The 'Island Lifestyle'

The ‘Island Lifestyle’

Last week I arrived at my new home in the Philippines. The BADLADZ resort in Puerto Galera!

 

The weather is beautiful, the temperature is modest, and the humidity is almost non-existent. All I can say is… ‘Ahhhhhhh……’

 

One thing that was apparent upon arrival was the ‘Island Lifestyle’ that permeates nearly every individual in this small town.

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In particular, this lifestyle is defined by three key pillars…

 

  1. Be Chill – Relax, grab a beer, and don’t think about that building that needs painting. I’m sure it will all get sorted out on it’s own.

  2. Don’t Worry – Those overdue bills? Look… if they really become an issue I’ll just ask my sister-in-law to pay for them.

  3. No Planning – Today, I just want to relax. Tomorrow, I will probably want to relax just as much. Save for retirement?? Are you crazy, the beers are cold today!

 

The lifestyle is so easy in fact that it’s all too easy to get sucked in…

 

Especially with your electricity and Wifi cutting out every few hours, your efficiency is tanked anyway… so why try to fight it?

 

Sure, this lifestyle is cool for a time. We all need to unwind and unplug.

 

The Gorgeous View From My Room

The Gorgeous View From My Room

Especially if you’re on retirement and ‘efficiency’ isn’t your thing, this is not the worst way to spend your nest egg.

 

If you’re a young guy or gal trying to ‘get things done’ however, I would say one thing…

 

Have An Exit Strategy

 

Yes, bumming on the beach is the stereotypical location independent dream.

 

If you don’t vote yourself off of the island, however, nobody will do it for you.

 

If you’re young, ambitious, and want to do something worthwhile with your life, an island may be the worst place possible for you to plant yourself for a decade.

 

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Just managing my own small company out here is damn near impossible. I can’t imagine trying to build one! Consider this…

 

  1. Infrastructure – If the WiFi signal dies unexpectedly on a daily basis, good luck planning a Skype conference with clients or employees. Electricity outages lead to the same problem, and both are frequent.

  2. Mentality – Everyone is living in that ‘Island Lifestyle’ I described above and you need to fight to keep this mentality from seeping into your blood.

  3. Networking – Good luck finding new business contacts!

 

There’s a lot of people here just living out of their pensions. Great for them, but that’s not the lifestyle for me! (Hopefully not for you either!)

 

Now, if you don’t mind biding your time while you grow older and older be my guest and pop open that beach umbrella.

 

Personally, I don’t want to look back at 10 years and see nothing but ‘bumming around’ and a few blog posts about where to grab a cheap beer.

 

I’m looking for growth, I’m not looking to spend my time just avoiding effort and exertion.

 

An island is a great place to stay for a short period of time, but unless you’ve got a good plan, business sense, and willpower to resist the ‘Island Lifestyle’, you can get sucked in and never get out!

 

That Said…

 

It is B. E. A… UTIFUL here!

 

Sailing
I’ve wanted to go sailing in Asia for the past few months… Now I’ve done it!

I went sailing two days ago, snorkeling throughout the week, and I’m working on getting my scuba certification.

 

On land, you can shoot everything from paintball guns to assault rifles and drive everything from motorcycles to mud karts.

 

There’s hiking, bar hopping, and everything else a tourist could ask for.

 

Just be careful…

 

Living here is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Unless you’ve got a really good reason for staying, however, plan ahead to avoid having it turn into an all-of-your-lifetime reality.

 

After dragging my boat into the sand I went for some snorkeling off of the coast :)

After dragging my boat into the sand I went for some snorkeling off of the coast 🙂