My plan is to return periodically to the US to recharge financially. I run a seasonal business with a partner and would return during that season. In the long run, I hope the Internet-based business I start will pay dividends that will allow me to stay. However, building any business takes time and that's why I have a strategy to recharge year by year.
Exercise and diet changes don't seem to work well for me. I absolutely loathe exercise with a passion, so to become truly attractive would take literally years of misery and struggle, and even then I would probably become a sour, surly, nasty man as a reflection of that. I know you all mean well, but unfortunately I really don't think that's my path :-(. Far better to find someone who's attracted to me as I am.
The women are interested in older men because older men are respected in Phillipine culture, and because Filipino men apparently have a bad reputation. Going to a place where the market is better for someone like me seems like pure common sense. Why struggle with a highly unfavorable market when you can go elsewhere and find plentiful women? I know there are good women everywhere, but I think they would be much easier to find in a place where people like me are in demand instead of flooding the market.
Also, the other point is that I could live well on $20k a year, and if that's what I have, I can either get a job and stay on the treadmill, or move to another country. I think it's about time I tried stepping off the treadmill and see where it brings me.
The terrorist group seems to move almost exclusively in the South Phillippines, which I had already understood. I'm likely to go to Cebu or nearby islands, which do not appear to be affected. Nonetheless, I will be very careful and keep a low profile there.
Internet is definitely a problem in the rural areas and might keep me near a city. Might not be a bad idea considering the terrorists, either.
I think the Carribean has a higher cost of living but I will look into Belize.
Many thanks for the replies; keep 'em coming!
D
I've heard Belize is breathtakingly beautiful. Does get the occasional hurricane, though. If I were to become an expat, I'd probably go to the Dominican Republic, in part because I've been there a couple of times on short term missions with our church.