Are you an aspiring Overseas Filipino Worker? Have you decided to work abroad to earn Dollars? Yen? Dinar? Euros? Riyals? Pounds? Ringgit? Or perhaps Dirhams? Do you want to join the bandwagon of so-called, Filipino Expats? Would you like to grow professionally and improve personally while traveling to your dream destinations during your annual leave from work? Sure, you have been inspired by your parents, encouraged by relatives, probably motivated by friends who became successful by being an OFW, but are you ready to become one yourself?
Here’s your RANDOM OFW CHECKLIST.
(And this is not part your employer’s requirements).
1. Are you capable of doing things on your own? Do you see yourself doing your laundry, preparing and cooking meals, washing dishes, ironing your clothes, even after a long and tiring day at work? Can you imagine doing those chores all by yourself? No housemaid, no parents, no friends to help you out?
2. Do you think you can endure homesickness? What about loneliness? Or being alone in a country so greek to you?
3. Is it fine with you to be treated as second or even third-class-citizen?
4. Are you ready to leave your comfort zone?
5. Are you willing to be away from your family, relatives and friends?
6. Are you prepared to adjust and adapt to a new country? A new place? A new working environment?
7. Are you willing to accept diversities and practices without prejudice? Are you open-minded to accept diversities in culture (ever heard of culture shock?), religion, food and even climate change?
8. Are you emotionally capable of enduring not to celebrate your loved ones’ special occasions, like birthdays, anniversaries, graduation rites, because you’re miles away from them?
9. Do you see yourself celebrating holidays like Christmas, New Year’s eve, Valentine’s Day, or even your own birthday alone, without your families and friends, or worse, at work?
10. Do you think you’ll be capable of following restrictions and abiding laws and regulations, that at times, you’ll not understand why you need to follow?
11. Are you willing to be stressed out in previously routinary and easy tasks?
12. Do you think you’ll be capable of rising from financial difficulties and burdens as living and working abroad may be expensive?
13. Do you think you’ll spend your hard-earned money wisely?
14. Are you prepared to withstand various attitude, mood swings and cultural differences between you and your colleagues?
15. Do you think you’ll be capable of surviving the possibilities of losing your job? Are you strong enough to rise to the challenge of finding a new job?
16. Are you comfortable of making new friends while dealing with differences.
17. Can you endure a LDR (long distance relationship) with your spouse, with your child(ren), or with your significant other?
18. Do you think you’ll be ready to face political and administrative issues?
19. Are you willing to support your family while supporting yourself financially?
20. Are you prepared for a whole new life?
beyond toxicity @ docgelo.com 
I complain about life here till I came across this.
Thanks for reading 🙂
yes for the sake off my family im willing to sacrifice all off them because in the phillipines is not enough the salary…
We’re on the same boat! 😊
Hats off to all the OFWs. Though I’m sad for the state of our country, that an OFW will choose all those you mentioned, just to provide a decent life for themselves and their family.
There was a time, Doc that when doctors and even lawyers and other professionals are taking up Nursing as their ticket to get a green card to US. They call it Brain – drained for the Philippines. Even Medical Board topnotchers are practicing as nurses in the US. But can we blame them for choosing to become OFWs and leave our country in favor of providing better lives for themselves and their families?
Thank you for reading Doc. Really appreciate it.
Nobody to blame but our own sorry state of our country and its government, who cannot provide a half a decent life to its own people.
True! I cannot agree more.
Case in point – It doesn’t take a genius, in my opinion to choose a job here in UAE that’s tax – free with provision of medical and dental insurance, free transportation to and from the office, etc, over working back home where your hard-earned money paid to tax to the government will end up in a corrupt officials’ pockets. Shame, shame shame!
But I do believe in change and miracles. Who knows, Doc one day, things will be better.
Im working for 14 years in UAE to race up my 4 kids all bad and good expierince i still thankful to God becouse of that i become more stronger to get my goal to give my childrens a good future i never regret in my life to work us OFW we need to follow all the rules . And now thanks God my kids working here with me.so any trials in your life never give up and dont Forget to pray and ask to God he will never live us!!! Thanks for this country to give me opportunity to work and my employer too. May God bless you all!!
Thank you so much for sharing your OFW story. Very inspiring! May God bless us more!
Huwawww… For 20 checklists/questions there nasagot naman po lahat ng palunok. Haha 20 lunok pa nga. Hehehe
Ofw-Hongkong
Magandang araw po mula sa Dubai! Thank you for reading my blog! Kaisa nyo po ako sa pagiging OFW! 😊