maligayang pagdating sa pilipinas
asia trip 2023 - welcome to the philippines!
in this week’s newsletter: the last vlog for the last country of asia trip 2023, exploring a new country and its culture, final thoughts and feelings to close this chapter
dear penpals -
we’ve made it, the final newsletter to wrap up asia trip 2023! it has been such a joy to edit these vlogs and be able to re-live the special memories made on this trip - many thanks to all of you for holding space in this little corner of the internet that lets me share with you all the things that make me happy!
at this point of the timeline, my tired body, from traveling for the past 2 weeks, was ready for some much needed ocean healing and rest, as we find ourselves entering into the final leg of our trip to visit the philippines and soak in all the treausres that the island has to share!
there were a lot more things about this part of the trip that was a bit more unknown and up in the air, which did require me to step into a new kind of traveling experience (more on that later), but i was very excited to step into a new country and learn / experience its culture, cuisine, traditions, and language for the first time!
click on the image or the link to the video here!
rose -
even after living 8 months in the mountain ranges of kamikatsu (and loving it!), i still would choose the ocean over anything. there is something about the ocean that makes me feel in awe and at peace with the grandness and power of the water. so when i found out that we were going to fly to another island in the philippines to go on a two day island tour, i was incredibly excited to be reunited with the ocean again
we visited island after island where i got to snorkel and dive deeper into the waters to swim along the fish, witness the beauty of our ocean’s coral reefs, and even help the locals remove a fishing net that was attached to (and attacking) the sea life in the area. we ate incredible lunches, practically inhaled an entire pineapple and watermelon, found a (not-so) secret lagoon, went kayaking, and fulfilled my joyful wish to jump from a boat into open waters.
there were sand between my toes (that inevitably followed me everywhere) and salt water in my hair. i got a very small tan and a very big sunburn. i (thankfully) never got seasick and instead held a posture of deep gratitude and respect to the ocean waves for the way they remind me, against nature, i am powerless. what a humbling and important lesson to remember.
i miss the ocean sounds and smells as i sit here and write among the mountains and trees, but i also know that it will always be there for me whenever i return to it. so i’m hugging the memories of the island waters a little tighter until i can see the ocean again soon.
thorn -
i might not get seasick… but car sickness is definitely going to be the thing that destroys me. one thing i wasn’t expecting when we were planning for the philippines trip is the realization that to get from the airport to the hotel i would be sitting. for 6 hours. in a van. with 11 other people…
after traveling for 3 weeks, this mode of transportation was really hard. i felt like my body was desperately telling me that it has reached its limits, and although it sucks to feel sick, i’m glad that i now know what my body is capable of doing. and unfortunately, long car rides are not one of them.
don’t get me wrong, the end goal of reaching our destination, getting to enjoy the island, and experiencing tasty food was great! but the traveling journey leading up to it… let’s just say i’m proud of myself for not throwing up.
memo to self: pack gravol. like… a lot of it.
roots -
preparing for this trip involved a lot of planning, excel spreadsheets, pinning on google maps, etc. and although i felt like i prepared the practical side to traveling (to the best i could), one thing i didn’t consider was doing my research to better understand the culture and etiquette of the country i was visiting.
when i told my family that i would be visiting the philippines, i realized that i would be the first person in our family to have visited this new country and it was a pretty exciting title to claim (especially being the non-traveler i am!)
but it also meant that i didn’t have my family as a point of reference to advise me on what to expect, give suggestions of things to eat, explain what the mannerisms of the culture were, etc. i didn’t do any personal research and fell quickly into the mindset of “since i’ll be traveling with my friend’s family it would somehow be taken care of”. and multiple times, i felt the regret of not doing my research to know more about filipino culture before arriving.
i wish i made a list of filipino foods i wanted to try so i could have participated more in collaborating with others at restaurants to decide what to eat. i wish i knew of the tipping culture in the philippines so i would have made sure to have exchanged enough money to be able to pay for the necessary tips on my behalf. i wish i took the time to learn how to say “thank you”, “i’m sorry”, and other important phrases in tagalog to say it to the people who helped me.
an elder in my village talked about the importance of having curiosity when traveling, and i think it’s something i want to tap into more for myself. i’m learning that there are things about travel that can’t be neatly put into an excel spreadsheet, and instead takes time, commitment, and effort to sit down and research. to be curious to ask questions and seek answers. and to do the active work to find it out for myself.
so, salamat [thank you] to the kindness of the philippines that made it a safe place to make these mistakes, admit to it, and learn deeply from them.
and an extra thank you, ありがとう, 謝謝, and salamat to all of you dear penpals for joining me on this newsletter and vlog journey to recap this asia trip. it has been a joy sharing these adventures with you, but i’m also excited to go back to sharing with you a different (and slower) kind of adventure to be had in the countryside of japan.
sending deep love and gratitude to you for all your support!
Beautiful places and nice job on the videos.
:) Heart-warming