One of the main reasons Scott and I chose a new retirement lifestyle is the freedom it gives us to travel. We took a trip to the Philippines in January 2017 (Scott’s first and my fourth, but after a 25-year absence), and we loved it so much we booked another trip in April. We found cheap fares on Cathay Pacific and jumped on them.
Now I’m writing this post from our AirBNB in Newport City (the complex where we considered buying). I love Newport City because it’s just across from the airport, and you can literally walk from the airport to your place.
Footbridge from NAIA terminal 3 to Newport City and Resorts World
Here is a recap of days 1-3, highlighted by my Eight-Movie Marathon
We left NYC on a Monday, thankfully getting a reprieve from the snow, and with three flights and the 12-hour time change, we didn’t arrive to our first destination, Legazpi, till Wednesday morning. Including the travel times to/from the airport, it was about 31 hours of travel!
I have nothing exotic to report, except that Cathay Pacific, long-renowned for its good service, did not disappoint, and Hong Kong International Airport is a very easy transfer. I’m definitely taking this into account for future trips to Asia!
Being a movie fanatic, I took full advantage of the 200+ in-flight movie options and squeezed in seven films during the flights, the first flight being 15.5 hours from New York to Hong Kong and the second flight about 2 hours from Hong Kong to Manila:
- Molly’s Game –Jessica Chastain hosts underground high-stakes poker games. Watch it if you’re a Jessica Chastain fan because it’s like every other Jessica-as-a-strong-female-lead movie she’s ever done. But if you want you really want is a good poker movie, I recommend 21.
- Jumanji – the remake, not the Robin Williams version, which was the more charming variety. It’s hard not to have fun watching a movie that has The Rock, Kevin Hart and Jack Black, so this is the perfect plane film.
- Geostorm – I love disaster movies, which is the only logical reason to subject oneself to a Gerard Butler movie. I don’t know how this movie got greenlit – who thought this was a good idea? Nonetheless, it was fun seeing Jim Sturgess again. (he played the lead in 21)
- Inside Out – so excited to finally see this Pixar film, and I can see why it got such good reviews.
- All the Money In the World – this movie was made famous by the fact that Kevin Spacey got replaced by Christopher Plummer, and then Michelle Williams only got $80 for her reshoots while Mark Wahlberg was paid $1.5 MM. That’s also the most interesting thing about the movie. Watch it if you’re looking for another reason to hate rich people. Or to see Christopher Plummer.
- The Killing Of A Sacred Deer – I love thrillers and Colin Farrell, but I have to say I didn’t love this one. Spooky, and if you know your Greek tragedies, you’ll probably like it more than I did. Apparently, this movie is based on Iphigenia and Agamemnon – thank you, IMDB.
- The Greatest Showman – a musical about a circus, and it has Hugh Jackman. What’s not to like? Bonus: who knew Michelle Williams could dance!
Once we landed early Wednesday AM, I knew we’d have to recover quickly because we had a busy Thursday and Friday planned. So, we rested at the hotel, and I watched some more! This time, Van Helsing on HBO. Despite being a big horror movie fan, I had not yet seen this Dracula, werewolf, Frankenstein mash-up. Well, now I’ve seen it, and that’s all that’s worth saying about it.
We are Scott and Caroline, 50-somethings who spent the first 20+ years of our adult lives in New York City, working traditional careers and raising 2 kids. We left full-time work in our mid-40’s for location-independent, part-time consulting projects and real estate investing, in order to create a more flexible and travel-centric lifestyle. 
Financial independence and early retirement is not something we originally focused on, but over time realized it was possible. Our free report, 
