The Trip I Didn't Plan
There are trips where you have everything planned before you even arrive.
And then there are trips where you simply let someone else decide.
For Siquijor, I let my friends take the lead.
Before the trip, they asked if there was somewhere I wanted to go or anything in particular I wanted to visit.
I told them I was happy to just go with the flow. I was okay with anything they had in mind.
Although, the thought of driving a motorbike around the island was something I was already looking forward to.
Since I was the only one among us who knew how to drive, we decided to hire a tour guide.
There were three of us, so the arrangement was simple: one of my friends would ride with me, while the other would go with our guide.
And so, we went around the island, moving from one place to another without thinking too much about where we had to be next.
We simply followed our guide and went wherever the day took us.
But what surprised me even more was snorkeling.
I didn’t expect much from it. I’ve gone snorkeling before, so I thought I already knew what to expect.
Until we reached the snorkeling area and looked underneath the water.
I had never seen such huge clams before.
Our guide advised us to keep our bodies straight and simply float, without paddling our feet, so we wouldn’t accidentally touch them.
And then I started noticing everything around us.
The huge clams.
The colorful reef.
Clownfish in their little nests.
The clear water.
And eventually, a huge turtle.
Everything underneath was more beautiful than I expected.
What started as something we simply decided to try turned into more than an hour in the water. We kept swimming, looking around, and taking our time until our guide eventually led us back because the tide was getting lower.
It was one of those moments where you stop checking the time because there is nowhere else you need to be.
The following day, the trip took another unexpected turn.
We decided to try some of the things Siquijor is known for, including bolo-bolo and a few other local practices.
It wasn’t something I had planned to experience when I came to the island.
But maybe that’s what made it memorable.
Sometimes, the experiences you remember most aren’t the ones you carefully search for.
They’re the ones you say yes to because someone else suggested them.
I went to Siquijor without much of a plan.
And somehow, that became part of the experience.
Maybe not every trip needs to go according to plan.
Sometimes, the best experiences come from simply being open to whatever the journey brings.