The only advice I can give you is to try it out living in the province first and decide afterwards which one do you like most. Give it a thought though, it's still up to you to decide in the end. However, you said right now you've got no choice since you can't afford to buy the lot- who could afford it at that price for a full time employee especially for the kind of job we have ( I'm also a call center ). I used to live in NCR, Taguig to be precise, though not anymore for almost 2 years now. I ended up going back to my birth place due to the pandemic and I can say I'm happier now that I was in Manila. Here, I can see my family everyday and can hang out with my childhood friends. I never felt any regret since the day I came back home, I even told my company there I won't be coming back anymore when they called me to inquire kailan ako makaka pag work ulit. Give it a try lang TS. I promise you ma e-enjoy mo din buhay probinsya. Though masasabi ko labg ma mi-miss mo lang ang window shopping sa mall at padis point haha. Currently I still work in call center but with other company.