If you’ve been following me on Facebook, you might already know: I am about to embark on another adventure which will take me back “home” to the Philippines. The last days and weeks have been busy and stressful preparing this upcoming whirlwind trip but also preparing an even bigger adventure which most of you don’t yet know about. As I am writing this, killing those last couple of hours before boarding my flight, I am contemplating about this trip which will be a journey back home and straight into the unknown…
Going back to the Philippines
Finally back to the Philippines, Pilipinas or Las Islas Filipinas – a trip that I had planned a long time ago already and that I have been putting off way too long. The original plan was to travel to the archipelago in January already but some unexpected developments kept me from making the necessary arrangements. When I finally sorted everything out, I only had three weeks until my departure. And what was supposed to be at least a month in the country, had to be reduced to a 10 day whirlwind tour. But better than nothing and even though the preparations were stressful, I can say that it is all worth it.
I will finally be back. Back to see old friends, to hopefully make a lot of new ones, to explore more parts of the beautiful archipelago and to also take the blog from the virtual world into the real world. What does that mean, you might wonder? With the help of my friends at fliptrip.ph I was able to arrange the first ESCapology reader meetup in Manila. It will take place on Monday the 16th at 7:00 pm and I’m pretty excited about it. If you still want to come over on Monday, check the little ticket raffle at the end of this post.
Meeting old friends and hopefully make new ones. In Gubat, Sorsogon.
Adventures, new friends and working for a good cause
After the Manila meetup, I will travel down to Cebu where I will almost directly take off on a three day motorbike adventure. It will take me across Cebu Island and along the little-known “vegetable highway”, a route hardly ever explored by tourists and locals alike. One of the highlights of the tour will be a stop in Moalboal where I hope to squeeze in a few dives before heading back to Cebu. But not before hopefully sampling some of the country’s best lechon along the way.
The next highlight will be a blogger event on Bantayan Island off the coast of Cebu. For two day this beautiful gem will be the base for bloggers, tourism representatives and NGO people. We will explore the island, discuss about tourism and sustainable development and help to rebuild some of the houses destroyed by the recent typhoon Yolanda. I’m really excited about this trip and hope to contribute a small part in putting Bantayan back on the tourist map. I have never been there but I heard it must be a magnificent place.
It will be finally back on the road. Cebu Road trip.
Into the unknown
What has kept me so busy during the last few weeks wasn’t actually the preparations of my trip to the Philippines. It was something which took way more thinking and was probably the most difficult decision I had to take in my life.
Around the end of the year an opportunity of working on the beautiful Canadian Westcoast came up. Living by the ocean, far away from the hustle and bustle of big city life and getting the chance to work in a different field was all of a sudden a realistic option. To make it happen however, I would have to quit my job which I had just started 6 months ago and leave behind security, a good salary and most importantly a great team of co-workers. I figured taking a decision like this would be easy after having quit already once before, but it wasn’t. It’s not something you throw away easily and it was probably the toughest decisions I ever had to take. And I am still not 100% sure if it was the right one. In the end I think it is a great opportunity which will probably only appear once and I’d hate to ask the infamous “What if…” question after a while. So once again I decided to be brave, to take the risk and go for the unknown. I’m hoping that everything will work out good and the least I am hoping for is that I will come out of this as a better person than I was before. Wish me luck; I can for sure need it.
Back to the Canadian Westcoast.
Still need a ticket for the Meetup?
As you might have seen, we have organized the meetup via an RSVP ticket system. All of the tickets are of course free, it’s just to kind of keep control of the attendance since space is limited. The tickets we offered went away like Balut but I have a promotion code for 8 more. Here is how you can win the code:
1. Go to my Facebook Page
2. Like the post about this article and share it
3. All sharers will automatically be in the raffle for the promo codes
On Sunday at around midday Philippines time I will announce the winners on Facebook. If you see your name on the winners list, please just send me a short notice so I can reply and give you the code. The code can be entered on the Eventbrite registration page. After entering the code, just order your ticket from the ESCapology.eu Winners batch.
OK dear friends, I am about to hop on the airplane to start this journey back home and into the unknown. I hope you will stick with me here at ESCapology.
Yours,
Have a safe trip, man. Hope the in-flight entertainment is not too shabby. 😀
Flew with China Air…pretty bad service I have to say..and yeah, entertainment was rather mediocre…
I have read this blog and I’m really upset because why I discovered it just now? I really like things like this. I like adventure and I like people who involve on it that can inspire people like me. Very excited for the next adventure that you can share Phil. Hope to see more great things #Adventure experiences. Be safe to back here. More allocentric Adventure is about to come 😀
Hi Ralph, thanks again and also for taking the time to read my stuff. I appreciate it lots. There will be more to come 😉
No worries Phil. Thanks too for the responds. And More power for you. I can’t sleep now without reading this Blog. It’s worth it of my time.
Wow sounds like a great itinerary despite a much shorter trip than your last. You get to do explore via motorbike. fit in your passion for diving. make new connections/build new friendships…can’t beat that. I’m sure the Bantayan event/project will be a highlight of your trip as you get to help out the community affected by recent typhoon…will be such a rewarding experience! Always feels great to assist others and makes one even a better person and show/teach us a different perspective on life.
As for the moving to the Canadian westcoast– how exciting and I’m sure will all work out for ya and you’ll love the change in scenery. My Canadian co-worker has told me to explore British Columbia and I hope to do so when I return to Vancouver this year…hope we get to meet someday.
Anyway, just remember, “If you are brave enough to say goodbye, Life will reward you with a new Hello.” 😉 Best of luck to your new journey/adventure! 🙂 Safe Travel, Philipp.
Hi April, thanks for your coment here. My itinerary is packed but I think it will all be good. I enjoyed the meetup in Makati and I am looking forward to next legs of this trips. For sure, just as you said, the Bantayan trip will be an experience.
After all of this it will be Canada and I do hope it’ll all work out. Thanks for your support and encouragement. When will you be in Vancouver and what for? What a coincidence. Would be great to meet up one day…
OK, thanks again April and all the best. Philipp
Hi Philipp, glad you enjoyed your meetup…and i’m sure the rest of your trip as well.
I will be in Vancouver this August. I’m doing the SeaWheeze Half marathon again this year– signed up last year and it sold out fast! Will try to stay longer this time so I can explore outside of Vancouver. I remember reading your Vancouver/Tofino blog and I told myself will revisit the blog when it’s closer to my trip.
Anyway, yeah would be great to meet up…will message you again when it’s closer. Take care. April–
Welcome back ” home”, Philipp! It will be hectic but we hope that you will enjoy every minute of your trip. Traveling into the unknown or venturing into a new journey,is stressful.but you have done it before and it showed your strength and resilience.The Pacific Northwest or west coast of Canada is beautiful,I am sure many adventures await you. As always,we wish you the best.
Hi Nenita, thanks so much for stopping by and your kind support. I really appreciate it. I hope it’s all going to work out just as you said. Thanks a lot and best regards, Philipp
Hey Phil, I truly admire your courage to embrace the unknowns (and I do believe you really are ‘suffering from a severe case of wanderlust’)!
Hi Kathy, thanks a lot for stopping by… I really appeciate it. I will see how venturing into the unknown will turn out this time …
Hei! Whirlwind trips are usually great! No chance to do nothing :).
All the best for taking the Canadian leap! I might do that one day too, but now my not-so-unknown journey back home to Philippines might just become real pretty soon. I do keep telling myself I can always go back (home) to Finland also, just as you can always go back home to Germany :).
Enjoy the rest of your Pinas trip! Ingat!
Hi Iris, are you originally from Finland? If so, what have you been doing there for work and what’s your plan in the Philippines? Soundsvery interesting …. Cheers, Philipp