I almost died once.
I nearly got washed out to sea. It was January, 2009. I was on the island of Palawan in the Philippines, surrounded by lush tropical trees and vividness and vast chunking mountains that got smaller and smaller when I got carried out towards the ocean break. The panic that rose in me was unmatched by anything I'd ever felt in my life, and I wondered how I'd gotten here, miles and miles from anywhere, from anyone.
Were we meant to find this place? Was I meant to die here, in these Filipino waters? To the place I could barely find? I thrashed against the wave that carried me out to sea, the tides rushing through me.
Some retrospect. At first, we couldn't even find El Nido. We were two men, two women, three toddlers, four guidebooks, and eight suitcases. Outside the airport of Puerto Princesa, I could taste the dust.
"Excuse me, how do we get to El Nido?" I had begged a passerby. Just a hotel and a mango and the kids would be pacified. Confusion was tolerated on travel days, chased only by the setting sun.
"No road," said the first man, his peering dark eyes kind but apologetic. "Rains." The road was regularly washed out at certain times of the year.
"Boat, but not today, for wind," another man said, toothless, pointing to the bending palms. "You must go by boat."
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Unpacked: from PEI to Palawan
Non-FictionABOUT THE BOOK Unpacked: From PEI to Palawan is a travel memoir of a young family, brokenhearted and hungry for change, that take off on an around the world journey of love and redemption. Narrative driven, Unpacked is the passionate and candid stor...
