My 2023 Year in Review

Last Updated on January 23, 2024 by Tina

It’s been a long time since I last posted here because of many things. First, Google made so many updates that I’m not very happy with what’s going on with what I am seeing in Google Analytics. Second, after much push from friends and family, I decided to try out vlogging. I am trying to monetize my YouTube channel now, so my free time is usually spent editing videos. I still have a long way to go before getting monetized and I hope you help me with it. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to my channel @iwentanyways and check out my videos. Another thing that keeps me busy now is the sale of my property. The documents needed for the sale have been causing me a lot of stress that I just don’t have enough energy to write anything.  Anyway, I thought that even if I’m busy and stressed, and though this is 3 weeks late already, I need to keep up with my blog tradition which is to do a recap of what happened to me during the year. This is my 2023 year in review:

January

I started 2023 with another tattoo. Yup, I got inked on January 1. It was not planned at all. My brother was getting inked that day and asked me to accompany him. I decided to get one too.

Aside from that, I did Mt. Yangbew and Mt. Kalugong hike in La Trinidad with a friend in the first month of the year. We planned another hike together but never got to do it because of our schedules and the weather.

February

I went back to Bali to spend Valentine’s Day there and I was there for 9 days. The last time I was there was in 2019, for the bridal shower of my bestie. I did most of the tours on my first trip to Bali, so I wanted to do something different. I have always wanted to go down to Kelingking Beach and I wouldn’t be able to do that if I only did a day trip from Bali. So I booked a 2-night stay at Innora Jungle Resort in Nusa Penida and I loved my hut so much that I ended up extending for another night. Aside from Kelingking Beach, I also visited other spots in Nusa Penida that I hadn’t visited before- Diamond Beach, Atuh Beach, and Rumah Pohon “Tree House”.  I also did the Campuhan Ridge Walk in Ubud, had dinner in Jimbaran, and visited Nusa Dua, things that I wasn’t able to do on my first trip.

And because I have a remote job, I was still working while in Bali. I went sightseeing during the weekend, and I applied for one vacation leave so that I could visit Nusa Dua.

March

My parents arrived from the US after my Bali trip for a month’s vacation in the Philippines and to attend the family reunion on my mother’s side. The family reunion was in Ilocos Norte on the first week of March. I joined in the reunion and we went to Ilocos three days prior so we had time to go sightseeing. We visited the Burgos Lighthouse, Bangui Windmills, Kapurpurawan Rock Formation, Patapat Viaduct, and Blue Lagoon in Pagudpud. We often visited those spots when we were still living in San Nicolas, the town next to Laoag. But when we relocated to La Union in 2014, the only time I was able to go back to Ilocos was during the burial of my cousin in January 2020. During the trip last March, I was finally able to try out sandboarding in La Paz Sand Dunes. It was also my first time to visit La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc Chapel, a chapel along the beach with an altar made from a huge rock and seashells.

Then on the third week of March, when my parents flew back to the US, I flew to Panglao, Bohol to join my Italian friend whom I met in Bali the month before. I stayed there for three weeks, working during the day, going to the beach after work, hanging out at night, and sightseeing on weekends. The last time I visited Bohol was in 2013 with my brother and sister and a lot has changed since then. Because I had already done the touristy things when I first visited Bohol, I wasn’t keen on doing them again.

But I enjoyed my time there. I felt so free. I wasn’t following any itinerary. We just did what we felt like doing for the day. I miss so much the motorbike rides from Dumaluan to Alona Beach or Tagbilaran, and the barbecues at night.

April

From Bohol, we took a ferry to Siquijor during the holy week. We stayed for two nights in San Juan, two nights in a cute jungle hut in Lazi, and a night near the port because the following day we had an early trip back to Bohol. We had a kitchen in the jungle hut, so my friend cooked for me. I’m not sure if all Italians are good cooks, but he sure was one. I’m not sure how he does it, but even pasta with just olive oil and garlic tasted good with him.

It was my second time in Siquijor, and even though there were more tourists there already, I still loved it.

After almost a week in Siquijor, we went back to Panglao. We did the usual until my flight back to Manila and his flight back to Bali on the second week of April.

May

There wasn’t anything special in May because I was preparing for my birthday trip the following month. But I had to go to Manila for a face to face training.

June

I flew to Bali for my birthday trip in the second week of June. Since I had a remote job and Filipinos can stay in Indonesia for 30 days visa-free, I stayed in Bali for almost a month. So many fun things happened during that trip and I met three amazing people.

Because I was staying in Bali longer, I decided to check out the nearby islands. I spent a few days in Nusa Penida and then went to Nusa Lembongan. I met a nice Korean girl on the boat to Nusa Lembongan. She was also traveling solo so we agreed to check out the island and the neighboring island Nusa Ceningan together.

From Nusa Lembongan, I went to Gili Air and spent my birthday there. I always try to spend my birthday in a place I have never been yet so when I was planning my birthday trip, I asked my Italian friend for suggestions. He suggested Gili Trawangan but while I was researching about the place, I read that Gili T is a party place. I feel too old for it so I decided to stay in Gili Air instead. Gili Air is just close to Gili Trawangan but more chill. From Gili Air, I did day trips to Gili T and Gili Meno.

From Gili Air, I went back to Bali because my Italian friend originally planned to get back to Bali from Italy in the third week of June. However, he had to adjust his schedule because the paperwork for the sale of his house was not done yet. Just as I was starting to get bored, I met a Spanish guy who happens to be a digital nomad too. He lives in Spain but would spend a few months in Bali every year before the pandemic so he knows a lot about Indonesia. He introduced me to so many things. Before meeting him, the only Indonesian foods I knew were chicken sate, nasi goreng, and mie goreng. When I met him, I got to try nasi padang which I love so much, nasi campur, and babi guling. He also brought me to the fish market in Kedonganan, where we bought fish there and brought it to a warung nearby to have it cooked. It was much cheaper than eating in the seafood restaurants in Jimbaran, and the fish was more tasty because it was fresh.

The third person I met during my June trip to Bali was a Filipina who was also traveling solo. We met on a Facebook group for solo travelers in Bali. She was arriving in Bali two weeks after me and since I was staying in Bali for a month, we agreed to meet. The first time we met, we clicked immediately. We had so many things in common. We spent a day in Cafe del Mar just chilling, and we talked about so many things about our lives and it felt like we’ve known each other for a long time already. After Cafe del Mar, we also went to Ubud together and spent a few days there visiting a temple, a waterfall, and a beach club.

July

Wow, my June was so eventful haha. I was still in Bali until the first week of July, and even though I spent a month there already, it felt like it wasn’t enough. I wanted to extend but I couldn’t because of visa reasons. Also, I had to go home because my cousin and her family whom I haven’t seen since they left for the US more than 10 years ago were coming home. Together with my sister, brother, and nephews, we traveled to Ilocos to meet them and attend their house blessing. Me and my siblings also managed to do a little bit of sightseeing while we were in Ilocos.

August

I had a very exciting trip mid August. I did the Borneo trip with my brother and his friend. We flew together to Brunei but the following day, we parted ways. I went alone to Labuan, Kota Kinabalu, and Kuching in Malaysia, and then we met in Pontianak and explored the city together. After Pontianak, I went on my own again. I flew back to Kota Kinabalu from Pontianak but I had two layovers, Jakarta and Singapore. In Jakarta, I met with my Spanish friend for lunch as he happened to be in Jakarta at that time too to watch and support Spain in the FIBA World Cup. We had a catch-up on things before I went back to the airport for my flight to Singapore. In Singapore, I spent the night in my blockmate’s apartment, and the following day, I met up with my cousin at the church and then had lunch before my flight to Kota Kinabalu.

My brother and his friend joined me in Kota Kinabalu the day after. We spent a day in Kota Kinabalu sightseeing. The following day, we took a bus to Brunei. That bus trip was interesting because we had four border crossings and seven or eight new passport stamps on those eight hours of travel. On our last day in Brunei, we went on a boat tour to explore Kampung Ayer Water Village and to check out other tourist spots in Brunei.

September

A few days after my Borneo trip, I flew back to Bali and stayed there for a month again. My stay there was like when I was in Panglao. I didn’t have any itineraries, it was like I was living in Bali for a long time already. My routine had been to work in the morning until around 4:30 PM. Then I would walk to the beach and watch the sunset.

On my second week there, my brother and his colleague came to Bali and I accompanied them on their sightseeing. I took them to Ubud and East Bali. My brother and I even stayed for a night in a fancy villa with our own pool just because we wanted to experience staying in one and it was much cheaper in Bali than in the Philippines.

My last week in Bali was spent going for walks on the beach for the sunset and trying out some more Indonesian food thanks to my Spanish friend.

October

I left Bali in the first week of October. On my last weekend in Bali, I visited Melasti, Pandawa, and Gunung Payung Beach. Two weeks after I got back from Bali, we had another round of face-to-face training in Manila. While I was in Manila, I had dinner with a fellow solo traveler I met in 2022 while trying to catch our connecting flight to Phuket. It was so nice to catch up with her and also reminisce about the fun times we had in Koh Tao. I also got to have lunch with my bestie before going back to La Union.

November

I was just at home in La Union for the first three weeks of November and for the last weekend, I went back to Ilocos Norte with my brother and his friend. We spent a night in one of the cabanas near the windmills in Bangui Windfarm and explored the tourist spots in the northern part of Ilocos Norte like Cape Bojeador Lighthouse, Kapurpurawan Rock Formation, Blue Lagoon, Patapat Viaduct. We also discovered a nice viewpoint in Pagudpud, a place marked as Batanes of the North in Google Maps. We spent the following night in Adams. It was my first time to visit Adams and I was super excited about it. Unfortunately, it was raining when we got there so the only thing we were able to do was the wine tasting and check out the hanging bridge.

December

My brother who is living in Bicol and his family visited us for the New Year and while they were here, they went sightseeing every day. I joined them in all their gala. We went to Immuki Island, Baluarte Watch Tower, Red Clay, and even experienced the release of sea turtle hatchlings near CURMA’s HQ. Also, I finally reached Santol View Deck. My nephews and I had to do a little hike because the road to the view deck looked scary so my brother parked the car in a much safer place.

So that’s how my 2023 went. It wasn’t all travel though. In the first quarter of 2023, I witnessed lots of sea turtle hatchlings released onto the sea because I helped with crowd control during the release. 2023 was a very good year and I am hoping that 2024 will be good too.