Neil Hoag, 45, was living in Palm Beach when Margie got in touch because she wanted to improve her English.
A year later, he flew to the remote island of Leyte where she lived to meet her and her family.
He recalled: 'All my friends told me I was crazy to come here, they said I would get my head cut off because it was such an exotic, far away place.'
The couple fell in love and Neil decided to give up his life in Florida to marry Margie and live with her in the rainforest.
He cashed in his savings and bought a piece of land on top of a mountain for £800. They then spent £11,000 building a two bedroom hut with the help of their family and friends from mahogany and bamboo, where they now live with their three sons, Keith, Kyle, and Kenny.
They have electricity but Margie prefers to cook using a charcoal stove. As the nearest village with a shop is miles away, they kill their own chickens and pigs for food and scale the trees for coconuts.
There is no running water so they collect rainwater for washing and drinking.
He said: 'My life here is living the dream. People are afraid to let go of what they are familar with. You have to overcome that fear and know you can break free from the mainstream, you can break free from the herd and be captain of your own destiny.
'If I had to do it all again I wouldn't change a thing. It wad the hardest but the best decision I ever made to break way.'
Neil had an unhappy upbringing in Florida with a family he described as 'dysfunctional'. He left home at the age of 15 and became a cab driver at 17.
He would drive taxis and limos to earn a living and had a son, Kevin, who is now a teenager still living in Florida who he visits every year.
Neil has to guard his rainforest home with a machete from wild animals but said he feels much safer in the remote jungle than he ever did in Florida.
He explains: 'Over 30 of my friends were murdered in their cabs. I was fed up of the fights with drunks in the middle of the night and people from the upper echelons of society thinking they have the right to get in a taxi and insult the driver. My life there was more wild than it was here.'
Neil and his wife admit their relationship initially caused a stir in her community where it's rare to see a white person.
'They talked about me,' Margie said. 'Now I don't care what they say. We are always laughing and smiling so they become friendly. If you ignore what they say, they stop. If you put it in your heart, you'll have a heart attack.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2559363/NOW-Im-living-dream-Limo-driver-swaps-city-life-sexy-girls-live-Filipino-wife-bamboo-hut-tropical-rainforest.html#ixzz2tJanp2Wx
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