430 To Fit is Moving!
Moving has a lot to do with 430 To Fit
As many readers will already know, I am an American, but I live in the Philippines. I have been an American Expat here for nearly 20 years. I have not been in the United States since May 2000. It’s been a long time!
But, surprise! My wife and I have decided to move back to the United States.
When will we be moving?
Our schedule is somewhat fluid right now, no firm date has been set, but we are hoping to be back in the United States in mid-January 2019. So, that means that it is not very far off!
The reason that it is difficult to set a firm date at this time is that we have commitments to fulfill, and also we need to basically sell everything we own in order to move. It was not hard to move all of our belongings to the Philippines back in 2000, but moving the stuff back to the United States is much more difficult, and much more costly as well.
We just started selling our things a few days ago, and it is going much quicker than anticipated, so I think our mid-January timeframe will very doable.
How is this related to 430 To Fit?
Well, that is probably not obvious, but let me explain.
Since I started getting near the end of my weight loss journey, I have been getting a lot of invitations to speak at low-carb events, medical conferences, and other such public events. Most of this is located in the United States. I want to start participating in some of these kinds of events.
I also want to get into doing some coaching to help others with things like weight loss and health improvement.
Where I live, in the Philippines, things like low-carb eating and fasting are not popular or even widely accepted. In the United States (and other parts of the world) these things are becoming more commonplace and accepted by both the medical community and the general public. I feel that if I really want to get into this, the USA is the place for me to do it.
In addition to the business aspect of moving for 430 To Fit, it will also enhance my ability to live the low-carb lifestyle. A lot of low carb options are not even available here in the Philippines. In the United States, there are just so many choices!
But there are other reasons for moving
My wife and I have been considering making the move for about 3 years now (actually, nearly 4 years, I guess). We have gone back and forth in our thinking, but we finally decided to pull the trigger and do it.
The main reason was that my wife, Feyma, has been wanting to move back to the USA. In the 90s, I wanted to move to the Philippines, I had to convince Feyma (although she is Filipino and I am not), and she was a trooper. Now, I feel it is my time to give her a shot at living where she wants to live. Now that I have decided I am ready to go back, I am very excited and ready to go back “home” (although I have felt strongly for years that the Philippines had become my home).
Two of our kids have already moved to the United States, and I think both my wife and I would like to be a little closer to them.
One of our kids, Aaron, is living in Atlanta, Georgia.
Our youngest son, Jared, is working 10 months of the year in Alaska, and the two “off months” he will be living with his brother in Atlanta as well.
So, where will Bob & Feyma live?
We have decided to live in Logansport, Indiana.
We have never lived in the mid-west before, but we are excited to give it a try. Feyma has a good employment possibility there, and she is excited about that.
Being in the middle of the country offers easy travel to other parts of the United States too. Since I plan to participate in low-carb health events, travel will be part of what I do, so the central part of the country offers good travel possibilities, in my view.
So, mid-January, we’ll be heading out and making a big life change! We are both really looking forward to it!
Mitch
Good Luck Bob and Family on your relocation back to the US! Indiana is in snow country and quite the difference of the Philippines. Hope all goes well with your transition back! Hope it all works out for you all!
Best of luck!
~Mitch~
Bob
Thank you much, Mitch.
My wife and I say we are looking for “change”. That includes the weather, I guess. LoL
daniel christian
Best of luck to you Bob. I am sure you guys will have a great life there. I kind of foresee my future journey going a bit of the same way. I expect to be here in Davao though for a good couple of years though. Always be well!
Bob
Interesting, Daniel! I had pegged you as going more of the Digital Nomad route! Maybe ala the Empire Flippers, Justin and Joe.:-)
Luanne Shackelford
Wow! That is pretty exciting! We look forward to hearing how it all goes!
Just a tip from those of us who make these kinds of moves a lot: The cheapest way to get your favorite things to the US is to pack extra boxes to take with you on PAL. PAL will let you take extra boxes for about $100 each, and book them all the way through from Davao to your PAL destination, avoiding domestic overweight. This is cheaper than any kind of shipping our friends have found. If you have found a cheaper way, we’d love to hear it!
May God bless you in this new chapter of life!
Bob
Thanks, Luanne! We do have a set of China (from our wedding) that we would like to bring with us but have been unable to find a way, so we will check into the PAL service, thank you for the tip.
I had announced this on LiP a little over 2 weeks ago, but I think you guys were traveling at the time.
I hope you are doing well!
Jeff
Bon ton roulette! Best of luck in your new home. I am going to miss the opportunity of having coffee with you in Davao but I certainly hope this move is a big success. Looks like I will be two months a year in the Philippines for the next five years at the maximum and the relocation there permanently in CDO.
Bob
Thank you, Jeff. I wish you the best on your part-time and eventual full-time move to CdO!
LeRoy Miller
A couple days ago, Logansport had it’s first snow of the year. We have an early cold spell moving through. But take heart, it is so light I haven’t even gotten the broom out let alone the snow shovel.
I’m comfortable in a sweater, sweatshirt, or in the morning when I walk about 1/4th of a mile to get into work, I have a light jacket.
Historically, our coldest part of the winter is around the end of the second week in January through early to mid February. Other than that, most years it gets cold for a few days and then above freezing in the day time and below freezing at night.
It sounds like you will get to experience the winter when you arrive and then start getting ready for fishing in a month or two.
Bob
Hi LeRoy. I basically have 2 concerns about the move, only one is related to Logansport.
#1 – The cold weather. We had a warm weather destination in mind, but decided on Logansport. I hope I can make the transition. Feyma can do it, she has been working in Alaska. I know I can, just will take time and effort.
#2 – Cultural readjustment. I have heard from many others who have done similar things, and they say that readjusting to life “back home” after 2 decades is very difficult. This would be the case no matter where we would move in the USA.
But, we are both looking forward to the move, and just counting the days!
Byron Watts
My impression of Keto from the inside, at least in my experience…it that it’s weird in the USA also. But the ability to get keto products is ahead of the Philippines…in my experience so far.
The conference scene sounds like a really good opportunity!
Bob
Hi Byron. Thanks for sharing your experience. I think we would both agree that Keto/Low-Carb/IF/Fasting are all more common in the States than here in the Philippines. I know of only one doctor in the entire Philippines who is a supporter of these methods for better health and weight loss. In the States it is becoming a lot more widespread in the medical community. We’ll see how it works out.
Yeah, the speaking/conference stuff is exciting to me. I have had lots of invitations, and hopefully, they will still come! I think I have a good story/experience to share with others.
Retired in Samar
Sorry to see a long-time Philippines expat advocate leave, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Hey, living in Indiana may help with that continued weight loss… you will shiver it off! My wife and I relocated to Guam as a temporary thing about 18 months ago and now am realizing (after becoming more healthy) that the Philippines is not the healthiest of environments in which to live. We are contemplating our future as our home is still in Samar but from here we can easily travel back and forth. Good luck to you and will follow your journey on your new site.
Bob
I don’t have a problem with the ability to lose weight or be healthy in the Philippines, we are just making the move because we have been here a long, long time and are ready for a change. I want to face some new challenges, do some different business things, etc. I am looking forward to the change.
Thanks, Randy.