We moved to the Philippines – we have a cook and a pool but miss English nature – The i Paper

Around half a million people left the UK to live elsewhere last year, and it’s not just retirees. A survey of more than 3,000 young people by the British Council showed that 72 per cent of 18- to 30-year-olds would consider living and working abroad, with destinations in Europe, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and South East Asia proving popular.

Many expats are seeking a better quality of life, and cite varying factors – cold weather, high cost of living, extortionate childcare, stagnant wages, dwindling opportunity, lack of work-life balance and even poor romantic prospects – among their motivations for leaving the UK. The i Paper’s Expat Files follows Brits who have taken the leap and settled elsewhere, detailing the ups and downs of their journey. Gail Metcalf, a teacher from the UK, tells Katie Strick about moving to Manila in the Philippines with her husband, John.

My husband John and I have always loved travelling. We met while working at a travel agency, Trailfinders, in our early twenties and went on various campervan adventures around Australia and South America before having kids.

We went on to have three daughters and lived in various parts of the UK – Norwich, St Albans, eventually Winchester – but always had a bit of an itch to live abroad. So when John was offered a job at a pharmaceutical company in Belgium in 2006, we jumped at the chance. The girls were 12, 10 and five at the time and I was working as a teacher, so I knew I’d be able to find a job abroad.

After six years in Belgium, we moved to Basel, a medieval city on the Rhine River in Switzerland – again for John’s job. I worked as a primary class teacher at the international school there, and the girls went to the same school before eventually heading to the UK for university.

We were really, really happy there and ended up staying for 12 years: we lived in a beautiful ski chalet with views over the Lauterbrunnen Valley and weekends were spent hiking, cycling and skiing.

Two years ago, John decided he wanted to retire early. I wasn’t quite ready to retire and I’d always quite fancied working in Asia, having travelled there in my twenties. A series of things aligned themselves nicely: we no longer had to worry about John’s employment, two of our daughters were married and working in the UK and our youngest daughter was doing a master’s degree in London.

Manila in the Philippines came highly recommended by international educators I knew who’d been living there. They told us we’d have a good life in Manila in terms of safety and going to nice restaurants. They also highly recommended the international school there. A two-year contract as a maths and science teacher came up at the school, so we took a chance and moved to Manila in August 2024, having never visited.

We moved to a specific part of the city called Bonifacio Global City (BGC), a modern, upscale central business and lifestyle district that feels a bit like a mini Singapore because it’s safe and clean and there are nice restaurants and shopping centres. Because I came as a teacher with a trailing spouse, our relocation package included a two-bedroom apartment in a skyscraper overlooking a big private golf course. The school where I worked was at one end of BGC, our apartment was at the other end and I could walk between the two. We had everything we needed on our doorstep: we could go to the gym, pool and supermarket without leaving our building.

It’s very luxurious and friendly and clean and safe. If I had to summarise the lifestyle, it’s everything that Switzerland is not: it’s not cycling or hiking or going on the tram. Instead, it’s going to nice restaurants, sitting outside coffee shops, going to the gym and the swimming pool. There’s a lovely climate – every day is the same temperature, about 30°C – and it’s always busy and bustling with lots to see, whether it’s the colourful characters who live here or all the little dogs being wheeled around in pushchairs.

Like in Singapore, there are lots of rules in BGC. There’s no litter, dogs have to wear diapers in shopping centres and there are security guards on every door. But there’s also a great sense of acceptance and openness. You can dress however you like here and it’s a cool place just to be and watch the world go by. I can walk back from the gym at 10pm and feel safe with lots of people out and about, in a nice way. It’s quite an exuberant place, and everyone who lives there seems happy. It’s mostly rich Filipinos, as opposed to expats, living alongside us in the BGC. We’ve met lots of them through the gym, my work at the school and John’s various clubs and charity work. Most are very open and friendly.

But if you go outside the BGC area into the rest of Manila, it’s a very different experience. There are fewer green spaces and there’s no public transport, so there’s a lot of traffic congestion. I wouldn’t feel safe walking around a lot of the city at night, unless it was a shopping mall. If we do leave BGC, it’s usually to fly to one of the islands or another country in Asia. We rarely spend time in the wider city and whenever friends come to stay, we hang out in BGC. Yes, it can feel like we’re not really living in the authentic Philippines at times, but it’s easy to travel to the islands during our weekends and holidays.

John has found it pretty easy to make friends as an early retiree. He’s joined a couple of societies and has done some charity work, so he’s probably met more local people than I have. There’s quite a big American influence because of the military influence here. Many people work at the big American embassy or for the big employers like banks and utility firms.

Most of the friends I’ve made have been through the gym, pool or my job. The International School of Manila has a world-class reputation and I’ve adored it as a teacher: there’s a maximum of 20 students in a class, they all want to learn and there are lots of extracurricular options. I can see why teachers stay for 20 years – particularly those with families. My salary is probably on par with what I’d be being paid in the UK but the difference here is that my package also includes our rent, bills and healthcare. Help is also more affordable here. It’s normal to have a maid to do all your cooking, cleaning and childcare. John and I don’t have a maid because we don’t need one, but we do have someone who cooks for us twice a week, and someone else who cleans twice a week, because it’s nice and affordable.

Spending-wise, it’s hard to compare Manila to the UK or Switzerland. Asia is generally cheaper than Europe but I’d say the Philippines is more expensive than Vietnam, Cambodia or Thailand, and we live in what is basically the Mayfair of Manila. Coffee and meals out are still much cheaper than in Europe or Australia, where our middle daughter lives. There’s no public transport but taxis are reasonably priced. And grocery shopping is fine if you’re happy to be flexible and shop at the local markets. It’s more expensive if we want luxuries like chia seeds or some of the produce we’re used to from home like apples and strawberries.

We came here with very few expectations and what has surprised me the most is how much I’ve missed nature. It’s not enough just to be able to go to nice restaurants. You need green space, too. Whenever we visit our daughters in England or Australia, the nature is so beautiful – and it’s all free. That’s not the case here in Manila. Our apartment overlooks an invite-only golf course for the super-rich; you can’t swim in Manila Bay because the water is so toxic and polluted, and there’s very little in the way of wildlife. It’s very urban. We appreciate coming from a country that has footpaths and hiking trails so much more now that we don’t have access to them.

My two-year teaching contract takes us to June 2026 and although we have the option of renewing it and staying longer, we think it’s the right time to go. We really miss our family – even our daughter in Australia is still an eight-hour flight away – and being in Asia has only heightened our desire to do more travelling while we are still healthy and active. I’m also finally ready to retire now. We plan to move back to Switzerland in June, then travel from there – hopefully starting in India and with some campervan trips through the middle and around the outsides of Australia, with our daughter joining when she can.

Will we be sad to leave the Philippines? We’ve had a great time, especially all the travel we’ve been able to do throughout Asia, but it’s a pretty transient population in Manila. It was something to come and see and we’re glad we did, but we’re happy to move on.