Retired In Samar - It's Been 5 years and the Journey Continues!

The Blog.

As the Retired in Samar blog approaches its 5-Year Anniversary (next month), I felt it would be a good time to publish an anniversary post. When I began this blog, it was with the intent of documenting my journey, in addition to having something to do in my retirement years, and maybe earn a little money along the way. I have successfully accomplished both objectives. While I don't publish as many posts as I used to, many followers and new subscribers continue to find their way to the blog in search of information that might assist them in making their dreams a reality. One of the true benefits of this blog has been the privilege of all the personal acquaintances whom otherwise I would have never met. Some have become good friends. In any case, the blog continues to fill much of my idle time in retirement. It has also made me a little money (the key word here is "little" and doesn't quite cover the costs of a website and blog). I guess in the overall scheme of things, this blog fulfills another purpose - a real purpose. Through visitor's testimonials, I have come to learn that many readers have truly benefited from my postings, whether it be in the form of simple inspiration or motivation, to planning their move, to the shipping of household goods or pets. To these folks, I appreciate the many accolades and I'm glad I could help.

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Reflections!

I can vividly remember the first post I wrote (A Return to Samar) along with the thoughts and feelings I had while writing it. I wrote several inspirational and motivational pieces after that. During the time we waited for our actual move to the Philippines, I launched the "Before Paradise" series of posts that outlined our preparations and documented the nearly day-to-day accomplishments that moved us closer to our goal - Living in our chosen paradise.

The family young'uns with me on a mountain hiking trip.

As the blog progressed, post topics became more varied as I was experiencing life from a totally different perspective. While I did post some things that tended to be of a more factual nature, i.e., Immigration or Customs information, I learned that because the Philippines government is seemingly in a constant state of flux, many factual things like rules and regulations can be extremely fluid and can be changed on a moment's notice. When this happens, information in the blog becomes stale and outdated. So, in an effort to keep this blog's posts from being misleading and full of perishable information, I stopped trying to be a provider of 'rules and regs' and simply try to stick to my personal dealings and events that surround my own experiences. I have written a post advising about this before in a popular post titled I know! I Read it in a Blog! that calls attention to information found on the internet and in blogs and forums that might contain inaccuracies.

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Mango Moments

A couple years ago, I initiated a post series in this blog titled "Mango Moments" which are nothing more than everyday dealings with friends, family or the public, that turns humorous. So for a lighter-side-of-life in the Philippines, check out all the Mango Moments. They are easy to find - they all have a Mango as the featured picture (or you can just search the blog for Mango Moments.)

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Retired in Samar on YouTube.

Now Vlogging!
I also launched a YouTube channel featuring some entertaining and lighter side videos of living in the Philippines. I did a "Saturday Shorts" series where I recruited family members to participate in little skits portraying "The Normal" as being fun and humorous. I eventually ran out of actors and my script writer went on strike, so that was the end of the "Shorts!" You can still find all my published videos by looking for "Videos" on the blog's menu bar on the home page.

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A New Blog!

Recently, one of my blog reader turned friends turned me on to Steemit.com -A blogging platform powered by blockchain technology, using cryptocurrency to reward users who upload articles, images, commentary, etc. Other ways users can get paid is through sourcing and up-voting popular content. You don't have to be a blogger to get paid via Steemit, just a reader who comments and upvotes things they like (just like on facebook or Twitter). I have been sharing my time between my blog and Steemit where I also upload content, some that may not even be Philippines related. Check it out and open an account and start earning... it's free to join.

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A New Journey!

If you have been a regular blog reader, you probably already know that we have set up a residence in Guam per my post "Leaving the Philippines". Guam is only just over three hours away by plane and it is a U.S. territory (been in the news of late!). Now we will travel back and forth as permanent residents of both places and maybe get to travel to more places in our retirement.

One thing is certain, I will continue as a Philippines Blogger and Vlogger, and will continue working on my bucket list. It seems as though my bucket list is still growing and I'm falling behind - So, I have a long way to go. But know this, while I'm whittling away at that bucket list, I will always remain Retired in Samar. I appreciate all of you.

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Please Consider Supporting this Blog.

In the five years this blog has been published, I have never received or even solicited any financial assistance from my readers. But as the expenses of maintaining a blog continue to increase annually, and the time and expenses involved in video production, any contributions to help this Blog/Vlog survive going forward would be greatly appreciated.

So, if you like this Blog/Vlog and want to show a little love, you can help make a difference with a small contribution to my Pay Pal account at [email protected], or in the form of SBD contribution to @retiredinsamar. It's your donations that will help to keep this Blog and my YouTube channel going. And of course... Follows, Upvotes and Resteems are always appreciated!

Thanks for supporting Retired in Samar!