BAGUIO CITY - A Good Place To Retire In The Philippines?

Pea and her friend Jojo spend a week in Baguio City investigating whether it's a viable retirement destination for foreigners. They meet with real estate agents, test the internet and transportation, check out healthcare, and scope the social scene — all bookended by a paintball battle where Pea shoots Jojo in the butt. The verdict: A-grade tourism, C-plus retirement.

The paintball battle opener ​

• Pea and Jojo do a paintball duel — 50 balls each, first hit kills
• Safety orientation from the staff: wear masks, observe 10-foot rule, no blind shooting, no swearing
• Pea feels like Darth Vader in the mask and drops the corrected Star Wars quote: "It's actually 'No, I am your father' — I think it's the Mandela effect"
• Jojo wins by hitting Pea; Pea hits Jojo in the butt, leaving a visible bruise — a running joke for the rest of the video

Baguio's location and basic profile ​

• Located about 5,000 feet above sea level in the northern mountains of Luzon
• Founded in 1900, originally built as a U.S. military base (Camp John Hay)
• Known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines" and the "City of Pines"
• Exceptionally clean — very little trash, almost no stray animals (unusual for the Philippines)
• Air quality is excellent; smells like pine trees

Climate — Baguio's biggest selling point for some foreigners ​

• Average temperature: 56-75°F (13-24°C)
• Jojo finds it genuinely cold and needs jackets even at midday
• Pea notes this cuts both ways: most foreigners come to the Philippines for warmth, so the cool climate is only an advantage for those who specifically want it
• No fireplaces in the hotel rooms — Pea wanted to roast marshmallows, but Jojo doesn't like marshmallows ("you still remember" — "I'm a good friend")

Natural disaster risks ​

• High earthquake risk: a 7.8-magnitude quake in 1990 caused massive destruction and casualties; a 7.0 quake affected the area again in 2022
• Typhoons hit the area; Jojo experienced one personally and found it scary
• Prone to landslides and flooding — counterintuitive for a mountain area, but low-lying areas do flood
• Pea's caveat: natural disaster risk exists across the entire Philippines, so this isn't unique to Baguio

Getting to Baguio ​

• By bus from Manila: 5-7 hours on treacherous mountain roads with no guardrails, drivers going fast along cliff edges — Jojo survived it but describes it as terrifying
• By plane: flights only from Cebu to Baguio (no Manila flights); costs about $100 one-way, takes ~2 hours
• The Baguio airport approach is hair-raising — planes fly at low altitude, banking sharply with rooftops visible from the window, almost like a roller coaster

Transportation within the city — a major problem ​

• No tricycles (unlike most Philippine cities)
• Plenty of jeepneys but severely inadequate taxi supply
• Pea and Jojo were literally chasing taxis down the street; long queues at malls
• The city supposedly added 200 more taxi units, but they couldn't find them
• Very few motorbikes compared to places like Cebu or Dumaguete — and most riders are couples ("lovers") hugging each other, which Jojo observes; in Cebu, passengers just hold the handle bar without touching the driver

Traffic and walkability ​

• Bad traffic congestion for a small city
• The city runs a license plate coding system to restrict vehicles (plates ending 1-2 banned Mondays, 3-4 on Tuesdays, etc.)
• Very limited parking
• Since there's no parking, people walk — but the walkways are extremely steep everywhere
• Accessibility is poor: uneven roads, obstacles on walkways, tree roots on trails — not suitable for people with knee problems, physical disabilities, or vision impairment ("if you're a blind person walking, it might be hell")

Internet and power ​

• Internet is good in hotels and establishments (Pea streamed Netflix fine) but drops in the city; mobile data was unreliable
• Power outages happen — same as throughout the Philippines, taxi drivers confirmed some long outages

Food ​

• Fresh ingredients, especially vegetables and fruits — Baguio's mountain climate is great for produce
• Good variety of restaurants: Persian, Greek, Italian, American, Filipino
• They found a deli selling imported Western food — wines, cheeses, chocolates
• Average restaurant meal: $5-7 for a good sit-down meal; street food available for cheaper

Healthcare ​

• Three good hospitals with doctors and specialists
• Despite the city's isolated mountain location, basic healthcare needs are well covered
• For major procedures (like open heart surgery), you'd need to fly to Manila

Real estate — expensive compared to other Philippine cities ​

• Baguio is an upscale city and prices reflect it
• Jojo lived there previously and had to share a place because rent was beyond her budget
• Expect to spend 20-30% more on housing compared to most other Philippine locations
• Not many rental options available
• A high-end golf course subdivision was selling land at 34,000 pesos per square meter — Pea jokes they couldn't afford it "even if we sell our kidneys"
• Land for sale is also significantly more expensive than most areas

Social scene — the dealbreaker for foreign men ​

• Median age is very young (~22 years old), driven by call center workers and students
• Lots of kids, young adults, anime culture, cosplay, city festivals — youthful vibe
• A recently passed anti-cursing law (possibly because of all the kids)
• Very few foreigners: Pea and Jojo only spotted about three foreign-Filipina couples during their entire week-long stay
• The foreign couples they did see were close in age — no visible age-gap relationships (very different from Cebu or Dumaguete)
• Not a good dating destination for foreign men — Pea's advice: "B.Y.O.F. — Bring Your Own Filipina"

Pea's final verdict ​

• Tourism grade: A — lots to do, beautiful scenery, great food, unique cool climate
• Retirement grade: C-plus — expensive housing, bad transportation, limited dating scene, accessibility issues
• "Unless climate is the deciding factor for you, Baguio is better to visit than to live in"

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