Becoming a Digital Nomad in the Philippines
More than two weeks ago, we took a boat ride from Cebu City to do something that may never have been done by any family (at least in the Philippines) before.
We are going on a 22-day journey (today is our 20th) in Eastern Mindanao to test how life is as a digital nomad in the Philippines.
My verdict? It’s okay — and also very hard.
It’s hard because the internet here in the country is EXTREMELY unreliable. I couldn’t be 100% sure if I would get a network signal if we went to a particular place (such as when we went to camp overnight at Dahican Beach) so we couldn’t push through the plans of staying long and saving money (we paid only 100 per night for tent space). We ended up paying 400 pesos more for each night to stay in budget hotels that could only give me a decent connection from their lobbies.
There is also the issue of data capping. Because I had to constantly be online, I had to make sure that I always had connection. Unfortunately, that wasn’t always the case. If I woke up a little past midnight (that’s when the capping would reset), I would get capped by 3PM and that meant that my connection would slooooooow down or I would get no connection at all.
Rainy day on our 3rd day in Mati City, Davao Oriental
I still haven’t figured out how that would be in the future. Prepaid plans were only limited to around 18GB a month and that would only last me half the month. How annoying. If you have suggestions on how I could get at least 30-50GB a month, without capping, please comment below. [Oh, if you could buy Unlisurf instead of Surfmax from Smart, that is the REAL unlimited Internet.]
Is being a digital nomad in the Philippines okay?
Connecting with the hotel’s WiFi because mine has already been capped
I am traveling at a time when I already have full time online work (I am under probationary status with Tripzilla Magazine) so my options to check out the place were limited. I had to make sure that I was ahead of my scheduled articles (I procrastinate up to the last day, of course) and that I was available when needed. Obviously, even if we did not roam around, it was still impossible for me to get fast connection 100% of the time.
I asked the partner and my daughter to only go out in the afternoon so I could catch up with work but that didn’t happen everyday. In fact, in our 10 days in Davao, we only managed to see around two major places. We didn’t mind though because we really just loved the change in environment.
Working on the road (literally) in CDO using my mobile phone — one 500-word article coming up!
Perhaps you can get more flexibility if you freelance and are not restricted by work times. I will work on that the next time and maybe find a way to get passive income so I do not have to be online for most of the day.
We would sometimes find out that a cafe does not have connection…after we’ve spent 200 on drinks. Huhu.
Whew. We learned so much about our trip and, as much as we wanted to extend our stay, we have to go back to Cebu to attend to some adult responsibilities. Our trip helped us get a clearer view of our situation and now the partner and I have devised an action plan to iron things out. We are hoping to move to our new house by the start of the year (thus, we are doing a “trial” on living independently) and also do some more long-term backpacking by the middle of the year (if finances and our situation would permit again).
That’s it.
I will be sharing our experiences in the next few posts so I hope you stay tuned.
Saying hello from…hopefully we are already in Cateel or Bislig City, Surigao del Sur today!
About the Author
Pam is an outdoors-loving millennial momma who loves to hike, trek and camp in the beaches and mountains with her partner and their 3-year-old daughter. When not exploring the great outdoors, she moonlights as a freelance writer specializing in the travel, parenting, personal finance and digital marketing niches. You can also follow her via social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest!
Relationshil goals! I remember that me and my boyfriend also travels together.
I’ve been watching vlogs lately on youtube and I think they have the same problem with the internet. Hope that in the future nindot na ang internet connection almost anywhere in the Ph.
The family that travels together, stays together.
There is a feature sa Windows OS kanag WiFI sense… if only android and ios had those things would be easier.
As a digital nomad especially if you’re literally traveling sa remote places sa Visayas and especially Mindanao, maglisod gyod ka. We still don’t have the infrastructure para smoothly makatrabaho ta.
However, I think you had a great time and a challenging adventure. Success! Good job sa imong pagpangita og wifi ug internet, Pam! 😀
The Fair Use Policy really sucks. We’re paying that much for a crappy service. But hopefully in the coming days our ISPs will give the services worth of our money. And I just wish that there are free wi-fi spots everywhere (wishful thinking).
Your 22-day travel is a great example that having a family and work does not hinder anyone from traveling that long. One of a kind family.
Your’re such an inspiration really. I just hope I can travel like you.😂
Personally, I think being a digital nomad in the country is still a challenge. I am hoping that being one here in the Philippines will be better in the coming months. So if we travel we really have to make sure that the place that we’ll be in should have internet connection. As a freelancer we need good internet connection. We highly depend on internet.
I hope the phone companies would realize how awful this is for us digital nomads and for investors in general. Bad internet connection is not good for business at all! I love this! You’ve been keen on sharing the details. I can understand your pain. Experienced it too. Hahaha! The data capping sucks a lot! Grrr!
Love,
http://www.channelmarie.com
Wow the whole family in climbing a mountain very tough and bring your cute kid. Thumbs up
Hi Pam, I totaly agree with being annoyed with the data cap out service providers give especially for those who travel a lot yet still needs to be connected with the Internet. Maybe in the future, I hope that the ISPs upgrade more their infrastrasture to give better services. Hopefully soon! 😉 You’re 22 days travel is wow! How to be you po? I wish I can travel that long…
Wow! You just pull off the digital nomad challenge! ..and you were with your daughter pa ha..grabe! I hope all the articles went through in spite of the crappy connection. Haha! Will this be something that you want to try again Ms. Pam? hehe!
It did push through; somehow the sites still load and the message push through even with the said capping, it just takes a looong while.
And, yes, we are planning to do something similar again. Hopefully longer (or indefinitely) and hopefully next year. Hehe. 🙂
I wish it was easy to just remove capping but unfortunately dili sayun. Our internet is from Singapore man gud. We have no infrastructure here. 🙁
Grabeee. I can imagine the kapoy and hassle. But those are all lessons learned and that’s one of the best parts. I love traveling but I can’t fathom the idea of working while on the road. Not yet. Hehe. In fact, in my upcoming trip, I made sure to take a leave. Good thing my boss is very considerate. Ok ra sad dili consistent ang work schedule. Kudos to you though. It’s not easy to travel for a long period with a kid. I’d be crazy. Haha
I feel your pain about the data capping. For several years, I was a loyal customer of SmartBro back when they still offered UnliSurf or the LTE promos back then. Even as a power user (100+GB per month), it was able to suffice my needs and I was fine by it. Until of course they decided to suddenly stop it and now we’re only left with 800MB per day as the maximum amount of data you could get on a prepaid subscription. It really sucks bigtime, I hope it changes really soon.
I remember going up Sirao Peak and found LTE signal at the top (4 bars strong!). It’s hard when you’re a content creator online and you have to travel to places where you can’t access the internet. 🙁
At first I was like, “What?! 22-day journey? And with the whole family? Wow.” Ikaw najud. Family goals! I hope to experience this as well in the future. Huhu. For now, mag tigum sa ko! 🙂
x, Kat of Nested Thoughts
I think every digital nomads have the same agony when it comes to a slow internet connection in the Philippines. I actually don’t like the idea of the fair use policy of Globe as well. You know that thought of “Unlimited Surfing”, but you’re only limited to a certain quantity of data to be used in a day? If happen you’ve used up all your minimum data in a day, your connection will move down to 2G connection? You know that kind of feeling? Actually maka high blood jud sya. Anyway, I like to be a full time digital nomads soon, I’ve been always dreaming to become a digital nomad, but I can’t leave my corporate world for now. Hopefully soon when everything is put in places.
We admire your courage and your determination. We can never be digital nomads due to our full-time job and familial responsibilities.
You guys are:
1. Crazy. I do not know what went into your head but I actually admire your crazy #YOLO mindset. You even brought that cute kid with you.
2. the Epitome of #RelationshipGoals. I am sure others are hoping to find their other half in this world but you 2 are fortunate to find each other at q young age.
3. gonna be annoying. You will be posting about your trip that will just make us look ordinary and mediocre. I might be jealous and mad but I will surely look forward to the details of your “WTF” trip. You will always make the tale so effortless and fun to read.
Dalia ra’s mga adlaw oy! France and I have been planning this 30-day trip to somewhere for YEARS, but still wala gihapon mi naka decide asa and kulang pa pd ang funds hehe. And PH internet? Hahaiss. So we keep putting it off. It’s good to see that you have traveled with your family and actually proved that it is doable. Hard but doable. 🙂
Super doable. There are places that offer super fast internet but not-so-friendly rates for the tihik backpacker. So you have to balance it out, I guess. We wanted to wait until we have the right funds but…if you keep on waiting for the right moment, it will never happen. Hahaha. Although…not having backup funds is also hard. We are not touching what little savings we have so our money on the road is everything we made on the road and that is hard. Hahahaha. Good luck, Han! To more travels!