“Sometimes I am so disgusted by the state of the world that I can’t even finish my second piece of apple pie”.  Banksy, Wall and Piece.

Most days I can sit down and bash out a blog post in a matter of minutes. This post on the other hand has taken me hours to compose. The reason for this is that my first couple of days here in the Philippines have been a real emotional rollercoaster, and there is just so much I want to say about the place that it has been a real struggle to put it all together in some sort of coherent fashion. In a nutshell the Philippines is a fascinating country that encapsulates everything that is amazing and shockingly awful about the world that we live in.

I want to start by providing a bit of background info about the country. The Philippines is an archipelago made up of some 70,000 different islands. Over the past 600 or so years the Philippines has been heavily influenced by Spanish and US imperial rule that has shaped its people, culture, and politics. For example, the majority of Philippinos are Catholic, a result of Spanish rule from the 16th century until 1898.

Philippinos are considered the most westernised of all South East Asian people. The excellent standard of English spoken in the Philippines is a result of American attempts at spreading education during the years when the US claimed ownership of the Philippines. The general idea was that by educating young people in the Philippines, the population would be less susceptible to the recruitment efforts of rebel groups fighting for independence, such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and the New Peoples Army. The number of languages spoken throughout the archipelago was a huge barrier to instigating a program of effective education however, and the task of publishing text books and delivering lessons in so many languages just wasn’t feasible. For this reason, the American teachers adopted English as the language of the classroom, and American English became the standard language in schools throughout the Philippines.

The fact that Philippino school children are taught in English from a young age means that most literate young people speak and write in English incredibly well. This excellent standard of English, coupled with the low cost of living (and therefore relatively low wages), has made the Philippines really popular among internet entrepreneurs looking to hire fulltime staff members for the purpose of outsourcing tasks such as link building and article writing. It’s possible to hire a college graduate in the Philippines (who can speak and write in excellent English) full time for under $400 per month.

In addition to the outsourcing possibilities, the Philippines is also a fantastic destination for working vagabonds because of the relatively low cost of living/travelling, the fascinating people and cultures, as well as the vast number of activities that are on offer to budget travellers. The Philippines boasts world class diving and snorkelling, good surfing possibilities, fantastic kite surfing spots, as well as trekking, island hopping, and much much more besides. Getting online while on the road is also easy and affordable. Remote workers can purchase a Globe Tattoo USB mobile internet device which facilitates internet access wherever there is a Globe mobile network signal. Rates for surfing are less than $0.50 per hour and the speed is also pretty good.

As well as all of the fun activities and good times that can be experienced while working and travelling in the Philippines, a visit also exposes travellers to some very sad realities of human life. The gap between the rich and poor of the Philippines is truly immense, with just 60 of the country’s 15 million families controlling virtually all of the wealth. 60% of the population (and rising) live well under the poverty line, and an estimated 1.5 million children lived on the streets in 1998 (increasing by over 6,000 per year (www.childprotection.org.ph)). Many of these children scrape by sifting through rubbish dumps for things to sell, or by engaging in petty crime and prostitution. An estimated 60,000 street children are engaged in prostitution (increasing by 3,000 per year), a problem that is exacerbated by the sex tourism phenomenon.

The Philippines is a popular destination for paedophile tourists, with an estimated 15,000 Australian men visiting the city of Angeles, north of Manila, on sex tours every year (www.catw-ap.org). The root of the problem is poverty, and it’s not unknown for children to be drawn in to prostitution just to obtain food and water. Street children are generally seen (and treated) like scum by the more affluent classes. There have been several high profile cases where death squads have killed street children thought to be petty criminals.  Many other street children are rounded up every day and imprisoned without any charges being made against them.

The plight of the street children here in the Philippines has stirred up lots of uncomfortable emotions in me. These kids had no control over where they were born, and it makes me sick to know how they are treated and the suffering that they endure every day. It’s not their fault that they have to sleep rough, engage in crime and prostitution in order to eat, and sniff solvents to fend off hunger night after night.

As well as the anger and sadness I feel about the plight of the street children here in the Philippines, I also feel incredibly guilty that my life is so comfortable. When I think about the problems in my life, they seem completely inconsequential in comparison to what these kids go through every day.

After doing a bit of research, I have found a couple of charities who are dedicated to improving the lives of street children by providing food, clothing, shelter, and basic education (such as www.bahaybata.org). As I have mentioned in a couple of previous blog posts, I am here in the Philippines volunteering with a marine conservation organisation. I’m on a pretty tight schedule, and all of my time is taken up working on the project site. Unfortunately this means that I don’t have any spare time to spend working with any of these other charities on this trip. This is a real shame as I really want to get involved. I guess I will have to come back again in the near future. I am also planning on raising some money for Philippino street children when I get back to the UK, perhaps putting on a few fund raising events (maybe a charity dinner and a collection on my local high street) and trying to raise awareness of their plight.

In summary, the Philippines is a fantastic destination for remote workers, although it can definitely be an emotional rollercoaster. My experience here so far has really helped to motivate me to work harder at achieving my online income goals so that I have more free time to dedicate to voluntarily working on worthwhile projects, rather than being stuck at home in the UK earning money for myself and worrying about things that really don’t matter.

I started this post with a quote from the British graffiti artist Banksy.  I have owned some of his books for years and love flicking through them every now and again.  I just happened to pick it up the day before I got on a plane to come to the Philippines, which is why some of his witty yet profound quotes have stuck in my mind.  The quote at the beginning of this post seemed appropriate to the situation here in the Philippines and how I personally feel about it.  I can also remember another of his pieces of social commentary that would provide a fitting end to the post:

“The human race is the most stupid and unfair kind of race.  A lot of the runners don’t even get decent sneakers or clean drinking water.  Some runners are born with a massive head start, every possible help along the way and still the referees seem to be on their side.  It’s not surprising a lot of people have given up compeating altogether and gone to sit in the grandstand, eat junk and shout abuse.  What the human race needs is a lot more streakers.”  Banksy.

Hi everyone,

I have been travelling around Malaysia for the past three weeks while working on my Internet business.  I though that it was about time that I posted a review of the country as a destination for working remotely on the web.

Malaysia has turned out to be an incredible destination for working remotely, boasting extremely reliable and fast Internet connections pretty much everywhere that I have been.  I began my trip in Kuala Lumpur, a very interesting and vibrant city.  I stayed in the Reggae 2 hostel in Chinatown which was excellent, and also had free wifi.  I then moved on to Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo.  Since arriving in Sabah, I have spent my time watching wildlife, including orangutans, trekking through the incredible jungle, and scuba diving some of the most diverse coral reefs in the world.

With the exception of a small rustic jungle lodge on the Kinabatangan river, everywhere that I have stayed in Sabah has had a great wifi Internet connection.  This includes a small budget resort on the tiny island of Mabul, the best base for diving the famous Sipadan island.  This really was a pleasant surprise as the island is very small, and it meant that I could stay longer on Mabul snorkeling and diving the incredible coral reefs while still being able to work on my Internet business.

In addition to the superb internet connection available in most places, Malaysia also boasts a wonderful array of activities for travellers.  Malaysia has everything anyone could want from a destination, including idyllic tropical islands, world class scuba diving and snorkeling, incredible jungles to explore, as well as lively and cosmopolitan cities.  I have also found Malaysia to be an incredibly safe place to travel, and the locals to be wonderfully hospitable.  Another real advantage is that, as a British passport holder, I am entitled to a stay of 3 months upon arrival.  In addition, there are several borders that can easily be reached by bus should I need to renew my visa.

The only slight downside to Malaysia that I can think of is that it is slightly more expensive than its closest neighbors.  Using public buses, staying in hostels, and eating in inexpensive restaurants you can get by on about US$15-20 per day.  That said, many of the amazing activities on offer can be fairly expensive, and working vagabonds will need to plan accordingly.

Overall I have found Malaysia to be a first class destination for working remotely, and have thoroughly enjoyed my adventures here.

This section of the working vagabond website is dedicated to all things travel.  Information in this section includes destination reports for working vagabonds, advice about wifi availability, as well as other valuable tips for working on the road.

I also occasionally include some short stories documenting my travels and adventures while working remotely around the world.

I hope that you find the information valuable.  Please feel free to join in the discussion by posting comments.

Rodderz

I’ve had a few injections today as I’m heading off to Sabah in Borneo next month to see what’s left of the jungle and do some diving around Pulau Sipadan.  The tetanus vaccination has given me a really sore ass which my girlfriend seems to find rather amusing.

Anyway, as this blog is brand spanking new and looking a bit sparse, I wanted to add some content by making a quick post about my ideal destination for working remotely, South East Asia.  I have had the opportunity to travel to a few places in Indonesia in the past, and am really keen to explore the region further.  The places that I have already visited in Indonesia (Sulawesi, Java, Bali, Lombok, Komodo, Flores, Kalimantan) lead me to believe that SE Asia is a region that I will be spending rather a lot of time in over the coming years.

The islands of Indonesia, The Philippines, and Malaysia make up what is known as the coral triangle, the area of the highest marine biodiversity on earth.  As a marine biologist and PADI Divemaster I am instantly drawn to the region for obvious reasons.  In addition to the unbelievable diving and snorkeling (best in the world in my opinion) there is also spectacular terrestrial wildlife, jungles to trek through, great surf, volcanoes to climb, ancient ruins to explore, as well as amazingly friendly people and fascinating cultures.  Add to that the incredibly cheap cost of living (you really do get amazing bang for your buck out there) and the excellent food, and you have my ultimate destination for working remotely.

A key aspect that I have not yet investigated (as I am still something of a newbie, just starting out online, and am yet to attempt to work outside of Europe) is the reliability and availability of the Internet.  My experience of the Internet in Indonesia was that pretty much everywhere except for Bali had appalling connections.  Bali is a fantastic destination though, and it would be very possible to setup base there and venture off farther afield for short trips.  Bali has some of the best surf in the world, great diving, and great infrastructure from a western point of view.  Malaria is also not so much of an issue here as it is in other areas in the region.

From what I understand several other locations in SE Asia also hold promise for logging on and getting some work done.  The Malaysian peninsula for example supposedly has an excellent Internet service.  Some parts of Sabah, such as Kota Kinabalu, also look good from a working perspectiveve (I will be checking the situation out firsthand next month).  From what I have read there are also good opportunities for working remotely throughout the Philippines.  Another place that definitely deserves a mention is Thailand.  Thailand is by far the most developed nation in SE Asia in terms of tourism infrastructure, and also has fast and reliable Internet.

Summing up, SE Asia holds great promise for working vagabonds, and is top of my list of places to live the dream.

Please feel free to leave any comments, especially if you have experience travelling and working remotely in the region.  Any tips would be greatly appreciated.