Happier Abroad Forum Community

MarcosZeitola wrote:It's always fun to go on holidays. Some resorts are crazy overpriced, but if you are lucky enough to find one that is reasonably priced and not too crowded, I imagine it would be a very enjoyable way to spend once's time. It may be more fun for a couple or a family then it is for a single guy.....

Upper class resorts, frequently under the administration of foreign management, are ridiculously overpriced. However cheap small resorts are often difficult to visit due to lack of public transport and you need your own car, motorcycle or a taxi. They offer very little choice of food and drinks. Swimming pools are often not clean, furniture in the rooms, toilets etc. often broken...

The problem about small resorts is also, they are often in a nobody land area, totally dark during night, you cannot go out of the resort and buy something, it is nothing there except sometimes a few tiny shops, many Filipinos go to such resorts only in a group, bringing with them by cars all what they need, making a lot of disco noise, and leaving within 2 days, not enough time to make friends.

Out of my experience since many years I prefer to stay in a resort-like hotel in Cebu City, with shopping mall, airport etc. nearby - to move from island to island is time-consuming. Maybe later on, after retirement to visit Filipino friends, who will also be retired in a few years.

Yohan wrote:

MarcosZeitola wrote:It's always fun to go on holidays. Some resorts are crazy overpriced, but if you are lucky enough to find one that is reasonably priced and not too crowded, I imagine it would be a very enjoyable way to spend once's time. It may be more fun for a couple or a family then it is for a single guy.....

Upper class resorts, frequently under the administration of foreign management, are ridiculously overpriced. However cheap small resorts are often difficult to visit due to lack of public transport and you need your own car, motorcycle or a taxi. They offer very little choice of food and drinks. Swimming pools are often not clean, furniture in the rooms, toilets etc. often broken...

The problem about small resorts is also, they are often in a nobody land area, totally dark during night, you cannot go out of the resort and buy something, it is nothing there except sometimes a few tiny shops, many Filipinos go to such resorts only in a group, bringing with them by cars all what they need, making a lot of disco noise, and leaving within 2 days, not enough time to make friends.

Out of my experience since many years I prefer to stay in a resort-like hotel in Cebu City, with shopping mall, airport etc. nearby - to move from island to island is time-consuming. Maybe later on, after retirement to visit Filipino friends, who will also be retired in a few years.

Exactly. Its not practical for a single guy or even for more than a day or 2. I dont even bother seeing the beach after i saw what a hassle etc it was i just stick to cities now. The only time to go prancing around in a beach location is if you have more money than you can handle or are bolted down with a girlfriend and even then do it sparingly.

Travel styles vary. That's as generous a statement as I can make. Some people need big cities, some need small out of the way areas. Some need Western style infrastructure and amenities - some can live without them, at least temporarily.

A few years ago I went on safari in Kenya. Showed my teens the incredible pics of my adventures. The next year I prepared to go again and invited my teens to join me. You would have thought I was asking them to jump off a cliff to their deaths. "Are there bugs there?" they asked. "Yep. But there are also elephants, lions, hippos, rhinos, and zebras." They passed.

It took a long time to realize that I am simply an adventurous person. If I want a comfy resort with a varied restaurant menu and lights on at night, I can stay in the US.

So for those more comfortable in Manila or Cebu - by all means stay there. Plenty of decent hotels, and malls to make you feel at home.

For me, I'll go to an island with 7 volcanoes (1 still active). I'll rappel down a waterfall, freaking out the wife. I'll snorkel with turtles. I'll climb a mountain. I'll schtup the wife at night, in the dark (I'll bring a flashlight).

In short, I'll be Happier Abroad. I wish you all the same!

OK, for a sequel to this story see this:

http://www.marriedafilipina.com/2015/02 ... h-boracay/