This will be another circus. Trump may win again as Biden is not really stellar, plus the Gaza massacre has not helped him a bit.
If I were the Democrats, I will ask Biden to give way but that doesn’t work that way, does it? Plus Biden will not do that. So happy landing na lang to the US. 🛬
What does it have to do anything with us? Well, we have a narrow strait separating Taiwan from us and God knows what Trump will do as the situation north of the Philippines is becoming more restless. China keeps flying over Taiwan in a bid probably to intimidate the island-territory or for reconnaissance or both. A chance of an actual war is high under a Trump government and this will disrupt global trade and drag markets, if we still have any room for that kind of thing these days.
This year is getting more interesting and highly stressful. I didn’t start on the right footing.
I hope it won’t get worse. 🫠
Van life in Philippines is hard but doable.
This is one pipe dream of mine, to drive to different provinces in the Philippines and explore them. I had experienced some long drives like from Manila to Leyte for journalism or when we went to my ex-in-laws every Christmas. That’s around 1000 km one way. I had been a member of a volunteer group so I can travel. One time I ended up in Mindoro. I also took the ferry (Superferry) and stayed there for three days to reach Mindanao and it involved stopovers in Iloilo and General Santos City. That was in high school.
There are many beautiful places in the Philippines that you can only truly appreciate when you travel on land and sea.
However, living full time in a converted van is difficult in the Philippines. Remote jobs are not plentiful like in the US and our mobile internet sucks. As this couple said, they are sustained by consulting work and grants so they can document the flora and fauna nationwide.
A Reddit board discussed the difficulties of living this nomadic lifestyle in this country because we don’t have national or RV parks like in the US where people who live in their vehicles can station themselves, use the bathrooms, and be protected at the same time. We don’t have public bathrooms. We don’t have infrastructure for dumping grey or blackwater properly.
When we went on roadtrips, we had to spend nights in BnBs in major cities (like Legaspi or Naga) and stop in Jollibee or some chain restaurants to pee. If we’re really desperate, we would have to shell out more pesos to stay in some beach resort. This method is not sustainable if you’re doing it fulltime. It’s ok if you’re just getting from point A to B.
But still, the urge to go on a roadtrip is there. Maybe after I buy a new utility vehicle (whether an SUV, AUV or even a pickup truck), I would try to go on a roadtrip with my cousin or a girl friend.
One day.
