January 18, 2017

Women Travelers in Vang Vieng, Laos Be Warned: A Woman Traveler Got Free Whiskey, Drugged, and She Could Not Remember What Happened Next

A note from the blog owner, Jona: I haven’t been to Vang Vieng myself, but this was not the first time I heard about hostels offering free whiskeys to guests in aaos. We stayed in Luang Prabang, Laos for three nights, and we personally had a nasty encounter with the […]
December 13, 2016

TEDxUSanCarlos Talk | How Traveling Shapes Me as a Woman and a Writer

It was TEDxUPCebu that invited me first to debunk the popular dictum [quit your job and travel the world] after some of the students read my open letter Dear Isa, It Is All Right Not to Travel here on BWAB. But I’m leaving Cebu to pursue a year-long trip abroad while fending […]
December 1, 2016

Brokenhearted? Nine Remote Islands in the Philippines to Find and Grow Some Love for Yourself Again

To live in an archipelagic nation like the Philippines translates to leaving the island you call home and find yourself on a different island whose people speak the same (or an entirely different) language yet with a certain sing-song melody that is different from yours. That is how I live […]
October 16, 2016

Affordable and Practical Gifts for Travelers

Living in Cebu translates to random road trips that often culminate in beaches. That’s why I think we travelers must be the easiest to please. Just give us something that feeds our wanderlust, and we are already the happiest creatures on earth. As a traveler, here are some things I gifted myself, here are […]
October 7, 2016

CORRUPTION IN LAOS | How to Have a Nasty Encounter with Policemen in Laos

DISCLAIMER: This first appeared on my column Down South on TV5’s Interaksyon.com. Included a lot of photos here! This is a personal experience. Corruption in Laos is real. Corruption in my own county is effing real.  A glass wall divided us. That must be sufficient as a border for the […]
October 6, 2016

Nine Places in the Philippines that I Want to Visit Again! Why?

DISCLAIMER: This first appeared on my travel column Down South on TV5’s interaksyon.com last January 2015. I recently saw it again, and surprisingly this list remains a plan. This is a personal reminder. All photos are mine. How about you, are there places that you want to visit again? For […]
October 5, 2016

How to Backpack in Britain 

Britain is an ideal country for backpackers. It is a small island country with lots to see and do. Traveling to a different city will open up a new part of the country with different cultures and often varying dialects. The cities are only a few hours apart if traveling […]
August 15, 2016

DOWN SOUTH | Of Trails and Traces in Chiang Mai

This post first appeared on my travel column Down South on interaksyon.com on June 12, 2016. Included more photos here. 😉 I grew up climbing trees, hunting wild guavas, assigning names to animals to pass them off as friends, and wishing there was a living river nearby. Life would have […]
June 12, 2016

Dear Kai, It Is All Right to Be a Tourist

Dear Kai, Some weeks ago, you asked me about your Southeast Asian trip. Is a three-day trip too short for three countries: Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh) – Cambodia (Pomp Penh) – Thailand (Bangkok)? I said that you’re such an addict—an expression I used when I did not know exactly what […]
June 11, 2016

Five Things Solo Filipina Travelers Have to Deal With

For most of my travels, I’ve been moving out and about on my own, which I love very much and makes me vulnerable to all sorts of weird quips and questions from people that I met on the road. A few days ago, a friend posted on Facebook about her […]
June 10, 2016

Backpacking Makes You Wear Undies Two Days Straight! Wh-wh-what?!

Otherwise Known as Personally Tested Tips on Doing Your Own Laundry while Traveling One lesson you would learn from backpacking, according to an article I have read online (written by a western female backpacker, if that matters), is that undies could go for two days straight. The reason? Because of the […]
May 27, 2016

LETTERS | Dear Passport, We Will Go Far and Wide

Dear Passport, After my two-hour session with the fifteen-year-old, I transferred to the café’s al fresco area for my other personas to work—the content writer and social media manager, the other selves that must stay connected with the virtual and often fake world. Please remind me that these personas are […]