I was really worried about 2015 considering 2014 was the best year of my life (so far). 2014 was a dedicated gap year after finishing University where I traveled as much as I could. I got pretty attached to that lifestyle, and was concerned that the traveling would stop once I planted my roots firmly to a job.
A few months into working, I did feel like I was stuck in a rut. Mostly daydreaming and moping about all the travelling I wasn't doing because I was working. Enter fairly obvious epiphany: adventure doesn't present itself to you - you have to start planning and make it happen. And so that's what I did - I planned.
Even though I'm technically anchored, I've made a promise to (1) go out of town on all the long weekends, and (2) explore the Philippines as much as I can.
So far, I've (re)visited a few places:
☑ Mactan, Cebu
☑ Ibajay, Aklan
☑ Anvaya Cove, Bataan
☑ Boracay
I've got a few more mini vacations planned this year and am basically counting down the days until I am out of the city.
☐ Phuket, Thailand
☐ Coron, Philippines
☐ El Nido, Philippines
☐ Panay, Philippines
☐ Singapore
☐ Pinatubo, Philippines
☐ Secret end-of-the-year destination
Still hoping to add more to the list.
Stay mobile xx
Five miles of beach in Morong, Bataan. Not just for sunbathing and beach volleyball, but the nesting grounds of many momma turtles.
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| © Pia T. |
We stayed a while and got to talking with Manolo, who runs the conservation center. Years ago, he used to be a fisherman and a poacher. Turtle eggs were a delicacy, and many people in the area found selling the eggs to be very profitable. Around that time, environmentalists started going around and educating the locals - convincing them to give up the poaching and start protecting them instead. It took a while, but many fishermen did give up poaching.
If it's not obvious from past blog posts - I'm a big Bastille fan. When I found out they were coming to Manila, I put an alarm on my phone to let me know when pre-sale was coming. There was a lot of nervous sweating going on when the internet decided to be slow while I was trying to buy the tickets. Lots.
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| Dan Smith, Bastille in Manila © Pia T. |
I didn't think I'd like Paris; I thought it had been hyped up so much that I would be disappointed (what a travel snob). In the planning stages, I thought maybe we could stay one or two days just so we could visit the Louvre. At the insistence of the party I was travelling with, we kept Paris on our itinerary.
Maybe it was that I had low expectations,
maybe it was the people I was travelling with,
maybe it was the perfect Spring weather, or
maybe PARIS IS ACTUALLY MAGICAL.
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| Paris, France © Pia T. |
