My trip to Palawan province in the Philippines taught me something that every traveler should know before booking: Palawan is not one destination. It is three: Puerto Princesa, El Nido, and Coron, each requiring a different route and, as of 2026, a different departure airport. Getting this right from the start is the single most important step in planning a hassle-free Palawan journey. *Important 2026 Update: As of March 29, 2026, all … [Read more...]
How to Keep Your Travel Accounts and Documents Safe on a Long Trip
Somewhere between checking out of a hotel in Bangkok and catching an overnight train, you realise you can't find the email containing your next booking. Your phone battery is nearly dead, the station Wi-Fi keeps disconnecting, and your passport scan is buried in a folder you haven't opened for months. Nothing has been stolen. Yet suddenly, a simple journey feels much more complicated. Long trips are wonderful for getting away from familiar … [Read more...]
MPBL Teams and Regional Identity: Why Local Basketball Matters in the Philippines
Manila’s sports bosses spent years overlooking basketball talent from the archipelago’s more remote corners. Major corporations preferred signing proven stars from the university leagues, leaving provincial prospects to toil in neighbourhood competitions with virtually no chance of landing a major contract. The situation changed in 2017. That was when regional basketball stepped out of the shadows thanks to Manny Pacquiao’s initiative, which gave … [Read more...]
Solo in Ubud: How to Spend a Week That Feels Like the Real Bali
Most people turn up in Ubud with a list. Monkey Forest, the rice terraces, a swing over the jungle, a smoothie bowl with a view. All of that's there and most of it is worth seeing. But if you are travelling on your own, the thing that tends to stay with you is something else: the slow morning before the scooters start, the offering someone sets down on the step outside your room, the conversation you fall into over dinner with a stranger who is … [Read more...]
Inside Palawan’s Last Paradise
The first glimpse of Palawan takes your breath away—a slender island province in the Philippines stretching like an emerald jewel between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea. As my small propeller plane descended into Puerto Princesa, the capital city, I knew this journey would be unlike any other. Palawan is not just a destination; it's a living, breathing testament to the raw beauty of nature, a place where limestone cliffs rise from … [Read more...]
Komodo Island Scuba Diving at Sixty – A Hotel, a Liveaboard, and What I’d Change
I taught high school chemistry in Modesto for twenty-nine years, and I've carried the same dive logbook since 1989, a green vinyl binder with a Monterey dive shop's sticker peeling off the front cover. My first entry is a forty-one-foot dive off Breakwater Cove in a seven-millimeter wetsuit I can still smell. I turned sixty in February. My wife Linda doesn't dive, and when she asked what I wanted to mark the year, I said Komodo before she'd … [Read more...]
Why I Went to Lamjung Instead of the Annapurna Circuit
We were at the junction in Besisahar where the road splits, and everyone else in the vehicle was going north, up the Marsyangdi, toward the Annapurna Circuit and the teahouses and the pass at 5,416 metres that people fly across the world to walk over. I asked to be let out at the turn for Hugdi. The driver repeated the name back to me twice. Then he shrugged in the way Nepali drivers shrug at foreigners and at locals who are behaving like … [Read more...]
Minalungao National Park: A Scenic Nueva Ecija Escape for Nature Lovers
Nueva Ecija is often known for rice fields, peaceful towns, and wide provincial roads, but hidden within General Tinio is one of Central Luzon’s most photogenic nature destinations: Minalungao National Park. With its emerald river, towering limestone cliffs, bamboo rafts, hanging bridge, caves, and scenic hilltop views, Minalungao has become one of the most visited nature spots in Nueva Ecija. It is a favorite day-trip destination for travelers … [Read more...]
Where to Stay in Sanur Bali: The Calmest Base on the Island
After enough time in Bali, I've come to think the biggest decision you make there isn't which temples to see or how long to stay. It's where to base yourself. Pick the right spot and the island feels gentle and easy. Pick the wrong one and you spend the trip stuck in traffic and heat, hunting for somewhere without a flight of stairs. I've spent a good deal of time in the quieter parts of Bali, and one town keeps pulling me back: Sanur, on the … [Read more...]
Flying Out of Kuala Lumpur? Smart Transit Routes from Singapore and Johor Bahru to KL & KLIA
Catching a flight out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport does not have to mean an expensive domestic flight or a stressful scramble the morning of. If you live in Singapore or Johor Bahru and you are chasing cheaper KLIA fares, going overland is usually the better call, and for a lot of travellers it starts with a JB to KL bus. It is not the only way in, but it is the one that turns a plain transfer into something worth doing. So which … [Read more...]
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