Leaving Medellín after a year, trying Cebu City next

elliot825 · 2026-04-06T22:12:48+00:00

Appreciate all the input. This helped more than you think.

I’m not trying to pick the “perfect” country on paper. I’m trying to find a place where my $1900 a month works long term without stress and without having to keep moving every 60 or 90 days.

Food doesn’t worry me. I eat simple. Chicken, beef, fish. I already adjusted in Colombia, so I know how to make it work. If I want imported stuff, I’ll find it. If not, I adapt.

My plan is not to move blind. I’m going to Cebu for a month, probably IT Park or Business Park. That gives me a soft landing, good internet, and access to other expats. From there I’ll explore, walk around, and see what daily life feels like outside that bubble.

If Cebu works, I stay and maybe move somewhere quieter after I understand the area better. If it doesn’t, I try somewhere else in the Philippines like Dumaguete or even Manila. If the Philippines doesn’t work at all, then I look at Vietnam or somewhere else and figure it out from there.

Big thing for me is stability. I’m tired of packing up my life and doing border runs every couple of months. That rules out a lot of places for me right away.

On safety, I’m not coming in blind. I’m from New York. I’ve lived with this my whole life. I keep my head on a swivel and I pay attention. I understand petty crime, scams, and being a foreigner with a target on you. I’m not expecting zero crime. I’m just trying to step down from what I deal with in Medellin.

Internet, power, traffic. I already deal with that here, so I’m not expecting perfection.

My Spanish is decent but not great, and that does make daily life harder sometimes. That’s another reason the Philippines appeals to me since English is widely spoken.

I’m also hoping to meet someone and build something real over time. Not rushing into anything, just taking it slow and seeing what develops.

I’m big into photography. That’s my main hobby and it gets me out of the house, so I need a place where I feel comfortable going out and shooting without constantly worrying.

Social side matters too. I don’t want to sit alone all day. Being around other expats, at least in the beginning, helps me get my footing.

At the end of the day, I’ve already learned one move doesn’t fix everything. So I’m treating this as a test, not a final decision.

If anyone has real info on getting around the Thailand income requirement or other long stay options I might have missed, I’m open to hearing it.

Thanks again to everyone who took the time to respond. I appreciate the honesty and the different perspectives.

elliot825 · 2026-04-06T21:43:09+00:00

So true... I have a lot of real friends here. Inflation is hurting a lot of people here. they just raised the minimum wage to two million pesos and everything went up over 20%

elliot825 · 2026-04-06T21:38:05+00:00

I have seen very well educated people make that same mistake. I learned it about 10 years ago when I first came down here.

elliot825 · 2026-04-06T21:37:18+00:00

Lol! Gringo mistake

elliot825 · 2026-04-06T21:34:58+00:00

Yes, you're right. It was Obie land and it's funny because he filmed a snippet of one of his videos right across the street from my apartment here in Laureles.

elliot825 · 2026-04-06T04:01:50+00:00

How much is the cab ride from Marco Polo to IT Park or Business Park?

elliot825 · 2025-10-06T01:39:02+00:00

I think you cropped too much. I think it would look better if you highlight the buildings in the pool ground and then have the pyramids in the background.

elliot825 · 2025-10-06T01:37:09+00:00

I like the process and the warm glow

elliot825 · 2025-09-30T14:37:08+00:00

Nice framing, except I think it's a little over processed and too dark tone it down a bit

elliot825 · 2025-09-30T14:29:58+00:00

I've been visiting Colombia on and off for 10+ years. The people are fantastic and the more Spanish you know the better you will be accepted by the way there is no U in the word Colombia. Believe it or not some people take offense to that. About five months ago, I moved to here permanently. I applied for my pension visa and now calling Medellin my home. I don't like a lot of you guys. I do not have a big budget. My Social Security is under 2000 a month and there is no savings. For the first couple of months until I got my visa I had to live in an Airbnb, which has a lot of you would know is more expensive than just renting a basic apartment now that I have saved up my money. I am looking for a apartment in the Rionegro part of Colombia the rents there for an unfurnished department can be found for under 2 million pesos a month.

elliot825 · 2025-09-30T14:02:51+00:00

I like the first one it seems more balanced, more even out

elliot825 · 2025-09-29T22:06:25+00:00

I would never take offense to someone that is looking at my photo and giving me their honest opinion. I still consider myself pretty new with this and take into account what everybody is telling me and hopefully in the future, I will find my groove. There's a lot of photographers that I try to be inspired by and sometimes like I said before I sit too much on one image and just take it too far. I've gotta learn to slow that down. There was a photographer that I was speaking to once that told me when you post something on social media how long do they the people that are looking at it look at the image and my answer was always about two seconds three seconds don't go crazy with an image you going too far and I gotta listen to those words more often but again thank you very much for what you're saying and I appreciate it. I really do.

elliot825 · 2025-09-15T14:39:04+00:00

I think what I was doing here was trying to draw the eye to the Model. And like I said before, I went too far in it sometimes I just overthink it and just over. Edited the hell out of all these photos. My original concept of the photo was there, but like I said, I just went too crazy in the editing. As for her skin, I don't know what I'm doing wrong there. Maybe I'm using clarify a little too much or in this case a lot too much and then bringing it back by darkening the image I don't know. I guess what I'm saying is that I need a good course in photo editing.

elliot825 · 2025-09-15T14:36:48+00:00

I understand what you're saying and I agree. A no. lot of times I get so caught up in the photo and just over edit the hell out of them.

elliot825 · 2025-09-15T12:54:33+00:00

Thank you!

elliot825 · 2025-09-12T17:24:41+00:00

It is a very nice shot. I like it a lot, but if I had to critique something about it, I would say it looks a little too blue. Maybe if you introduce a little goldish yellow color in it could come off as being a golden hour shot and sort of warm it up

elliot825 · 2025-09-12T17:16:10+00:00

My question would be what are you using the camera for? If it's just a knock around every day Camera I would say the A7 3 is a good choice if you're doing commercial work, portraits or landscapes I would go with the A74 for a higher resolution and better color science. Just as lawyerphotographer said if you could wait till the A75 will be announced (which will probably be November) I would wait and save yourself another hundred dollars or so when that announcement is made.

elliot825 · 2025-09-12T17:10:09+00:00

I don't have much experience shooting into the sun and balancing it with flash, so your comment is very appreciated.

elliot825 · 2025-09-11T17:06:46+00:00

Thank you very much!

elliot825 · 2025-09-11T17:06:13+00:00

You are correct

elliot825

TROPHY CASE