For the recent five-day weekend, I got a spontaneous invite from Jackie Yap, co-founder of FlipTrip.ph, to join them in Zambales. Having no plans or itinerary whatsoever, I let them handle everything and ended up staying the entire five days there.
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Pura Vida: My 2014 Top 20
in Travel, Inspiration
Gratitude is one of the healthiest exercises you can do for your soul. 2014 has been, far and away, an unbelievable, life-changing year of journeys around the world and in the self. So I think it’s fitting that I do something special by writing this personal retrospective of 2014, and I hope in doing so I can multiply my own gratitude by sharing it with you. It’s been a year of epic and small moments alike that I'll treasure for life.
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Gather round and be with others, just like old times.
To Post or Not to Post: 5 steps to living in the moment in the age of Instagram
in Travel, Wisdom, Photography
Don’t worry: I’m not going to tell you never to post on social media again. I’m on Facebook and Instagram more than most people I know!
Instead, I’m proposing this: when you’re having an amazing experience, take the “insta" out of Instagram.
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My friends and I during our trip to Egypt in 2008. We've all since gone on to travel or live abroad for some periods of time!
5 Reasons Young Filipinos Should Travel (More, Wider, And Longer)
Let’s start a revolution. A quiet revolution of heart and mind.
More and more young Filipinos are discovering that there’s a world of travel beyond bitin weekend escapades and touristy package tours. Some are even quitting their jobs to travel the world, like their first-world peers.
If you’ve read about my “mini-retirement,” or watched my ode to travel, you know that I’m an unabashed advocate of the life-changing and abundance-attracting fruits of travel. To me, the reason is simple: if you are young, and have the freedom to, you owe it to yourself to make decisions that will open your world as opposed to narrowing it.
The world is a big place, and there’s wealth in all forms to be found. Don’t wait until it’s too late, because, as the saying goes, you will only regret the things you didn’t do.
With that in mind, here are my top 5 reasons young Filipinos should travel more:
Read MoreWhy We Travel
Well, for those wondering about what the heck I did during my "mini-retirement," here it is: My heartfelt ode to travel and my fellow travelers. Two months of travel, four countries in Latin America, and a lifetime's worth of unforgettable moments, in four minutes. Dedicated to all travelers, especially the crazy ones who travel solo.
I hope it's able to remind you of the magic of your own journeys, or inspires you to make your own.
Read MoreMy Interview on Daybreak on 9News
in Travel, Inspiration, Video
Thanks to all of the wonderful people who read, shared, and commented on my Mini-Retirement post, I had the chance to look silly on live morning television! It was great fun and I'm quite grateful that I got to do it.
(PS Whoopsie, they got my Instagram username wrong - it's apalabyab. "Palabyab" is my cousin's account.)
A candid moment with Oscar, my surf instructor from Costa Rica, and his dog Wili (Montañita, Ecuador)
When Traveling, Don't Talk to Strangers (Listen to Them)
in Travel, Wisdom, Inspiration, On My Mind
When we're young, we're rightly taught not to talk to strangers. But one thing I love about travel is that you have to do the opposite. Or that no one is really a stranger until proven strange.
Read More“I am one of the searchers. There are, I believe, millions of us. We are not unhappy, but neither are we really content. We continue to explore life, hoping to uncover its ultimate secret. We continue to explore ourselves, hoping to understand. We like to walk along the beach, we are drawn by the ocean, taken by its power, its unceasing motion, its mystery and unspeakable beauty. We like forests and mountains, deserts and hidden rivers, and the lonely cities as well. Our sadness is as much a part of our lives as is our laughter. To share our sadness with one we love is perhaps as great a joy as we can know - unless it be to share our laughter. We searchers are ambitious only for life itself, for everything beautiful it can provide. Most of all we love and want to be loved. We want to live in a relationship that will not impede our wandering, nor prevent our search, nor lock us in prison walls; that will take us for what little we have to give. We do not want to prove ourselves to another or compete for love.
”
We are the searchers
in Inspiration, Travel
Free as a... species of vulture with a three-meter wingspan (Colca Canyon, Peru)
Mini-Retirement in your 20s: Why and how (a "third world" perspective)
Mini-retirement is a phrase coined by "lifestyle design" maverick Tim Ferriss, author of The Four-Hour Work Week. It means "relocating to one place for one to six months before going home or moving to another locale."
Read MoreCoron
I wanted to make something simple to give a glimpse of the stunning natural beauty of Coron, in Palawan. Just a short flight away from my hometown in Metro Manila, I'd say the scenery in Coron - and indeed, much of Palawan - can stand amongst the best tropical paradises in the world.