The Little Things in Travel

While we are on the road going to Baler, I got this idea and started mentally planning this blog post. These things we tend to ignore most of the time but remember once we are in those specific moments.

Things that make a place distinct from home

• I used to tell myself after our Guam trip last 2014 that I will take a photo of the 711 stores I encounter outside this country (I haven't went abroad since). I've only seen those in the 3 countries, and the thing is they vary, a lot. There's this Starbucks Coffee/Chocolate being sold in Guam for 1$ and other sodas we only see in American movies. There are also all these candy and ice cream in Hongkong we can't read/understand but still try anyway. Imagine what we'd see in countries farther away.
• I don't wanna sound very millennial, but a year ago we got the chance to travel around Region 3 for work and end our days in the closest Starbucks we find. None of them looked alike.
• Gas prices haha
• Tricycles. Go to Bora or Palawan, they look different there.
• There's this ice cream, that kinda looked like it was famous when we were young, that we don't see much here in Pampanga but it is in every carinderia we travel to locally.

The little tiny details on the road

I don't know about you, but the best views I see on the road are those that don't translate accurately in pictures.

I really enjoy the welcome signs here in the Philippines with the sculptures on the side. The balanga in Balanga City (that may just be a dream because I can't find photos of it anywhere). The one with the farmers in Nueva Ecija. The lanterns here in Pampanga during the holidays.

Sometimes it's just watching locals walk in picturesque views.

Also, I have lost count how many times we made bad puns about place/store names.

Making use of limited things

• It's using 3 mugs for both food and drinks for 6 people.
• Sharing a bathroom with people we don't know and having to wait in a line most of the time.
• Sharing a small space with other people.
• Having no electricity or source of light at night where it's just us and the sound of the waves.
• We don't even need a bed sometimes (camping).

Locals, the nice ones

• During our company outing in Cebu, there are these kids who can swim so much better than us. They'd get my GoPro to get shots from way under the sea. They'd take me where I can find the sardines in Sardines Island. We pretty much don't talk the same language but I had a good time.
• How the 7 of us only rode 1 tricycle in all our days in Palawan, they say Palawan has the nicest locals
• There's one in Zambales that made us follow him on his motorcycle, that's his way of telling us which way to go

There you go, one more boring list in my list of lists.

P.S.

I am about to add food as one of my subheadings in the post but we all know that's not a little thing.