Philippines.

This trip was in my top three for sure, and it wasn't even on my bucket list! When we were deciding on a place to travel we saw that the Philippines was only a three hour flight from Korea. That caught my attention. We did a little more research, and were instantly sold. The husband had already been to boracay, so we knew we wanted to check out another island. And since the Philippines are made up of over 200000000,  islands it wasn't too hard to find another;) 

Palawan. You get the amazing beaches and the jungle feel. My sister and nephew flew all the way from Utah to join us on our two week adventure. It was so fun to share in this experience together, and River loved having his cousin with us, and so did we! 

I just had to keep saying the quote, "it's not about the destination, but the journey" .... Or however it goes. Because once we landed in Manila, we took another flight to Palawan, and then a two hour bumpy van ride to our hotel. River is a champion traveler. We have some rough moments, but 93% of the time I am amazed at how well he does. The Philippines is definitely a 3rd world country, and driving through it we got to see a lot. It was both eye opening, and humbling.

We stayed in sabang the first four nights. The underground river was definitely a highlight. 8th wonder of the world. The humidity is unreal, we didn't mind it though since we were mostly at the beach. All day. Everyday. 

Then we took another bumpy ride, five hours this time, to el nido. From there we took three boats to finally arrive at our own private island, the pangulasian. We were greeted with fresh watermelon juice and cold towels. We literally landed in paradise. We changed the island's name to postcard island;) 

 We got our own snorkel gear, kayaks, and paddle boards right outside of our private bungalow. Everyday they had different tours we did. One day we even rented our own private boat to take us around to secret islands. Kayaking the big and small lagoons was one of my faves, and diving through a secret cave that opened up to a small island.  I don't think I've ever stayed in a place so nice or so well organized. 

We did this hike a few times, of course. #hikeordie. Hiking to the top of the island and getting a 360 degree view just can't be beat. 

The worst part, leaving. Wah. Why do vacations have to end? We are not done with you, Philippines. See ya next time. 

Xo