💥Hello, it's me again, Patsitivity!💥
As promised, I'm taking you all not just to the beach but to an island I just recently discovered - Camotes Island. But before we go through the details of the trip, here's a little storytelling.
The trial
I'm undeniably a hopeless romantic person. I'm the I-want-to-dance-and-run-before-midnight kind of girl. If you know what I mean.😂 But when I met my current boyfriend, I knew that our relationship will be nowhere near a fairy tale. It won't go through just one huge conflict which will be resolved in no time then everything else will be sealed under the and they lived happily ever after folder.
The reality is in relationships, you'll go through countless ups and downs. At times, if you're unfortunate, you'll go through one after the other. That sucks, trust me, but you just have to learn to live through it. Exactly a week before this trip, a series of unfortunate events triggered my anxiety again. I went from 101% to zero. It was too difficult for me that I thought the trip wouldn't push through because of what happened. I was on the brink of canceling the trip actually but after a day of just letting unwanted emotions pass, I was able to gather my senses, at least, to show up.
Finally, Ma said yes!
"Where to go on anniversaries?" hmmm... 🤔
In our case, we always plan ahead. Well, at least I do give my boyfriend hints of where I want to go. I personally believe that monthsaries are overrated. I'm a very practical person. If I can save a centavo for buying something compared to something else which works just the same, I'd get the centavo saving. Long story short, we don't usually celebrate monthsaries. There were a few times we went the extra mile and gave something as monthsary gifts, but normally, we'll just greet each other "Happy Monthsary" plus a few words and that's it, not even dinner. But if we have a chance to go out during our monthsary, we'd dine out but nothing fancy really. Spending time with undivided attention is what makes me the happiest.
During the first year (and a few months) of our relationship, my mother wouldn't allow the two of us to go on an out-of-town trip on our own. Either we travel with my friends or his friends just to travel out of the city. What I'm just really grateful for is that my boyfriend has always been the most respectful man I know; he never pushed the idea of out-of-town trips unless my mother agrees to it. So our 1st anniversary was spent on a staycation within the City. Fortunately, after several visits to our house and after my mother saw that my boyfriend is trustworthy, she finally allowed us to travel on our own without 'the strange look' on her face. 😅
Perhaps, not celebrating monthsaries and not being allowed to travel together for more than a year are the main reasons why we wanted to go big during our 2nd anniversary. Yup! Just recently, our relationship reached two amazing years. ✨
Initially, we were eyeing this beautiful resort by the beach in Ronda, Cebu. We wanted to spend our anniversary somewhere that offers a relaxing and spectacular sunset view, should be located by the beach, reasonably priced, and offers massage (my boyfriend really wants to get a massage every now and then).
But one day, I saw this post on Facebook that Camotes Island is already accepting tourists without any requirement. I was ecstatic the moment I read about it. Then I told my boyfriend that we can go there instead of Ronda. And that's it. Camotes Island for our 2nd anniversary getaway/celebration.
Off to an unexpected adventure
It was a Friday night. My college buddies scheduled a birthday dinner for one of our friends. My boyfriend joined us. Aside from eating in one of my favorite restaurants, we went to a nearby place where we continued talking and drinking. It was past 11 PM when we went home. I stayed at my boyfriend's house because we need to catch the earliest trip scheduled at 5:30 AM.
We were up as early as past 3 am. From my boyfriend's place, we need to walk for a few minutes to reach the bus stop.
One thing you'll realize when you travel at dawn is that places are really just near. Mandaue City to Danao City would usually take 1.5-2 hrs travel time. But that dawn, we made it to Danao in less than 45 minutes. 🤷♀️
We reached the Danao-Camotes Ferry Terminal 30 minutes before the scheduled trip. We noticed that there were a lot of people lining up outside of the ticketing office. Well, we came prepared since our contact in Camotes told us to book ahead.
My boyfriend booked the boat ticket online. It was the best decision as we don't need to line up and expose ourselves to a possible COVID-19 transmission hotspot. We just had to pay an extra Php 50 ($1) for the online booking fee. Convenience and safety can be costly. But it's the price I'd gladly pay. 😊
If you want to avoid the long lines, book your ticket in advance here.
Sunrise by your side
We stayed inside the terminal and waited for the boarding announcement but when there were no signs of boarding, I was eager to see the sunrise that morning as I rarely see the sunrise (not-a-morning-person problem here 🤣) so we decided to go out of the terminal to watch the sunrise.
And tada! We found the perfect spot.
The beautiful sunrise told us that a perfect weather awaits. Watching the sunrise while holding the hand of my beloved assured me that all is well and that life has to go on, one way or another. ❤️
Let's continue this long and winding journey some other time, okay? So stay tuned, fellas!
Keep safe. I'll see you again real soon. 😊
Living life intentionally every single day, she believes that there’s no limit to one’s potentials. Right now, she’s on the loose for the pursuit of endless holistic self-growth and development. She wants to light the way for others. She believes there’s no better way to leave a legacy than to pay it forward.
Her ultimate goal in life is to reach the state of enlightenment where there’s nothing but peace, love, happiness, and contentment - nothing more, nothing less.
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