My family and I have lived as expats in the Philippines for six years. For the last four years we’ve called Manila home. The Philippines is actually an archipelago of 7,107 islands. Manila is the capital city located on the northern island of Luzon.   The metro Manila area, comprised of 12 defined metropolitan areas, has a population of around 12 million people within a 244 square mile area. To put this in perspective, my home state of Florida has just short of 20 million people in an area that covers  3,794,083 square miles.     Not surprisingly, the crowds are a prominent feature in the city as it is one of the most densely populated places on the planet! People are everywhere and typically they see to be traveling from one place to another.   Manila is infamous for it’s traffic, which is a conglomeration of cars, trucks, tricycles, motorcycles, buses and, of course, jeepneys. This is a far cry from the small home town I grew up in.     Jeepneys are the people-movers of the Philippines. The first jeepneys were actually repurposed American military jeeps left over after WWII.

  Filipinos love to be together and they love family. In fact, the word for home in Tagalog is “sa amin”; which means our place. The people have a fierce determination to overcome even in the midst of considerable hardship, an inspiring national pride and a fun-loving spirit that makes every day a party.   The official tourism logo is “It’s More Fun In The Philippines!” Check out their website to learn more about the exciting destinations there.   I live as an expat in Manila, Philippines and I love my adopted country and it’s people…Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!