Traveling the Philippines was a dream and as a fortunate I could be, I did visit this amazing melting pot of great people, amazing food and breath taking landscapes. Well, Philippines was life changing and the few weeks I spent in the Philippines definitely taught me so many things in life that moulded me into being much better of a person, bringing in myself a little part of the Philippines home.
1. Being polite, kind and generally nice
While travelling in and around the Philippines, one thing that I found common was the smiling faces, the polite responses and the hospitable welcome that made me feel home and welcomed. It was quite overwhelming seeing every face in the street eager to assist while I got lost and wanting to get directions or the polite, curious and friendly conversations I had with random strangers I shared a cab with or the waitress who got me the perfect meal I was so confused to order.
2. Enjoying the wild side of nature
As soon as I got out of Manila, I saw how truly remarkable nature could be, with the beauty of the islands, hills, caves and oceans all metamorphosed into the archipelago of the Philippines. I truly understood how to truly amalgamate myself with the locals, mix with their culture and fully enjoy what nature has to provide. The indigenous practices, the hikes around the trails in the provinces, boat rides down the Loboc river or the days without internet enjoying the beauty of the beaches and islands in El Nido, every aspect of nature could be lived fully, which I had never experiences living in a big city.
3. Face Your Fears
I exactly knew that Philippines could a perfect place where I would test and face the various fears I had in me and indeed I did, and it was amazing. As someone who always had the fear of heights, I took upon myself the challenge to zipline across islands in El Nido and bunjee jump in Bohol, and it was very scary, but never ever did I feel so amazing about truly living life. Despite the heavy traffic, taking a dare riding a motorcycle, I rode from Tagbilaran to Carmen in Bohol, a long ride across villages, towns, forests and hills and what an amazing adventure it was. I learnt an important lesson that after every fear is such great joy that can never be achieved if you hide behind the fear.
4. Food is love
Filipino families are very welcoming and hospitable and they love to express their love and hospitality with food and now when I think about it, I mean why not. Filipinos love to cook for their guests and express their warm welcome by their amazing food (literally heaps of food) and truly their way of expression by food is heart warming, enduring and something that I greatly appreciated and valued.
5. Acceptance
The Philippines, despite being in Asia and a conservative country, is very accepting to people, is against discrimination and heart warmingly positive towards equality amongst people. I still remember my first evening in th Philippines, when I walked into salon in Manila and I witnessed something quite unexpected. The salon was run by a group of transgendered women, who were amazing at what they do and everyone who walked into the salon treated them the same as they would treat anyone else. Soon I witnessed it in various places whether it be at a restaurant, a mall or a passerby at the streets. A person was treated with respect and dignity and not judged and discriminated by their looks, race, sexuality or gender.This is something the world needs to learn so much, especially in times like this where being kind and just nice in general to people is the greatest value you can learn and teach.
6. Spirituality
I have never been a religious person and have always been respectful to religion yet never very much indulged in religious activities. While traveling and experiencing local life in the Philippines, I witnessed how spiritual the locals were, a sense of belief, respect and faith. Trust me, it was amazing how people depicted their sense of religion and spirituality with kindness, acceptance and love and not based on superstitious rules and laws based on a thousand year old scripts that makes no sense in real life. That was an essential life lesson Philippines embedded in me about how faith can be strong, powerful and protecting yet give a sense of belonging with love, joy and respect.
7. Do not judge a book by its cover
It was Quezon city in Manila and I was walking around a narrow walkway trying some street food. As I was walking towards the main road using the narrow road that was connecting it, I saw a man, dressed in old, shabby and dirty clothes who was probably homeless, first staring at me and then suddenly started running towards me. Well, as a tourist, when you see a homeless person run towards you, you freak out and so did I. However, that person literally followed me all the way to return to me my GoPro that slipped from my bag and fell on the floor. I felt horrible for judging a person then so grateful about how helpful he was, even though he may not have had an idea of what it could be or how much worth it was. It is truly said in the words of great authors and leaders, not to judge a book by its cover and indeed I witnessed a living lesson.
8. Being Offline is Therapeutic
While I was travelling the Philippines seeking adventures, I came across places where they were no access to wifi or the internet like places in El Nido and Bohol. While being away from the world wide web, I chanced to entertain myself by talking to real people around, experience nature, findout direction by asking people than using my gps and getting recommendations for things to do and places to go by having real conversations with locals and fellow travellers. Truly as technologically advance we become, we lose touch the humane self in us and being away from technology was indeed a spa therapy.
Traveling the Philippines was one of the best decisions I made in life and it has certainly made a great impact as a person in my life. They sau that traveling makes a person richer in thoughts and experiences and indeed Philippines was life changing.
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