Travel Stories
A collection of stories of adventures and misadventures while backpacking that makes a trip the most epic and unforgettable! You may follow the following series and collection:
- Tales of Untold Misadventures - a series of my travel stories of unfortunate experiences while traveling. Let these stories entertain at the same time inform you of what might go wrong when traveling, how can you deal with it or what can you do to save yourself from the inconvenience of the mishaps.
- Backpacking Philippines - a collection of different travel guides for backpackers to the different Philippines
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Mt. Pinatubo Day Trip Experience: What to Expect
My seemingly unending proverbial list of places in the Philippines to see before I die include hiking into volcanoes. It started when we went on a hike in Taal volcano, an active one that erupted just this 2020 (now closed) and told myself I should venture more into such. It’s more than just the thrill of being at the edge of a volcano’s caldera. As a true sucker for earth sciences and adventure, the awe-striking scene that the nature has formed and the fun in getting there got me drawn into it. Since then, I have set my eyes and intentions into meeting Mt. Pinatubo. So, if you’re also looking…
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Panag-apoy: A Night of Remembering the Dead in Sagada
As the sun started to set, thick, dark smoke began to rise towards the sky just above the cemetery. “Panag-apoy must have started“, we thought to ourselves. We then followed the flow of the crowd silently walking to the Anglican cemetery — some carrying the pine twigs on their shoulders. Sagada people’s culture and traditions are rich making it truly interesting. Among those that fascinated and intrigued me big time is their death and burial practices. This year, we got a chance to witness Panag-apoy, one of the most unique ways of Igorots in remembering the dead. Panag-apoy is a Kankana-ey (Igorots of Sagada’s language) phrase that means “to light…
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Reimer Residences: An Exclusive Hilltop Resort in Tubigon, Bohol
Bohol is one of the Philippines’ top favorite tourist destination. Luckily, it is among those provinces that opened its doors to tourists first amidst the pandemic. After few years of waiting, I finally had an opportunity to explore it with a few friends. Philippine tourism may have just started getting back to its feet but a lot of people have already crowded the sought-after spots in the province. To getaway from the tourist-flocked places of Bohol, we drove all the way from Panglao to this exclusive resort in Tubigon – the Reimer Residences. Our Reimer Residences Experience After a fun but long and tiring road trip, we made our way…
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My Mom’s First Hike and Camp at the Mountains
Ever since I’ve started traveling, I’ve always thought of taking my mom with me. I want her to see and experience the greatest things that this world offers. While she still can, I want her senses to be enlivened by anything naturally splendid – be it an element of a city, the sea or the summit. On top of all these, I live for her unfading bright eyes and precious smiles upon experiencing new thrills and adventures that she has never seen nor done before. I love how full of life her voice becomes every time she vividly speaks of her emprise. With that, I would chase for trips where…
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Sea glass: From Trash to Treasure
As we were waiting for the boat that will take us to White Island that morning in Camiguin, I busied myself with looking for some sea glass at the beach. I remembered from the trip I had last July 2018 how interested my friends were about this thing that they even looked for a souvenir shop in Cagayan de Oro City that sells a necklace with it. Since then, these ocean gems have fascinated me. I gave the shore a combing look when my eyes locked into a white one tucked beneath the black sand and broken shells. I squatted to get it and kept it in my pouch. “Hey,…
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Never Have I Ever (Travel Edition)
This Never Have I Ever (Travel Edition) is a fun way to make you look back on your epic adventures in the past. At the same time, this gives you an idea as to what should you look forward to once it’s finally safe to be traveling again! Try this game over a bottle of wine or a cup of coffee with friends on a Friday or Saturday night. Let’s do this! Never have I ever… 1. Gone into an international trip Tell your friends about the first, most recent and most epic international trip you’ve had! You can also count on how many countries have you crossed out in…
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Chapters of a Traveler in Quarantine
“I am a traveler in quarantine —” a gallivanter stuck at home due to the pandemic but I still managed to embark on a journey and that’s what these chapters will tell you about. Three Weeks of a Traveler in Quarantine: The Slack City The first few weeks of quarantine was full of resentment, internal struggles and pointing fingers coupled with series of anxiety attacks and breakdowns at night. Those days of being stuck at home were among the most unhealthy days of my life – physically and mentally. My body clock was totally messed up as I ended up being a couch potato binge watching Netflix series – one…
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The One with the Accident in Siargao
There was a loud screech, thud and a crash. The next thing that we know, people were shouting and wailing. There’s blood on the pavement. There’s an unconscious man bathing in his own blood in the arms of his son who was shaking him and trying to wake him up. At that moment, I felt numb and my knees failed to keep me standing upright. Little did we know that a dreadful accident in Siagao will happen before our eyes. A Fine yet Gloomy Morning It was a cloudy yet fine day in August 2019. It was the third day of our almost-a-week stay in Siargao. I, together with my…
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Reroute to Mercedes Camarines Norte
In 2017, my High School friends and I decided to organize a trip to Calaguas Island, Camarines Norte. As the travel organizer of the group, I did all the planning. Everything was well-planned; contacts have been established, everyone confirmed along with other friends outside my high school circle of friends. Everyone was indeed giddy about it. Little did we know that we’ll all end up in Mercedes Camarines Norte. Day 0: Dooms Day Come Holy week of the year 2017. At around 8:00 PM, we met at McDonald’s Pala-Pala, Dasmarinas since most of us were coming from Cavite. We had our dinner and shared stories. Our excitement could not be…
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My Longest Night in Puerto Princesa City Palawan
My trips are not always as perfect as my travel photos that you see. Behind every detailed travel guide to a province is an untold story. I could actually write my own version of series of unfortunate events for all my misadventures since I have started traveling. About a year ago, I published one of my unfortunate events in Cebu and I truly learn from the experience. Now, I’m sharing another one with you – my longest night in Puerto Princesa City Palawan. The Series of Unfortunate Events It was the last leg of my 17-day Palawan Backpacking last April 2019 and I went back to Puerto Princesa from almost a week-long trip in Balabac.…
