To Finally Finding It

If it is right, it happens. Nothing good gets away.

If there is one greatest and life-altering thing that traveling has taught me, it is this: No matter how you plan, and no matter how these plans fail, you are always, always at the right place at the right time.

The universe unfolds as it should, when it should, and how it should. It’s timing is impeccable. Trust it.

The Truth About Wild Spirits & Wanderlust

Play. We constantly feel out of place. In a world run by lethargic routines, we would often look around, watching people on the streets, in offices, in family gatherings, wondering how the rest of them get by everyday with such a breeze. Because in our heads thrive an unkindness—ravens flocking wildly all day long.

We are home, but we never quite feel at home. Because the road is where our hearts are, and where our hearts are, there is home. We are fishes out of water, holding our breaths until we can finally swim away again. Back into the wilderness where gypsies, nomads, drifters, and wanderers roam. With them will we feel a belonging once more.

Urban Railroads & Grand Returns

This is a trip that tells stories of grand returns. A return to that first country I ever traveled to, a return of a dear old friend, a return to that state of being beautifully lost in a foreign land, and a return to feeling right at home, in the presence of like-minded strangers.

I should have seen the signs. For two months I had been feeling ridiculously sentimental and nostalgic about Hong Kong. I saw reminders of it everywhere. I read about it. I heard about it. I made friends with travelers from there. I even had the urge to suddenly write about it. And then one day, cleaning my room, I found an old wallet. The one I used on my trip there, and inside found 60 Hong Kong dollars. I was ecstatic. A few days after, I received a message from my old friend in Canada. She’s visiting Manila in two weeks and wanted to take a quick side trip to Hong Kong. She needed someone to go with her.

The next thing I know, I was landing in Lantau Island with a big, stupid grin on my face. And my favorite song was playing overhead.

The Island of Living Lights

There was a time in my life when I only existed in darkness. Follow the light, people would tell me. And for some time, I spent my days chasing the sun. I even crossed oceans for it.

My pursuit of sunny days one day brought me to a gorgeous little island of Calaguas nestled at the edge of the Pacific. I knew I had come to the right place when after almost a half a day of voyage on both land and sea, the boat I was on finally hit the shore. The crystal waters and fine white sand that welcomed our fleet left me almost speechless.