Philippines
PHILIPPINES
You know, in just a year, I’d managed to go on so many trips I would have previously considered impossible, given that I have a full-time job. Now, I was also gonna go on a three-week holiday. Crazy!
Packing my huge backpack had become sort of like a ritual, one that preceded all kinds of once-in-a-lifetime adventures. Knowing I’d have entire days of travelling usually meant I’d curb my excitement and disallow myself from feeling anything too soon. I’m not gonna go on about how much I hate long-haul flights again. But yeah, this was all something I’d gotten oh so used to. This time round, though, the nostalgia made it all seem surreal.
Chasing That Gap Year Feeling
My last tropical trip had been to Indonesia the previous year, the final adventure of my gap year. Now, I’d be going to the Philippines!Â
As excited as I was to explore a new country and experience new adventures, there was one thing that overshadowed everything else: going solo for a few weeks on end. You see, in my daily life, I am surrounded by people all the time. People who want things, need things and expect things from me. But when I’m on a solo trip? It’s all about me, baby. That was the intention behind taking a year off, after all. And now, all these mini-solo trips were one way for me to keep that same feeling going.
As much as I had travelled over the previous year, I gotta say it was different. Egypt, France, Italy, Scotland, Egypt again and Italy again were all wonderful holidays, but there’s nothing quite like an intercontinental, tropical, multi-week trip on my own. Those kinds of trips where you’re forced to spend time with yourself and get to know yourself even more, try new experiences, grow and remember what it feels like to belong entirely to yourself. Sure, I could do those things in Europe, but somehow, I had gotten used to doing them outside of it.
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I could say it’s all in my head and that there is no difference between such trips. But I think even the universe knows that isn’t true. Maybe because, as I sat down at the boarding gate in Istanbul Airport awaiting my flight to Manila, I realised I was in the same seat I had sat down on two years previously, waiting for my flight to Mexico City. That flight had marked my first destination in a series of landmarks that would lead to the best year of my life thus far. If that ain’t serendipity, I don’t know what is.
And so began yet another adventure. A twelve-hour flight spent reading and napping, layovers spent guzzling down gallons of coffee and writing in my journal, exhaustion piling up and excitement brimming. A feeling I had grown all too familiar with, and a feeling I was so grateful to get to experience once more. Thank you, oh universe.
A New Kind of Asia Trip
My trip to the Philippines would be special for another reason altogether. You see, before this, I’d been to Nepal on a voluntary work trip and to Indonesia on a diving trip. This would be my first time visiting Asia solely to travel. I’d be stepping into uncharted territory, and I could hardly wait.
I knew embarrassingly little about the place beyond beaches, diving and island-hopping, so I wanted to understand at least a little of what had shaped it before I started moving through it. And so, without further ado, a little bit about the country.Â
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The Philippines is a Southeast Asian archipelago of around 7,641 islands, shaped by centuries of migration, trade, colonial rule and natural forces. Its earliest societies were Austronesian communities, later influenced by regional trade with China, India and the Malay world. Spain colonised the islands from 1565 to 1898, bringing Christianity, centralised governance and the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade. After the Spanish-American War, the United States took control, introducing English, a new education system and modern infrastructure, but also fighting a brutal war against Filipino independence forces.
The country gained full independence on 4 July 1946, after Japanese occupation during World War II had devastated cities like Manila. Today, the Philippines is known for its cultural diversity, vibrant festivals, hospitality and dramatic landscapes, ranging from rice terraces to coral reefs and volcanoes. Its economy is driven largely by services, household consumption, remittances from overseas Filipino workers, manufacturing and a growing tourism sector.
And then there are the languages. The Philippines has two official languages: Filipino and English. Filipino, the national language, is based largely on Tagalog but enriched by words and influences from other Philippine and foreign languages. English remains widely used in government, education, business and tourism. The country is also home to well over a hundred languages, reflecting its island-to-island cultural diversity.
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