Island Hopping Philippines x2months

December 2012, my job hunting hit a dry spell. The Hong Kong grey weather was not cheering me up any either, so against my parents’ wishes, I went and booked a one-way flight to the Philippines. My plan was having no plans, only returning when my funds ran out….

I went to more than 32 towns/cities, 18+beaches and around 20 different islands (it’s hard to keep track after a while….). Here is a map of the spots I hit.

The reason for choosing the Philippines was to find some quiet time with untouched, serene nature. I found what I wanted. Along the way, meeting kindred spirits, crossroads conversationalists, and people who live “ignorant”, “naïve”, or what I’d say ordinary lives that really opened my eyes to the beautiful simplicity that life can be.

     

In the 2 months, I’ve hitchhiked, spent the whole day of my birthday commuting on a bangka boat, Christmas and New Years with different groups of perfect strangers, hiked to waterfalls, explored islands on a scooter, swam with whale sharks, went wreck diving, got 3 meters close to thresher sharks….
In the end, my budget had to put me back on a plane home. I could have easily spent at least 6 months+ in just he Philippines alone. Not enough time, not enough bank!!

Well, at least I have something to work and look forward to… 🙂

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Photographers// artists… critique and comments on my shots are well appreciated! To all you others, let me know what you’d like to see/ hear more about my trip… personal stories? Highlights? Video montage? Details of my trail/ trip? Let me know in the comments below and I see about doing a followup post!
Cheers, Jacki

My First Backpacking…

Hey all!

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve been on WordPress! But for  good reason, I’ve just graduated, been on a internship in China, and went backpacking for the first time!

Before I get into all that, I want to give a shout out to CouchSurfing– if you are into backpacking and/or budget travel, you NEED to check it out. Now, I haven’t actually done any surfing yet, but during my move to a new city I’ve utilized the groups to meet people, find friends and travel buddies. It’s one of the best “online” communities I’ve experienced.

Back to backpacking. I was in Yunnan, China. I traveled along the northeast, from Kunming, went to Dali, LiJiang, Lugu Lake, back to LiJiang, and finally Shangri-la (aka Zhong Dian and Deqin).

A rough route of my trip.

Along the way, through CouchSurfing and hosteling, I have met so many interesting people from all over the world: a French chiropractor, a Belgian bio/ecology researcher,  German med students, Asian-American Yalies, a civil engineer from York, and a History teacher from Austria. Best of all, I traveled with a French Jazz singer (no, I did not get bedtime lullabies).

After a total altitude of 3,500 meters (it gets higher the more North you go), and I don’t know how any miles of traveling on the road, I have to say I have become a HUGE fan, if not an addict of backpacking. It is such a great way to travel, especially on a budget, and the types of people you’ll meet along the way are just wonderful, genuine, kind people. I really can’t wait to get on another trip!!

Anyway, I’ve taken many many pictures that are taking a while to process… but here are a few as a teaser. Keep on the lookout for the next post!

P.S. If for the meanwhile, you want to check out snippets of my trip check my Instagram via username jackieechan.
P.P.S. I would totally appreciate if you like these pictures, which one of these are your fav and why! For those familiar with art critique, I would appreciate some comments or points for improvement as well!