A Glimpse Into my Life: The Reality of a Filipina Digital Nomad

In early 2013, I started this blog as a means to document my travels. I didn’t really have any intention other than journaling all my adventures so that I could have something to look back on when I got old. It was pretty amazing how everything was so simple for me back then. I write my articles as I please and don’t really have a set of standards or format. What I do is pour my heart out in every article and describe places as vividly as I can remember them.  I didn’t expect this blog to gain traction and it still surprises me to this day when someone tells me I inspire them. It’s bittersweet because what used to be a hobby has now become a responsibility and a motivation.

When I began my journey, I was 25 and working a 9 by 5 job so I settled for weekend road trips to the mountains and to see some waterfalls. I have always had this longing for nature and the outdoors having so many fond memories of the years I spent in Davao Oriental doing the same when I was still a kid. I didn’t get to do that while growing up in North Cotabato where I was transferred during my school years. Perhaps, that created the void inside my heart and sparked my desire for an adventurous life.

From weekend trips, I slowly went on longer trips to the beach. I could still remember how I was so in awe of the beauty of Anawangin Cove that it made me tear up. I thought I had never seen such wonder before and it left me wanting for more. Since then, I have gone on countless long trips with friends, taking time off from work. I have visited several provinces in the Philippines starting from the amazing Benguet to the spectacular northern provinces of Ilocos, Cagayan, and Abra. I don’t go with the crowd and enjoy the off-the-beaten destinations. It was quite surreal when I finally got to visit Basilan and Tawi-Tawi which are among the feared provinces in the southern island of our country. The happiness it gave me was immeasurable.

Two years after I began my journey, I went on my first solo adventure to Dumaguete unaware of the harsh reality of traveling. I was engulfed in my vision of the perfect world and it broke me when I was confronted by the saddest truth. I never knew this world, though beautiful can be so cruel and unsafe. I’ve written this story on how my first solo trip turned into a nightmare, detailing how I got sexually assaulted by someone who should have been the one guiding me and showing me around. That day, my perception of the world changed forever.

I have to commend myself for having the strength to overcome what had happened. A month after that fateful incident, I went on another solo trip to Coron. It wasn’t the perfect trip but I cherish every moment of it. I learned to appreciate the beauty of the world again. I opened up to people, made friends with some, and warmed up to strangers though I’m no longer quick to trust. Having a sense of reality made me appreciate the world even more. This time, in it’s not-so-perfect version anymore. Broken. Chaotic. But beautiful and captivating, nevertheless.

2016 was probably the highlight of my traveling and blogging career. This was the year my monthly views were at their highest. It recorded 300k views in a single month and I couldn’t be any more proud of how far I have gone since I started. I began receiving sponsorships and collab offers from brands. It was so overwhelming but one thing I knew in my heart is that I want this blog to stay authentic. I want my followers to still read pure and raw experiences because that’s what they loved about it and so did I. I declined offers of free trips and only accepted collaborations that were aligned with my values.

The same year, I went on my first solo out-of-the-country adventure to Vietnam. This was when I was confronted with the unfair truth of traveling with a Philippine passport. I had the money and the dream and I felt unstoppable but with my passport being one of the weakest in the world, I can only do so much. Unknown to many, Filipinos have to go through a tedious immigration process before being allowed to travel abroad. I didn’t encounter any difficulty with the immigration but God knows how my heart was in my mouth the whole time before I was allowed to board my flight. It was nerve-wracking, to say the least.

I must have been a magnet of bad luck since day zero. While traveling on a motorcycle from Hue to Hoi An via High Van Pass, my driver and I had an accident. I suffered minor injuries and so did my driver but the financial and emotional toll it caused me was unimaginable. Being hospitalized in a foreign country is not just expensive but it’s kind of lonely. It’s hard when you’re surrounded by strangers and not a single loved one. It makes you feel more vulnerable and alone because you have no one you can count on. This was the time I regretted not having travel medical insurance.

While being treated in the hospital, I was constantly asked if I had travel insurance and I didn’t know why. I have to say, I was still completely unaware of it. Call me stupid but I was! I have Life Insurance but I knew it didn’t cover accidents. That’s when I started looking up travel insurance and its benefits on Google. I bumped into several insurance companies but nothing resonates to me better than SafetyWing. I’ve used it in several of my international trips after that and I never felt more relieved to have it by my side. It gave me the kind of reassurance I needed while in a foreign land.

In 2019, I left the corporate world to pursue a nomadic life. I didn’t have a concrete plan nor the financial stability to do so but I did it anyway. I thought I had put this plan on hold for so long and it has long been overdue. I quit my job and left a relationship of more than seven years in order to realize this dream. I never felt so happy and free with finally being able to do what I had always wanted. It was liberating and selfish but it was for me and I was unapologetic for it. Then the pandemic came.

Life always has a funny way of ruining things, right? Just when I thought I was unstoppable, Covid came and my dreams had to be put on hold for two effing years. But instead of sulking over it, I worked my butt off and saved up so that when the time comes that I’m free to travel again, I can do so without worry. It actually paid off! Now, I’m on a quest to visit all  82 provinces in the Philippines, non-stop. I’m now a full-time digital nomad living on the gorgeous island of Siargao! I began this new chapter of my adventure in April of this year and I don’t see myself ever stopping.

Some of you may think that I’m living the life but my lifestyle doesn’t go without struggle. There are risks to it, too. As a freelancer, I don’t have the security offered by big companies. I don’t have the same benefits as a regular employee which makes me susceptible to financial instability. Clients come and go and in order to stay afloat, I have to be wise with my finances as well as have a solid contingency plan.

You see, my journey is a flawed one. As much as I wanted it to be perfect, it will never be and that is the beauty of it. Traveling will never be perfect but it will let you appreciate its imperfection. If you let yourself open to it enough, travel can take you places far more than you can imagine. In this social media age where traveling has meant to most as mere Instagram likes and superficial validation more than real experiences, be bold enough to carve your own path. Ayt! Until next time. Ciao!