Life in this part of the world may not be for everybody, but for some... it's their chosen paradise!
Want Nostalgia? Move to the Philippines!
Aside from a slower pace of life and a more relaxed lifestye, living in the Philippines means a return to nastalgia. It begins with the psychological pull to revisit fond past memories, often triggered by music, smells, or media. It's a powerful, often bittersweet, feeling providing comfort, meaning, and connection, especially during uncertain times, helping one cope with reminders of past resilience.
FEATUREDBEFORE PARADISE
12/18/20253 min read
Some days when people ask me why I decided to leave my country and move to the Philippines, I feel sorry for them that they would even engage me about it. Oh well they asked for it! But then, I can explain all the why's until I'm blue in the face, and it never ever seems to sink in. So, I have accumulated some thoughts and ideas from the past that collectively will help anyone who has longed for the days of old, to better understand my reasons why. Why I choose to move to and live in the Philippines.
Family Television Time
Let Us Take A Step Back Into Nostalgia...
Remember when you were growing up - when it took three minutes for a TV to warm up?
Nobody owned a purebred dog! Remember when a quarter was a decent allowance and you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny? You got your windshield cleaned, oil checked and gas pumped, without asking, and all for free, every time! And you didn't pay for air and you got trading stamps to boot!
Back when laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes, or towels hidden inside the box!
Do you remember when it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents? Oh yeah, and the day they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed?
Drive-in movies
Remember when a 57 Chevy was everyone's dream car... to cruise in, peel out, or watch drive-in movies. It's when boys and girls went steady! No one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the ignition and cars were never locked. Remember lying on your back in the grass with your friends and saying things like, "that cloud looks like a ...?" How about playing baseball (or any outdoor game) with no adult supervision? Back in the day when stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger!
Do you remember when being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited you at home? And basically we lived in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat and we survived because their love was greater than their threat.
Playing Outdoors!
Remember when summers were filled with bike rides, Hula Hoops and playing in the streets, and eating Kool-Aid powder! Remember when decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-moe" and mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "Do Over!" Can you remember when catching fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening or when it wasn't odd to have two or three "Best Friends?" I can remember when having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot and Saturday morning cartoons weren't 30-minute commercials for action figures. "Oly-Oly-Oxen-Free" made perfect sense and spinning around, getting dizzy, and falling down was cause for laughter.
These were always fun, especially in school!
Do you remember when the worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team, or when "War" was a card game? I remember when baseball cards affixed to bicycle spokes transformed my bike into a motorcycle. Remember when taking drugs meant orange-flavored chewable aspirin, or when water balloons were the ultimate weapon?
If you can remember any of these things, then you have lived! Doesn't it feel good (and make you sad) when you say "yeah, I remember that!" And with all our progress this century, don't you just wish, just once, that you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace and share it with the children of today?
Well, all of the above are my real reasons - and my final answer - for moving to the Philippines. While the '57 Chevy's and drive-in theaters may have gone the way of S&H Green Stamps, many other things and the most simple pleasures of the past can be re-acquired. Where nostalgia meets the future, in another land that I will call home - the Philippines.
And I "Double-Dog-Dare Ya'"to share this with anyone who desires the same. Someone who needs a break from their "grown-up" life today.
Originally posted: 12 Dec 2013
