My Top 5 Backpacking Trips in the Philippines

Organized joiner tours used to be my thing because it’s convenient and cheaper as we get to split expenses with the others. Consequently, I started imagining how great would it be to be traveling around on my own.  Also, I wanted to bring out the street-smart traveler in me who goes from one point to another by myself. That’s when I started backpacking. After a few trips, I realized how greater the experience is! I even met and became friends with a lot of locals who introduced me to their respective provinces and cultures. Most importantly, I realized how learning was more valuable in DIY backpacking trips.

With that, I am sharing with you my top 5 DIY backpacking trips in the Philippines and what made them memorable for me. I considered these as my top not solely for how great the destinations were, but because of the epic experiences I’ve had in every trip as well.

It started in summer 2018 when 2Go Travel called and told me that I was chosen to be one of the contestants of “Trip of Your Life“. On the following month, we found ourselves at 2Go Travel’s main office. getting oriented about our tasks and itinerary.

We were a group of strangers from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao bound for an epic adventure for twelve days and in the eight provinces of the Philippines.

This backpacking adventure was truly one for the book for me. It’s due to the fact that we had an all-expense paid trip from Luzon to Visayas to Mindanao by land and sea. Further, it was a wholesome trip of exploring culture, history, food and the tourist spots in the provinces we visited.

The Backpacking Route

The adventure started in an early morning of June 2, 2018 at 2Go Travel’s main office in Pasay. Then, we traveled together in a bus to Batangas and explored the heritage town of Taal. At night fall, our group traveled to the port and departed for Aklan and arrived early morning the next day. It took us three days to explore the whole Panay Island. After Aklan, we traveled to Antique by land then Capiz and Iloilo. From Iloilo, we took the ferry to Guimaras and returned to the province in the evening. On the next day, we traveled from Iloilo to Negros Occidental via 2Go Travel’s fast cat. We spent two days in the province and sailed on the evening of the second day to Cagayan de Oro. For two days, we went chasing waterfalls in Iligan City, sliding and soaking at Seven Seas of Misamis Oriental and finally trying the white water rafting in Cagayan de Oro. Then, from Cagayan de Oro, we traveled by sea to our final destination, the Queen city of the South – Cebu. The trip took us around 22 hours. After a day and a half in Cebu, we left for Manila.

What made this trip a memorable one for me was that, it was my first time to set foot in Mindanao and also the first time to travel from a province to another by sea.

Read the full and detailed travel guide here: Backpacking Philippines in 12 Days with 2Go Travel

This Palawan Backpacking is so far the longest solo travel I’ve had to date. Since my job lets me off every summer for almost a month and a half, I took this as an opportunity to engage in such a trip.

The trip made me fall in love with Palawan even more for it showed me how wholesome the province is. My senses feasted over the pristine beaches with fine, bone-white sand and turquoise waters, secret, known, big and small lagoons, limestone mountains, hot spring, rivers, rich coral reef and a lot more.

The trip was a four-leg solo adventure. I traveled from Manila to Coron by sea in the early evening of April 6, 2019 and arrived the next morning. I spent a week in Coron – beach bumming, diving and hiking; basically visiting all the destinations available in all the tours. From Coron, I took a three-hour sea travel straight to El Nido. It took me four days to explore  the beaches and lagoons. In the evening of the fourth day, I took a land trip to Puerto Princesa City and waited for the van service that would take me to the jump off to my next destination – Balabac. Then, I spent four days at the other end of Palawan and returned to Puerto Princesa City – the last destination and the fourth leg of this 17-day solo adventure. It was supposedly that way. Unfortunately, I had a misadventure in the city making me return to El Nido. After two days, I went back to Puerto Princesa City finally with a good plan and a brave heart. After exploring the city, I departed in the morning of my last travel from Puerto Princesa City and returned to Manila by sea. It was a 24-hour trip but it was truly worth it!

Read the full and detailed travel guide here: A Solo Backpacker’s Travel Guide to Palawan (Coron, El Nido, Balabac, Puerto Princesa City)

Our North Luzon loop road trip and backpacking is my most recent. It was truly a memorable one because it’s seriously a spontaneous trip with a friend and my mom. Actually, we were just craving for some year end travel – maybe a hike or a beach trip, but we ended up taking the scenic route to the north for several days.

Read the full and detailed travel guide here: Ultimate Road Trip Guide in North Luzon (Quirino, Isabela, Cagayan, Kalinga, Mountain Province, and La Union)

This trip around Panay Island is my first backpacking adventure ever. It happened last July 2017. We were only supposed to stay in Boracay island but it was indeed tempting to be visiting the nearby provinces for they are just a few hours away from one another. I traveled to the region with a few friends from a trip to Masbate that I joined into in December 2016.

The Backpacking Route

On the first day, we departed from Manila by plane and arrived at Caticlan Airport past noon. After lunch, we took a van to Tibiao, Antique and tried the famous Kawa Bath. After a warm kawa bath in Tibiao, we took a habal-habal to the highway and took a bus to Iloilo. We explored the heritage sites in the city for a day and visited Garin Farm, the famous ‘Heaven on Earth‘ attraction nearby. Then, we took a van going back to Caticlan for Boracay. We arrived at sunset in the island known for its long stretch of fine white sand.

What made this adventure epic is that, we braved a 5-hour air-conditioned bus ride from Antique to Iloilo with us soaking wet from the rain. It rained hard while we were on the habal-habal and we didn’t get any chance to change our clothes because we didn’t want to miss the last trip to Iloilo.

Read the full and detailed travel guide here: Three Days Panay Island Backpacking: Sample Itinerary and Expenses (Antique, Ilo-Ilo, Boracay)

What made it to my top was that I considered it an epic one due to the literally last minute change of plans and of course, it was my first time to witness the province’s sough after festival. Also, this trip made me realize how wholesome Negros Occidental is.

It was October 2018 when I attended my first Masskara Festival in the City of Smiles, Bacolod City. Since I got a week, I decided to do a Negros loop starting from the attractions in Negros Occidental then traveling to Negros Oriental. However, due to the unexpected inclement weather, I ended up exploring Negros Occidental alone.

The Backpacking Route

Before the Masskara Festival, I got a dose of vitamin D and salt water in Lakawon Island. The following day, we explored the streets of Lacson for the Masskara Festival. I was supposed to travel to Dumaguate the day after. However, it rained hard so I decided to just explore Sipalay City and Danjugan Island. Then, I went back to northern Negros exploring Don Salvador Benedicto to visit Vacation Villa at Kilometer 55, the AirBnB which was the reason I was back in the province in the first place. Before leaving the province, I wandered around Silay and Talisay for the famous Ruins, a cafe by the mountain side called Duyan Cafe and a theme-park.

Among the many things that I have learned from all these backpacking trips is that, things will never work out the way we planned it. The universe will always find a way to throw you off the plan and you just got to be smart enough to pull out plans B to Z and of course, to enjoy it. Also, backpacking will not only teach you to become street smart but also people and life smart because you’ll be facing a lot of crucial decisions as you engage in these adventures, too.

How about you? What’s your most epic adventure in the Philippines and what made it memorable?