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.
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?
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.