and mortar type retailing and online retailing. It is a perfect fit for me.

Life in general

We are enjoying life in general. Unless Feyma works overtime on Saturdays, we usually choose a place to go for a road trip each weekend. We want to explore our new home state and new home country.

We have enjoyed traveling around the State, and also went over to visit a friend in Illinois a while back.

Highlights

Here are some of the highlights of our 9 months of a new life in the States.

• Experienced winter and snow for the first time in 2 decades
• Got a driver’s license in May
• Bought a car in June
• Jobs for Feyma and our kids
• My new business
• Travel
• Meeting new friends

Things we are looking forward to.

• First snow of this coming winter.
• Hoping for a white Christmas.
• Planning to buy a house next year sometime.
• Continued success and enjoyment of life.

So, how are we doing after 9 months?

Really, we are doing well! We are enjoying the new life that we chose. We made the right choice!