I spent five weeks in the Philippines Islands in the fall of 2024. It reminded me of the importance of slow travel as I was able to immerse myself in The Philippines culture with a home base the entire time.
I rented an Airbnb studio condo for the full five weeks in Cebu City:
It reminded me of the awesome feeling of learning a new city and not having to rush.
I was able to live like a local and able to take advantage of the inexpensive lifestyle.
I was bringing American dollars, and everything was in Philippine pesos making everything super inexpensive. I had a local barber that I used every Monday for a $5 hot shave, drop-off laundry service was $4 a week, and a fast-food meal was a few dollars a week to give you an idea.
Everything you would do was so much cheaper too! I would get a chair massage almost daily $5 including a great tip. Going out to eat was amazing too as Cebu is a call center hub. Since they worked the overnight shift to support the Americas, everything was always open to keep the city moving.
I would see people going to work at 8 PM with McDonalds breakfast and coffee for example.
I could get my favorite Korean BBQ or noodle fix 24/7/365 at a fraction of the cost of back home. The next time you check your credit card bill or warranty and get The Philippines, just know they are eating well, LOL.
