Passport, Peso and Purpose

One payslip. One decision. One family left behind.

JC was already a hustler long before he became an OFW. He sold chicharon to patients, flipped burgers on the family terrace, and rode shotgun in Tatay's truck. Then he built a nursing career across the dialysis units of Metro Manila. So when he packed three suitcases and flew to Cambridge, England, he thought he knew exactly what he was signing up for.

He didn't.

Passport, Peso and Purpose: From Bulacan to Cambridge is the honest, funny and sometimes painful story of one Filipino nurse's leap from the Philippines to the UK. It's told like a chat with an old friend over coffee, not a lecture.

Inside, you'll find:

• The hustle before the move. Side businesses, a five-month stint in multi-level marketing, and the lessons that shaped how he thinks about money.
• The choice that came first. Putting the UK on hold to care for his nanay, and why he'd make that same choice again.
• The road to the UK. IELTS, the CBT, a medical exam more thorough than he bargained for, and a farewell hug at the airport he'll never forget.
• The exam that broke him. Failing the OSCE over how he wrote two bags of saline, and what that taught him about pride, rules and getting back up.
• The payslip. The moment his offer letter met tax, accommodation and reality, and his expectations shrank to the size of a crumpled piece of paper.

Plus a bonus checklist: 20 Things to Pack Before You Fly, from your documents and a tabo to which favourite foods you're actually allowed to bring.

For every OFW who's ever done the maths on a payslip and felt their stomach drop. For every family back home wondering what it's really like on the other side. And for every nurse thinking about making the move: this is the stuff nobody tells you before you go.

This is Volume One of the Passport, Peso and Purpose series. The passport got stamped. The peso didn't stretch far enough. The purpose? Still being written.