Conquering the heights of being the wanderlust that I am, I have always been mesmerized to see places and appreciate how they differ from my perspective. It is like spending afternoons at a new home, and leaving the old one you have been living in; A newbie on a place where everyone is familiar of and you are left with nothing but a blank slate to fill in with new, scribbled stories.
I could not recall my first boat trip and where it took me, but I am certain that I loved how it went. I knew I adored oceans and seas ever since, and therefore, most of the places I travel to are either about them or I take side trips so that it can be about seas at some point.
Recently, I travelled to Samal Island Davao and had a chance to visit local destinations by habal-habal. A habal-habal is mainly a single motorcycle where you ride as a passenger while the driver takes you to your preferred destination. Habal-habals are widespread especially in provinces that do not have any other means of public transportation such as public jeepneys or shuttles. It helps the locals go to work, to market, to schools, or anywhere they need to be with that single seat ride journeying around. Habal- habal fares vary but are not heavy on the pocket so that local riders can afford them. Tourists, on the other hand, ride habal-habals as these are the most efficient way to tour the land. Habal-habal drivers do not just take you to places, but they also share their insights and experiences whilst you enjoy sitting at the back, marvelling the rural way of living. When I was 6, I have ridden my father’s motorcycle so you can imagine how I have forgotten how it felt like riding one after 20 years. It felt different, however, it did not feel first-hand. It rather brought back memories on how simple life was before, and how things twisted up onto the things I am tangled up today.
Living in the island is like eloping together with simplicity and contentment. It was going away with the moments that truly defined me as the person beneath with all the facade that I attempt to put up. I loved how simple life was, staying there. How afternoons can turn back into unpretentious, technology-less siestas, with newfound friends that feel like you have known them for a very long time. How I told them stories and found no ounce of judgement from all the gaffes I reluctantly revealed. And so I learned to move forward. I learned how to appreciate the things and the life I have and how my views make a difference onto some other’s perception of living. I learned to give away what I do not give importance to, just because someone else needs them more significantly than I do. I learned that loving, in the faith that it changes someone, is not solely all about what things they can disregard, but also with the things they can accept regardless of how and what you make out of them. I learned that blue waters do run deep, and below them lies the beauty of what makes them clean and untainted – and so with the persons we come across with. I learned that it takes an enduring faith to stay with someone notwithstanding the past, but taking wisdom from it as you both go forward together. I learned that it is okay to miss the sunset because in actuality, moonlight is what helps us get home. I learned that being a blessing is also giving the same blessings you acquired, and it gives you a sense of happiness more than having the things you wanted all for those moments they are thanking you for.
Above everything else, I learned to accept this life whatever unplanned manner of living it will entail. I have been living for 27 years, nursing families for 5 years, loving unconditionally with imperfection for 4 years, and faithfully believing does not count the years but the moments I breathe for. At the end of the day, we stand up for ourselves and for the things we trust in. For the places we travel to and for the people we meet that leave a mark. For the moments we seize and for the times we stand still to capture them. For the sands that our feet walk into and for the footprints we leave. For the smiles we give away and for the laughter it gives back a hundredfold. For the family that stays no matter what weather we go through together or apart. For that one true love we pray for and the years it blossoms into the relationship we are genuinely committed about. For the new travels that we carefully plan and the better realizations it grants. For the times of solidarity and the epiphanies it give us. For the blessings, no matter how tiny or colossal they may seem because we either grow or learn from them. And for the very best, for the lessons we learn from the years of travel we go in on this lifetime – because the journey does not close on dead-ends. It only lights up the pavements for better beginnings and brand new chances. On new places and new islands we get in. With the people we decide to ride our lives with.
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