2013 In Review: My Best Travel Year

Before moving forward to the new year, allow me to look back at and honor all the amazing travels I had for 2013.

What a year that was: 

1 year. 12 months. 28 cities. 54 provinces.  

Two biggest accomplishments:

1. Completing the 80 Before 30 Challenge 

2. BookSail (Book drive for the children in Palumbanes Island)

Massive thank you to everyone who joined me in this incredible journey around the Philippines. Special thank you to Anchi for braving the odds traveling with me in Mindanao. I wouldn't have made it all without you. Thank you!

♥♥♥

Highlights of 2013

January 

 Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela (Ilagan City, Santiago City), Quirino, Cagayan (Tuguegarao City), Apayao, Ilocos Norte (Laoag City), Ilocos Sur (Vigan City), Abra, La Union, Pangasinan, Tarlac (Tarlac City), Pampanga

Mindanao Roundup (Lake Sebu, South Cotabato): T'nalak Weaving and Lang Dulay's Legacy

It was a day before her 89th birthday, but the mood in that sunlit and simple hut where we met her was far from festive. There were only faint conversations in the vernacular T'boli being translated to us by her granddaughters because she could not speak Tagalog. Sitting comfortably in that old rattan chair, she looked every inch a master. Donned in a beautiful T'boli costume, which is by the way her usual attire with or without visitors, I felt very honored to be in the presence of this amazing woman, the legendary dream weaver, Lang Dulay.

Me with Lang Dulay at her weaving school in Lake Sebu

A recipient of Gawad sa Manlilikha sa Bayan Award and declared a National Living Treasure by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in 1998, Lang Dulay was recognized for her excellent craftsmanship in weaving the prized T'nalak or the traditional T'boli cloth.

The Kindness of Auntie Cubic

Kindness on the Road. Auntie Rose and Auntie Cubic opened their home to a solo traveler

I was already feeling sore after missing the boat going to San Jose in Dinagat Islands. At 11:30 a.m., I haven't had my breakfast yet and my body was a bit tired after a painful van ride from Butuan City to Surigao City. The scorching heat that day was taking its toll on me and I was growing impatient walking in that crowded boulevard while asking random people for the next boat going to Dinagat. I was on a solo trip, and I was feeling all the more alone at that very moment.

I got a tip that a boat is leaving at 12 noon. I rushed to the docking area, and sure enough people were crowding up to the ticket line. I saw a rainbow somewhere, such a relief to be in that boat!

Children on the Road

I've met quite a bunch of interesting people while going around the Philippines  –  people I've become friends with, people I've learned lessons from, people who had left an impact in my life. But my favorite will always be my encounters with children while on the road. The fleeting moment when I see them in their most natural demeanor,  the time I start engaging then on a small talk, the time they start romancing my camera,  and finally the sad and quick goodbyes. From these short meet ups, they would usually leave behind profound and very heart-warming photos – the kind of travel photos that never fail to make me smile whenever I do a trip down memory lane.  

Here are some of my personal favorite raw and unedited photos. Go on, look,  read, and smile (or weep) with me. 

Palumbanes Island, Catanduanes, 2010. This photo was taken while I was doing a volunteer work in  Palumbanes Island, a small island  located in the northernmost part of Catanduanes. We were distributing school supplies and seedlings for the children at the school when I noticed these bunch of beautiful kids pensively looking on at the goods we were giving away. I later on learned that they were not in school yet so they could not have what we were distributing that day. But their hearts could not be easily downed. They still showed me the most gracious smiles I have ever seen.

Masbate City, 2012. Saw these school children practicing what appeared to me as a dance prod. They reminded me so much of my grade school days -- the easy-breezy-eight-to-five  life.