The Trip That Changed Everything
Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
In December 2023, everything changed.
My husband and I travelled back to the Philippines with his family - and what I thought would be a relaxing 6 weeks getaway turned into one of the most eye-opening and life-changing travel experiences of my life.
A deep love was reawakened in me - for the culture, the food, the warmth of the people, and the breathtaking beauty of the islands. Seeing my own family again was surreal. Despite the years apart, the love and connection were still there - strong as ever.
Experiencing the Philippines Without Comfort or Convenience
Growing up, every trip back to the Philippines felt like a first-class experience. My grandparents, aunties and uncles went above and beyond to make sure we were comfortable - helpers, drivers, cooks - everything was taken care of. Each of my uncles had their own building and construction business amongst many other side businesses. My cousins studied and owned restaurants & hotels. As a child, I thought this was just the way life worked. You finished school, went to university (or 'college' as they call it over there), and started your own business.
I began to realise that what I had experienced wasn’t the norm in Philippines at all. It was privilege. A privilege I hadn’t fully recognised or understood until much later in life.
When my husband and I and his family travelled to the Philippines in 2023, we had to figure everything out on our own.
We explored a side of the Philippines I’d never seen before - a group of islands in the central-southern Philippines, including Aklan, Negros, Cebu and Bohol.
There were no helpers. No drivers. No curated itineraries. We had to figure out every single thing on our own - and it pushed me way outside my comfort zone.
My husbands family home had no running water. We fetched buckets of water from a stream just to bathe and flush the toilet. Power outages happened multiple times a day. We hired a van and bought a motorbike just to get around. The internet barely worked. The toilets were… let’s just say, not ideal. It was a complete 180 from the kind of travel I was used to.
But more than the discomfort, it was the poverty that truly struck me. I saw it up close - not on a screen, but in real life. And it made me feel deeply sad.
I saw the kindness of the locals. The slow pace. The lush, untouched beauty of the islands. It was both heartbreaking and awe-inspiring.
I kept thinking: How can I help?
A Rough Road Trip Across the Visayas
We then hired a Van and travelled by ferry across Aklan, Negros, Cebu, and Bohol. On paper, it sounds like a fun road trip. In reality, it was chaos.
We rented a van and it wasn’t what we were promised - cramped, poorly maintained. A 10-minute Google Maps drive turned into 45-miuntes due to traffic, bad roads, and miscommunication. One morning, we tried to board a ferry at 9:00 AM… and didn’t actually get on one until 6:00 PM.
