I didn’t spend a dime on this trip. Or maybe I did. I remember buying a piece of kiping, a local delicacy made from ground cassava, for P10, bottled water, and fresh buko juice. But other than that, I just enjoyed the 3-day 2-night tour without spending on anything. This tour was a birthday gift to me from a not-so-poor [...]

My wallet had a pleasant surprise for me when I opened it after my El Nido trip — money! I had always thought that El Nido was an expensive destination. My recent trip, however, proved that it is anything but expensive. In fact, it is one of the cheapest four-day vacations I have had. The only expensive thing about El [...]

As our boat glided through the waves into the Big Lagoon of Miniloc Island in El Nido, Palawan, I couldn’t help but think about how much I needed this break. The limestone cliffs that surround the clear, turquoise water reflecting the sunny skies were more therapeutic than any massage or cigarette I had. It was the perfect moment. A classic [...]

First times. If there’s one thing that I am so grateful about this trip, it’s that it gave me a several first times. It was my first time to board a cruise ship. It was my first time to see  a cruise ship, to be honest. My first time to set foot on Malaysia. My first time at a Temple [...]

Let me talk about my college friend Mimay. To be honest, it’s weird that I call her a “college friend.” Although we shared the same batch, same college org and even same classes, we weren’t really close in college, looking back. She was busy doing theater while I was busy being emo. It was after graduation that we really became [...]

Singapore has a special place in my heart. It was the first city outside of the Philippines that I set foot on. My first time was almost two years ago and it was on that trip that I met some of friends. That’s why when I was thinking of a trip for me and my mom, it was easy for [...]

Frankly, our Tacloban-Marabut trip is probably the most unfortunate of all of my trips. It wasn’t because of the place — Tacloban and Palo, Leyte and Marabut, Samar are awesomely beautiful places. It was the rain. Although from the very beginning we knew it would be a “wet” trip because the weather forecast said so, we still, somehow, hoped for [...]

I have a confession to make. When we were planning this trip, we weren’t really that hot about it. It’s just that Airphil Express launched a P150 sale and the only destination with available seats for the dates we wanted was Bacolod. Blindly, we booked it. To be honest, the only thing I knew about Negros Occidental before this trip [...]

The Poor Traveler didn’t know how to react when I received the itinerary of our Davao Familiarization Tour from Airphil Express. The fastest-growing local airline is now offering tours and packages for different destinations in the country and they wanted travel and lifestyle bloggers to get the first taste of it. I was glad that I was part of the [...]

“Tito, what time are we going to board the plane?” My niece and nephew were getting more and more impatient as we were waiting for our boarding call at the NAIA Terminal 3. I couldn’t blame them. I was extremely excited myself. Although it wasn’t my first time to travel abroad, it was my first time to travel out of [...]

Puerto Princesa City, the capital of Palawan, is one of my favorite cities in the world and probably the local city I loved the most. The city boasts of countless natural wonders, good food, outstanding cleanliness and friendly, hospitable, disciplined people. I’ve been to Puerto Princesa several times before and I know I will keep coming back to this place. [...]

Bohol is one of the best places I have visited. The province has so much, soooo much to offer. We stayed there for 4 days and there were still so many places we missed. Our energy level isn’t really proportional to the beauty of this island province. Touring Bohol is really exhausting but every calorie we burned and second spent [...]

When the Poor Traveler was planning this trip to Ilocos, I did not have much expectations. Sure I had heard about Ilocandia and all the raves about it before on TV but in all honesty, it did not really appeal to me. I just wanted to see the Bangui Windmills, Pagudpud and Vigan. That was all I wanted. But I [...]

It was The Poor Traveler’s first time to join the country’s most colorful and most vibrant festival. And I will tell you exactly how much this trip cost me. Viewed 13847 times by 4464 viewers

After our two-day tour in Iloilo and Guimaras, the Poor Traveler and his poor friend decided that it was time to head home. But the flight tickets that we got would have a connecting flight in Cebu City. Our plane would land at Mactan International Airport at 4pm and would depart for Manila at 6am the next morning. But we [...]