International Travel: Country by Country Update

About Me.. In 2011 I made the decision to move to the Philippines within a year. Since 2012 I’ve been traveling through various islands of the Philippines as a full-time Expat. (Mactan, Bohol, Panglao, Moalboal, Dumaguete, Bacong, Boracay, Cebu) I recently spent the year living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Share with me here my ongoing adventures of life in the Philippines. Dating, vlogging, cooking, traveling and sharing the information with you needed to make your own plans for living as a full-time expat in Southeast Asia. Subscribe for my latest videos and click the Bell for notifications. — Reekay

In this video I discuss “International Travel: Country by Country Update”.
The LINK mentioned in this video is here;
https://thepointsguy.com/guide/reopening-soon-a-country-by-country-guide-to-coronavirus-recovery/
The LINK for getting a Vietnam Visa – Invitation Letter is here;
http://bit.ly/vietnam-visa-online
Related LINK.. Countries Requiring A Health Cert.. https://thepointsguy.com/guide/clean-bill-of-health-travel-coronavirus/

— Are you planning to date Filipinas when you arrive in the Philippines? Be sure to check out my Bachelor Course at Patreon. Save yourself money and heartache. — Don’t learn the hard way! More info here.. http://www.phbachelor.com

Join my Youtube Membership area and get access to my 3-series; The Bachelor Course, Learning Youtube w/Reekay & Everything w/Reekay. https://bit.ly/exclusive-reekay-content

— Need private, personalized time with me online? Online Video Consult w/Reekay.. http://bit.ly/reekayfacetimeconsult

FIND ME AT;
MEWE.. https://mewe.com/i/reekayvelez
InstaGram.. https://www.instagram.com/reekayinasia/
Everything-Asia.. http://www.everything-asia.com
Facebook.. http://www.seetheph.com
Support LifeBeyondTheSea.. https://www.paypal.me/reekay

— How I Transfer Money.. http://bit.ly/transferwisereekay
— Airbnb Is How I Travel.. http://bit.ly/airbnb-reekay

Christian Filipina Dating.. https://bit.ly/christian-filipina-dating
Filipina K1 Visa Processing.. https://bit.ly/filipina-K1-visa

— My MP3 Audio-Series.. http://bit.ly/ReekaysTravelMP3s
— View My Videos by Category here.. http://bit.ly/reekays-video-playlists

Vi’s Channel.. https://bit.ly/everything-with-vi

Get USA Shopping Sent To You Abroad.. https://bit.ly/USA-Shopping-Sent-Abroad
Get an Expat Travel Insurance Quote.. http://www.bit.ly/expat-travel-insurance-quote

— Need A Fiancee’ Visa? http://www.filipina-expat-visa4you.com
— Get Vietnam Visa Online.. http://bit.ly/vietnam-visa-online

Travels Videos For You.. http://www.travelvids4you.com
Easily Create Your Own Youtube Channel.. http://bit.ly/Video-Content-Creator-Reekay

Some music may be provided by;
Creative Commons Music by Jason Shaw on https://audionautix.com

#philippines #reekay #travelupdate
lifebeyondthesea philippines, reekay, american expat, bachelor course, philippines, philippines vlogger 2020, reekay, expat advice, livestream reekay.

Author: Reekay V.

Since 2012 I’ve been traveling through various islands of the Philippines as a full-time Expat and spent 1999 living in Vietnam.

Share with me my ongoing adventures of life in the Philippines. Hopefully you find my observations helpful in your own adventures.
— Reekay

85 comments

  1. The LINK mentioned in this video is here;
    https://thepointsguy.com/guide/reopening-soon-a-country-by-country-guide-to-coronavirus-recovery/
    The LINK for getting a Vietnam Visa – Invitation Letter is here;
    http://bit.ly/vietnam-visa-online
    Related LINK.. Countries Requiring A Health Cert.. https://thepointsguy.com/guide/clean-bill-of-health-travel-coronavirus/

    — Are you planning to date Filipinas when you arrive in the Philippines? Be sure to check out my Bachelor Course at Patreon. Save yourself money and heartache. — Don’t learn the hard way! More info here.. http://www.phbachelor.com

    Join my Youtube Membership area and get access to my 3-series; The Bachelor Course, Learning Youtube w/Reekay & Everything w/Reekay. https://bit.ly/exclusive-reekay-content

    — Need private, personalized time with me online? Online Video Consult w/Reekay.. http://bit.ly/reekayfacetimeconsult

    FIND ME AT;
    MEWE.. https://mewe.com/i/reekayvelez
    InstaGram.. https://www.instagram.com/reekayinasia/
    Everything-Asia.. http://www.everything-asia.com
    Facebook.. http://www.seetheph.com
    Support LifeBeyondTheSea.. https://www.paypal.me/reekay

    — How I Transfer Money.. http://bit.ly/transferwisereekay
    — Airbnb Is How I Travel.. http://bit.ly/airbnb-reekay

    Christian Filipina Dating.. https://bit.ly/christian-filipina-dating
    Filipina K1 Visa Processing.. https://bit.ly/filipina-K1-visa

    — My MP3 Audio-Series.. http://bit.ly/ReekaysTravelMP3s
    — View My Videos by Category here.. http://bit.ly/reekays-video-playlists

    Vi’s Channel.. https://bit.ly/everything-with-vi

    Get USA Shopping Sent To You Abroad.. https://bit.ly/USA-Shopping-Sent-Abroad
    Get an Expat Travel Insurance Quote.. http://www.bit.ly/expat-travel-insurance-quote

    — Need A Fiancee’ Visa? http://www.filipina-expat-visa4you.com
    — Get Vietnam Visa Online.. http://bit.ly/vietnam-visa-online

  2. Thank you so much for the information, Reekay. 15% or 12% of an economy is still huge.

    1. yes, it is. many local people here hurting in that percentage loss. 🙁

  3. Thank you for all your help,advice. I had to postpone Our wedding in March .I hoping to go in November to get married

    1. Try proxy marriage on skype and take her out. This will not end. This hysteria is BEYOND anything… it may result in riots and martial law

  4. Thank you for pointing out that Western tourism is not a big deal till the Philippines they don’t care about the $1,500 a week that a Westerner spends there they want the Chinese CCP and the Korean tourist the Philippine changes every 20 years

    1. thailand is already courting the tourists from china and south korea with tourism incentives,

    2. I agree. China has taken over the Philippines. 70% of businesses where I live (Ormoc City, Leyte) is owned by Chinese. To put it I street lingo, philippines has become China’s bitch specially after Duterte took over. Twenty years ago they loved Americans. Now they love Chinese. They’re even indoctrinating school kids to hate Americans. An elementary school teacher was telling me about a massacre that Americans did in Philippine. Nobody’s ever heard of this. And he’s teaching this to his students.
      China is evil. look what they have done to the world with this Chinese virus.

  5. We are learning the hard way that medical emergencies can expose even expats to the unevenness of both national and local government administration. I love the Philippine people and have deep investments in the country but I need to consider redeploying some of my activities. For me it all starts at the top and I’ll be cautious until end of Duterte term in May of 2022 and the direction of the next President. Duterte has been drifting too much towards China and no stopping even with all this Virus Behavior. I’ll be looking for a more reliable infrastructure base nearby (Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, etc.). and hope to keep at least my beach property in Boracay. I can also say many Pinay. are extremely interested in spending extended time in nearby Asian destinations. Watching and praying for PI.

  6. Great update Henry on SE Asia travels! My plan is to hopefully meet a Filipina woman online before I will travel to the Cebu/ Mactan Island area since that’s where i only plan on going.

  7. I had a few places on my list this year. 2020 for traveling is horrible but I will make the most of it. Looks like I will be going back to the Dominican Republic or Indonesia if they open up later this year.

  8. Hopefully Philippines opens up no later than January 2021.. a little longer and my girlfriend’s heart won’t be able to take it..

    1. Does chovid have expiry date ? Don’t think so… She has not much choice… cannot replace you … most expats currently in the PH may find the situation true paradise ! Millions of girls vs. limited number of foreigners.

  9. Thanks. This is exactly my question. Passport and some cash in hand but no where to go?

    1. most expats i’ve spoken with in ph, vietnam and thailand are choosing to stay where they are for the next 6-months.

  10. You cannot even travel between Provinces in Canada (Nice communism) I was advised in November for personal travel, Canada Nanny State run by hysterical women!!

    1. Adam Szyrlewski where can I get one lol does the government do any research on this?

    2. … or rather fake marriage cert on Recto Avenue Manila for 8k peso 🙂
      it is good enough to show to BI at NAIA

  11. I would advise everyone across the world to push for these rights, 1) right to freedom of association and movement 2) right to arm one self and defend property and home 3)right to free speech, just those three would make massive diiference , here in Canada we have ZERO right with “not withstanding” clauses which makes all rights useless!

  12. I don’t get the selfishness acts when it comes to international traveling and such. Sure some countries are opening slowly to tourists. But that doesn’t mean the pandemic is over by a long shot. It won’t be gone until there is approved vaccine. We will just learn how to adjust and live with it… and there is “dark numbers” of the positive and dead people count because of the different ways of handling that in most countries.

    1. what will the vaccine accomplish? will it end isolation, will it end testing ?

    2. Sure lighten the quarantine a bit(bad idea. Maybe next year?). But there is always and there will always be people being egoistic and come up with the lamest and idiotic excuses because they don’t feel like being in a restricted situation/lifestyle. Tough luck, we’re in the same bloody boat… so sit down and respect the rules/advices and maybe it will slowly go back to “normal” again.

    3. @Adam Szyrlewski Pretty much every government knew about the virus on December 31. That’s a lot of time to prepare. Some countries did, some countries didn’t. That’s not China’s fault if they didn’t prepare.

    4. It will never be gone.. it’s well made chinese product. Flu is over 100 years old and not gone despite dozens of miracle vaccines…. It is up to the people to RAISE and express ANGER of being in house arrest 100 days with no end in sight. Chinese WHO started this mess and they should end it now (with the help of UN Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International – but they are too busy defending LGBT rights …overlooking that 7 billion people had been imprisoned

  13. Hey Reekay. Thank you for the video. I checked the prices of the e-visa and it said a 1 year visa for US citizens is $35 service fee plus $135 service fee at the airport. I am lost why you mentioned $500 for the fee to Vietnam. Did I miss something? Can I just order the e-visa from that website you gave the link to then fly to Vietnam or is there another fee? Thank you in advance.

    1. @Reekay’s LifeBeyondTheSea Thank you for the clarification. I appreciate your videos. Get some sleep 🙂

    2. the 1-year visa for $135 at immigration (at the airport upon arrival) is for a Tourist-visa. the one that was advertised by a 3rd-party travel agent (in vietnam) was for a 1-year Business-visa.

      the Tourist visa requires an exit every 90-days. the Business-visa does not require any exit for the year. also inquire, as the last i was there the Business-visa for 1-year was primarily available to USA citizens.

  14. Boracay is already open for local tourists from western visayas but you have to register first .

  15. FWI pronounced Quintana Roe. I’m headed to Guadalajara in august until SE Asia opens.

  16. Not much to update really.. Dubai opening up from July 7 subject to AED 340 chovid test. Most of the Asia and Australia/NZ in a freaking hysteria/isolation bubble. This year is finished..many will not survive the side effect of losing jobs, loved ones and freedom.

  17. Hello Reekay, We met at the Pho Ha Restaurant in Riverside, California. Thanks for the valuable information because I met a wonderful lady who lives in Southern Leyte, and I hopefully plan to see her in October of this year if the Philippines eases the travel restrictions. Your information is so valuable to many travelers and ex-pats and is truly appreciated. I hope to meet up with you once again for another dine-in in your area as soon as the travel requirements are available. So please continue to keep all of us updated and take care and yourself and Vi while remaining healthy and well.” “God Bless You”

  18. Within the Philippines, you will be required to quarantine to move province to province. My wife had to get barangay clearance and health clearance and she has a travel date of July 1. A wait of more than 2 weeks. Then when she arrives she will be quarantined 14 days. 17,000 pesos at hotel plus food, or Philippino only of government-provided quarantine at national high school gym which includes 3 light meals and is free of charge. Reekay made it sound like domestic tourism is open and its not. We also have a niece and daughter who want to travel home to CDO, but doesn’t want to put baby threw quarantine

    Note that my wife’s travel permit allows her to travel a 1time trip anywhere within the Philippines. Check with your local travel advisory office which should be located. Within the tourist office. Reekay dropped the ball on this one

    1. @Reekay’s LifeBeyondTheSea ok, I must have miss-interpreted what you had to say. I watched the video, but suppose that I didn’t get the correct vibe. For some reason my typing correction software doesn’t work as well on Youtube or FB, so pardon the punctuation.

    2. @Reekay’s LifeBeyondTheSea so far there has been no encouragement for tourism except for within the province you are located in. There is only a tiny amount of domestic tourism as it is. My wife had to go threw hoops to rejoin me in Dumaguete after being stranded in Mindanao due to a family emergency then COVID hit. Busses are limited and running a reduced schedule at double the price. Fast at is running one ferry a day when there were 6 trips pre-covid. With social distancing I’m sure the ferry will also be double priced.

      I hope they will lighten up, but I don’t expect it. Of coarse they encourage domestic tourism, but so far have done 0 to make it happen. Not only is tourism and expat business down, but the OFW remittance is way down along with many of those OFW coming home and also needing to eat. Once COVID runs its coarse will likely be bargain prices, but until then…

    3. what i said was that the PH is going to push for Domestic Tourism (within the PH) as their priority. Intl tourism is way on the back-burner. listen again and you’ll hear me say this. you must have skipped through the video.

      i also said that even though over 90% of the PH is on GCQ.. the PH is discouraging ‘leisure travel’ and giving priority to needed travel for medical and other emergencies. prior to becoming GCQ there was no inter-island travel even available to the general public.

  19. Although tourism accounts for 15 or 17% this is only direct money this doesn’t include all the spin-off like people getting taxis, trikes going to restaurants the list goes on and on and most of that money was going too poor Filipinos as well, the ones who are suffering the most.
    It can’t go on like this for any length of time

    1. there’s no doubt that the loss of tourism is hurting many of the locals who were barely getting by when employed.

      but for clarification, the PH has many other industries that make up its GDP. by comparison, tourism is a small part of it.
      https://grit.ph/industries/

  20. Get use to the life you now have.!! Even with a vaccine things will never be the same as before. How many vaccine are there now?? But many virus is still in the world. I’m sure that in two years this will be manageable. But like the flu it’s here to stay!!!

    1. the overwhelming majority of expats i speak with tell me they are “staying put” until they KNOW they can relocate to a better situation.

  21. All countries want to open up. Ask yourself what has changed over the past few months. Here’s the answer. More much more virus all over the world. This is not the time to be complacent. It’s more dangerous every day.

  22. Idk my original flight date was September 2 but it’s looking like in August I’ll reschedule rebook for sometime in January hopefully that will be ago because I really want to get back to the Philippines life here in United States is kind of sucky with the with all the politics

  23. Reekay = How many expats left the country and how many of us stayed. Dumaguete would be a good test area.

  24. Still Hoping to go to Dumaguete sometime before the end of the year to see my filipina fiancee salamat

    1. i saw your post and i wanted you to know that i am here in pampanga and i have a friend who traveled from here in the luzon to Negros to see his fiancee . all he needed was an address in the location where he is going and when he applies for his travel document he has to ask for a LSI ( local stranded individual ) , along with a medical clearance certificate . You let them know that you are currently stranded in your location and you want to go to where your wife or fiancee lives and they will issue the travel document at your local police station . You still have to have a medical certif icate along with that travel document ( travel authority ) to get on the plane . the travel authority gives you the ability to go to the nearest airport near that given address and any land travel needed to get to your fiancee . The best part about the travel authority is it has a vice vera clause at the top , which gives you the ability to return to your original location if you need to return there … no additional medical certificate or new travel authority needed . check it out for yourself .

  25. Vietnam was cracking down on Business Visas prior to the lockdown. If you have a Business Visa and you are not doing business in Vietnam ,you could be Deported and Black Listed. This has happen to several Foreigners.

    1. according to most onine visa sites for vietnam, the requirements for a business-visa are as follows; “Foreigners who will enter Vietnam for business purposes have to apply for a Vietnam Business Visa ( also known as a Vietnam DN Visa).
      The Business Visa for Vietnam is a short-term visa, issued to foreigners who will be working with a company in Vietnam, attending a meeting/negotiation, signing a contract, etc but who do not have a work permit. This type of visa is issued for a maximum of 12 months, for single or multiple entries.”

      so, a person who has the intention to do business (not necessarily “start” a business) in Vietnam can apply for a business-visa, instead of a work-visa since they do not intend to work in Vietnam. as always, the Vietnamese immigration has the final say in any visa application and it is possible it ‘could’ be denied.

      What the Vietnamese immigration has been far more concerned with is those who are working in Vietnam without a Work-Visa. this is what they have been cracking-down on especially in the ESL (english school) industry.

      http://bit.ly/vietnam-visa-online
      https://visaguide.world/asia/vietnam-visa/business/

  26. Hello Reekay, I will be flying into Manila from Legazpi very soon. I had to get a lot of documentation to be able to fly there. My plan is to fly back to the US as soon as I can. I need to know what are the requirements that I need to be able to fly back home, health certificates, police clearances, etc. How much red tape is involved. Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

    1. you will likely need to get a covid-test, available info on that is at your nearest police office. (the test was available at the malls, so if you are already in manila you can get it there.) another requirement will be that you are caught-up on any fees owed to the immigration department, so stop by there to take care of that if you are late on your visa.

  27. I am permanent resident in Canada, can I travel to vietnam as a tourist as of now ?

  28. Thanks for the helpful information Reekay!

    I’m imarried to a Philippina and living in Cebu – concerned that I might not be able to receive treatment if needed https://youtu.be/r1qR8gMHbXI so considering trip back to USA until the situation in Cebu is better.

    Would you have a link for purchasing health insurance here online?

    1. Does anyone know if travel insurance actually covers you for pandemics??
      I found the one I looked at it didn’t?

  29. I have serious doubts Thailand will allow the majority of foreigners any time soon. But for myself all options are on the table to get out of the states.

    1. Same with Vietnam. Why would a country with zero active cases allow tourists from a wide range of countries? Only if 14 day quarantine, I imagine.

  30. Thanks Reekay looks longer than I had hoped and in reality sadly it may take a couple years to get back to normal hoping it will . Thanks Reekay

  31. Cambodia also requires a $3000. U.S. deposit in order to get into the country.

  32. we cant even go to other state hear in Australia Henry like im in Adelaide South Australia cant go to the east states like Victoria and New south wales no travel yet im waiting to go to the Philippines since last Christmas probably in Summer there next year in May i think we can go but im married to a filipina could go earlier we just rebuilt our house again 2nd time on the same property in Nailon 3klm from Bogo

  33. When you were showing USA it said Maine and Hawaii have strict 14 day quarantine laws in place. I guess a lot of tourists don’t read it cause tourists are still coming to Hawaii. If you are caught off hotel grounds you will be arrested and sent back to the Mainland. Although things are slowly opening up the quarantine is still in place thru July 31.

  34. Thanks for the up to date information Reekay, much appreciated. Travel plans still on hold at the moment but Bangkok and Hanoi/ Hoi An may be an option, it sounds like Cambodia is off the menu. I’ll wait to see when Philippine visas are back available again . Best wishes to you and Vi.

  35. Sorry Reekay, your a little behind the times on Vietnam. They have an E-Visa program in effect for 80 countries including the US. The request goes directly to Immigration’s and when approved they email you back the actual Visa in PDF form. There is no need to pay a 3rd party agency to acquire the authorization, then pay immigration’s upon arrival. Here’s the link for your reference.
    https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/en_US/trang-chu-ttdt

  36. Hope to travel to Germany (to see our newest grandchild); and Turkey (to visit friends) by the end of this year, Lord willing. We had our tickets booked to leave last March, but then Covid-19 prevailed…

  37. The takeaway: Never give up your home in your own country if you have one, or at the very least establish a home somewhere that you can revert to as your base. I know everyone has their own economic situation and agenda, but if you have the means, there really is no reason to sell off and give up everything just to travel. Because if you have the means, you can have both.
    The reality is a vagabond lifestyle has become inherently insecure. Make it a priority to commit to a partner, free from restrictions and work on the plan together. Once you’ve established these things, situations like this become merely a nuisance, not a hardship.

  38. Your early prediction of LONG TERM travel restrictions from the US to the Philippines was spot on. I hate you for being right. Long time subscriber, Curt from our HCM Vietnam lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings.

  39. I will wait till there is “NO” quarantine restrictions… “It’s NO fun in the Philippines” if you can’t move around and enjoy what it has to offer you.

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