day 715 | november 21, 2014 | Sumilon Island, Philippines

Closest airport to Sumilon Island is Mactan-Cebu (est 3-4 hours)

A quick recharge trip with the girls in an idyllic island paradise. Managed to check off a few things in the bucket list too -- sleep by the beach underneath uncountable stars, and swim with the whale sharks. Let the images tell the story...

Tucked in for the long ride

Mainland jetty

day 719 | November 18, 2014 | Cagayan de Oro and Marawi

A simple life that follows the consistent rhythm of the call to prayer, sustained by fruit trees, roots and vegetables in the backyard. River, mountains, rice fields, 30 minutes away from Marawi city, it feels like we've stepped 30 years back in time. These are the stuff of my dreams, pleasant and otherwise. A backdrop to running, tripping, and falling headlong into the unknown, to sinking immobility, and flights of fancy. More flowing words, and more images. So much beauty -- from a far-away, little-known place, even less understood.

Our dreams disturb us 

because they refuse to pander 

to our fondest notions of ourselves.  

The closer one looks, 

the more they seem to 

insist upon a challenging proposition: 

You must live truthfully.  

Right now.  

And always.  

Few forces in life present, 

with an equal sense of inevitability, 

the bare-knuckle facts of who we are, 

and the demands of what we might become.  

~Marc Ian Barasch

Lake Lanao

day 716 | november 16, 2014 | Zamboanga Hermosa

I had butterflies flying to Zamboanga. It shouldn’t be so strange to be meeting your father-side family, but it held a 26-year old strangeness to me. This was a deeply personal trip. Stories upon stories of so many years ago, shaping the lens with which I perceive my history. The intent was to layer real memories and grown-up impressions on top of childhood fiction, and to bridge the past to the present. I worried about being disappointed, too afraid to expect anything.

It started with a phone call. I called Mamang a few days before my flight. She would be excited to see me, they said, but I heavily discounted it. Maybe they were just being nice, easing my worries with kind words. But upon hearing her voice on the phone, I knew the sentiment to be genuine, and fought back tears with a steady tone and paced breaths. I haven’t gone for the trip yet, and I was already on an emotional roller-coaster. Whatever history there was, we acknowledge and make the active decision to move forward. And then, it was there again -- That feather-light feeling of everything falling into place – I was where I needed to be.  Doing what I needed to do. Writing chapters of my story that needed to be written.

Snapshots that barely scratch the surface… but hopefully shares some of the beauty I found there.