Highway to Happy

I may not have dated (a girl? of course!) a traveler, but I got the undeniable luck of having them as friends.

We may not have all the resources to pack a bag and travel far away, but have all the guts to do so. We are always ready to give a resounding YES in 2 seconds after mock-booking a flight on sale.

Our overflowing guts are not limited to booking flights we do not have money for yet, mind you.

We jump cliffs.
We're not suicidal but this probably is the closest thing to committing suicide we'll ever do.

Highest jump point at Ariel's: 45 ft above sea water. SCARIEST/ borderline DUMBEST THING WE DID.

We ride currents.
'There ain't no current in this river we can't ride' drama while braving CDO's White Water Rafting: ADVANCED course!

Braving he currents with the best boat guide, Kuya Banjo! High fiiiiive!

We climb rocks.
The real deal rock climbing up the gorgeous Pongas Falls in Sagada without proper gears and training.

We ride jeepneys.
Oops, I forgot to insert the operative words: 'ON TOP OF'.

Toploading in Sagada

We STILL enjoy death-defying amusement park rides.
Enchanted Kingdom never gets old.

EKstreme ride!

We explore infamous places.
Siquijor is beautiful, by the way. I don't think I'll ever get tired of saying that.



We swim with sharks.
Yes, sharks.

Sorry, we had no decent underwater group shot. The current was really strong that day and it is not exactly easy to stay perfectly calm when a giant shark approaches you every 2 minutes.

And we fire M16s, too.

Cu Chi Tunnel, Vietnam

Aside from finding new ways to hurt ourselves, err I meant 'adventures', we genuinely enjoy each other's company, regardless of where we are. 13-hour bus rides, 5-hour stay in a closed airport- you can put us anywhere with almost anything or  nothing and we will feed off each other's positive energy. 

If we endured a 13-hour bus ride FOUR TIMES without killing each other, it is safe to say we can go through almost everything together. Like, 5 hours inside a cave, perhaps? Oh, we've done that, too!

We can stay in the cheapest hotel rooms as long as it has a clean private bathroom. We've stayed in places not even worthy enough to be called 'hotels'. We budget our money wisely and allocate resources to 'experiences' because, really, we only use the room for bathing and nightly 3-hour sleep. 

Accommodations aren't something we usually splurged on but in rare instances, like when we are in an island where the most beautiful sunset exists, WE CAN LIVE IT UP, TOO!

Together, we are sort of a stranger magnet. This is a good thing because we get to meet inspiring people throughout our trips. We listen to their stories, absorb their wisdom and we get to promote our own country, too. During local trips, it also pays to talk to tricycle drivers, tour guides and sari-sari store owners. I always get surprised and humbled by how much people's ways of living differ from each other despite living in the same country.

With our latest favorite tour buddy, Kuya Jhoam of Siquijor!

At this point, I've been staring blankly at the monitor, trying to weave words that would send a specific, probably the most important, idea across. I have it in my heart but I can't pick the right words. So I'll borrow Elizabeth Gilbert's instead:

"I am infinitely curious and almost infinitely patient with mishaps, discomforts, and minor disasters. So I can go anywhere on the planet- that's not a problem."

I've been in a lot of adventures with these people and my future children would probably go deaf with the millions of times they will hear me say, 'I went there with Tita Eloi and Tita Tin, you know.' or 'Your Tito Ronnie almost died (Parents exaggerate a lot, right?) inside the Sumaging cave!', etc., etc. because I've made the best memories with these people.

I, for one, can't wait to make a whole heap more. :))