A black joke doing the rounds in Asian financial circles goes like this. Question: "What's the definition of an optimist?" Answer: "A banker who has five shirts ironed on a Sunday."

It is a joke Barry Emmerton - who lost his $15,500-a month job as an interest rates derivatives specialist - can afford to smile at, even though the shirt question is already irrelevant for him.

Today, instead of waking up to the prospect of another nerve-wracking week in Hong Kong's money markets, the 34-year-old Briton is listening to the sound of the sea in a tropical beach house in the Philippines with his wife and four-year-old daughter.

Earlier this month, he handed over the keys to his high-rent Hong Kong apartment, put furniture and belongings into storage and, with just three small suitcases, a suit bag and a laptop computer, set out with his family on the adventure of a lifetime.

Emmerton is one of a growing number of expatriates who have lost well-paid jobs in the financial sector and, rather than return home, put their worldly possessions in storage and head off to make the most of their unexpected freedom.

Two major Hong Kong relocation companies say they have seen a sharp rise in orders for storage facilities that far outstrip calls and orders from expatriates intent on shipping their things back home.

For Emmerton, putting his goods in storage for $200 a month means he can swap executive job hunting for life in a thatched bamboo beach home in Bohol in the Philippines.

Just by living off the rental income from his two London properties, his family can live there indefinitely without touching a dollar of their savings, he calculated.

The first month in a two-storey beach home in the Alumbung resort 800 km south of Manila will cost them $1,000. "After that, we'll look around and get something for around half the price, I reckon," said Emmerton, who has a monthly budget of $1,500.