What an absolutely incredible time I've had in the Philippines. I always love to travel but this trip couldn't have been more perfect!
I always meet some amazing people whilst travelling, everyone is always so open minded and chilled. I was so lucky to be sharing a room with Vicki. We got along so well and had no troubles at all sharing a room.
Our group was a mix of Australia's, German, Netherlands, USA and us Brits. I loved so much learning more about Australia and now that's definitely the next trip on my list.
This trip couldn't have come at a better time for me. I needed to escape my crazy personal life at home and let of some steam - and boy did I do that!
I'll do some more specific posts about the beautiful places we visited but I wanted to do a quick overview of some awesome times and memories made.
The Philippine is made up of 7,700 islands and even though we did three boat trips, I still only saw a handful of those islands. Each one seemed to be more idyllic than the last.
I loved the quiet moments I'd have sitting on the boat just simply taking the beauty in. I am so incredibly lucky to have experienced the things I have, I'm so greatful. I guess that's why I feel so guilty when I feel a bit down about the past. I have a lot to be thankful now.
The holiday included some amazing nights out. We went to a full moon party in El Nido. Whilst it wasn't that busy, I still had such a great night with James and Hugh. Seeing the fire dancers was pretty cool.
The beach party followed the crazy night before of twerking with the locals and drinking far too many Long Island ice teas (when will I learn?!).
To recovery from the crazy nights, we had some beautiful boat trips discovering the new islands. It's sad but each island we visited was pretty busy with other boat tours. You'd think with 7,700 islands to choose from that they could spread the tours out a bit.
My favourite trip was the second boat tour. Instead of the whole 15 of us in the group, it was only six of us. It made it much easier to chat to the others and get to know them better (although I definitely missed Vicki, Cat and Tom on that trip).
Here's a picture of us at Secret Beach. After multiple beers.
That trip followed an evening meal on the beach. I really was looking forward to enjoying a lobster dinner. After a little bit of confusion, my lobster arrived and I tucked in. Sadly fives minutes later, another lobster arrived. I didn't mean to order two lobsters (an expensive mistake) after a lot of sass from a she-man, I finally sent back the other lobster. However, the new nickname 'Four Claws' was already firmly assigned as my nickname.
Another brilliant moment of the trip was watching the sunset on the beach. Enjoying the views, I took pictures at the best moment. Poor James was taken out by an excited pack of dogs running along the beach.
Even typing that I was giggling. Some funny moments have included doggies. I won't share them all though.
Port Barton was an incredible remote beach resort where there were only eight rooms and they were all for our group. We had an incredible night watching a bone fire, drinking beers and chatting. The night ended with a mid night swim in the sea (undeterred by the jellyfish) and every girls dream of being lifted in the sea just like Dirty dancing (thanks for that Hugh).
The holiday has been filled with so many special moments. Some very funny one liners and others a little more, shall we say, magical. Seeing the sea turtle grazing on the grass at the bottom of the sea was amazing as was looking up at the stars and palm trees whilst hearing the ocean lapping away.
Travel always opens the mind. I feel like I've genuinely made some wonderful friends. I'll make sure I visit Cat and Tom in Bristol (with Shiloh of course) and 100% I'll go see Vicki in Australia.
Sadly I'm now sat at the airport on my own feeling rather tired. I'm sure you're supposed to feel rested after a holiday but I don't from this one. However, I've got a 14 hour plane journey that's my time to sleep.
I wouldn't change anything about this trip. It's been fantastic. It's hard to describe exactly how I feel right now. I wish other people would open their minds to this type of travelling. Some are content with sitting on a beach in Spain for a week. That's fine to relax but you're don't get to see the world and explore what makes other people tick.
I want to say thank you so much to everyone that's made this trip so special. You're all awesome people! These are the elite team - love you all xx
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