About Living in the Pacific
Long before moving to the Western Pacific, I began blogging in 2009 when I was working in real estate on a site called Active Rain. And weirdly, that blog account is still active. Before I left the real estate business in 2012, I shifted my blogging efforts and began focusing on retiring and moving to the Philippines, more than a year prior to our escape abroad.
The "Retired in Samar" blog began as a series of chronicles documenting our preparation, the actions we took, and our prelude into retirement. After some early success with the blog after arriving in the Philippines, I changed the blog into a "One Day at a Time" format. In 2016 I began publishing videos on YouTube and launched a series videos called "Saturday Shorts" (4 years before YouTube introduced #shorts as an early beta in India in September 2020,). Many of them are still active on our YouTube channel. By early 2017, I had published over 400 blog posts and 90 videos - all related to moving to and our early life in the Philippines.
After relocating to Guam in 2017, I received recognition from Top Blogs as a "Best Expat Blog" for 2017, but by this time blog visitor traffic was in decline. Blog readers were migrating to YouTube for the visual insights into living in the Philippines. Many Philippine Expat blogs died a slow death and even travel blogs globally felt the slowdown. I shut down the public blog late in 2017 but continued to blog privately. I then turned my focus to YouTube, concentrating on sharing the visual aspects of our adventure and enjoyment of the tropical island lifestyle.
Just before ending the public blog, I officially rebranded both the website and the YouTube channel from "Retired in Samar" to "Living in the Pacific." I started blogging again in November of 2021 on PATREON with exclusive blog posts for Members Only. Our members join us there for exclusive access and would help support my Blog & Vlogging efforts.
Rebranding - Not Recommended!
After the rebrand, the YouTube channel began experiencing a significant slowdown with viewership and, per analytics, was likely based on our relocation from the Philippines to Guam. This was understandable given our original base of support was formed around Moving To and Living in the Philippines. We were no longer present there as expat retirees and my media-focus was now shared with our life in Guam. The result was a demographic shift with a net loss of our Philippines-focused support base. The geographic shift lead us to a more narrow base of supporters who were simply interested in retirement options in a tropical location... or Guam.
(If there is one element that single handedly drives viewers to Philippines expat channels today, it's the concept of meeting younger women.)
As our life in the tropics progressed, it became solidified over time. So evolved my vlogging effort. Because I was not solely focused on a single location but on a region, "Living in the Pacific" more accurately reflected that more narrow niche. But it was a complex title that had a hard time with recall. This led me to make another critical decision... to streamline the brand. It was time to create a new name. A simple two-syllable name that was easier to remember and one that could be branded more easily (think Coca-Cola, Go Daddy, Yo Mama!).
Reborn!
In November of 2024, "Tropic Shade" was born - and yes, the rebranding took its toll again! But that's okay because I'm not focused on YouTube stardom... or the little bit of income that blogging/vlogging generates. And besides, when it's all said and done, I know I'll never do it again!
And today, because AI generated content on YouTube might be pushing viewers away, blogging is becoming more popular again. So, I made the conscious decision to re-launch this public blog, making a return on this website under the registered domain Living in the Pacific. Over time, older archived blog posts will be revised and given new life. And there will be new blogging insights into living and traveling in this part of the world - from Guam to the Philippines and beyond. This site will serve as our main hub/landing page, linked to all our media endeavors under the Tropic Shade Umbrella.
So, Why Do I Really Keep Blogging?
There are three reasons:
1. To ensure retirement never gets boring.
2. Because after nearly 18 years of blogging, it's hard to quit.
3. And because living and enjoying life's most simple pleasures among the islands of the tropical Western Pacific should not go unnoticed - It should be shared!
And for those who may not know - It's much easier to find the Tropic Shade when you're Living in the Pacific!
History of This Blog/Vlog
It all began on a whiteboard in Mississippi!
I began blogging nearly 18 years ago while I was working in Real Estate. Then I shifted to documenting our journey into retirement in the Philippines. I continue to do so today to inspire and inform others - through glimpses of tropical island life in the Western Pacific. From Guam to the Philippines, I share the honest realities of Southeast Asian life. From travel vlogs and cultural insights to day-to-day snippets of island life. Through our blogs and vlogs, we are all about enjoying life to its fullest, while sharing the natural beauty of the islands and cultures.
Check out the Blog Menu for blog categories that offer inspiration, lifestyle and cultural topics, and to better undertand specific locations like GUAM or the PHILIPPINES. Also check out the JUST MARBLES section for all other topics and the LOL LOUNGE if you feel like you need a laugh.
Living in the Pacific is Not Your Ordinary Blog! 🌴 😎
