Solo in El Nido: Romancing Nature in a Honeymooner's Paradise

Sometimes we get lost, sometimes we find love.

Read title again: Solo in El Nido: Romancing Nature in a Honeymooner's Paradise. I came up with this line a week before my flight to Palawan. It is because this is how I envision my trip will be like. Sitting alone in the beach staring at the horizon in the midst of couples holding hands while walking by the sea shore.

I arrived in Puerto Prinsesa morning of June 26 without any expectation. All I wanted was to meet a few interesting people and to have a new destination to write about. I never thought that in this trip, I will turn out to be not so alone.


Even without any expectation, my first day in El Nido is depressing. The weather is cloudy, my accommodation is below average, the people around are not as friendly as I thought and I found myself lying in bed singing to Creep by Radiohead, "What the hell am I doing here, I don't belong here."

I was worried that my trip in El Nido will fall short compared to my blissful first solo travel experience in Magalawa Island, Zambales. But it didn't took long before circumstances changed, El Nido swished and flicked its wand upon me and provided memories as beautiful and lingering as its 45 islands.

When I came back in Manila, a lot of people asked me if El Nido is really beautiful. But every time I tried to look back, it is not the white sand beaches, the clear blue waters, the lagoons, the colorful corals and the one of a kind fishes that I remember but rather me losing myself without feeling lost but rather whole . It was our genuine laughter and sweet smiles. The anything-under-the-sun stories that we honestly shared. The realization that even though we are from different sides of the world, we share similar beliefs about today's youth, health and how we'd want to grow old. These pure memories that shall be kept pure and shall not be stained by our real worlds.

I never really understood why we let go of things that feel right and perfect but just like El Nido whose beauty I could not bring back home, everything should be kept in their rightful places. Yes, it might break our hearts for not having these special things within our reach but we must keep in mind that we could always look back at what we've had and be thankful that we got to experience heaven on Earth that is our El Nido.

The Solo in El Nido Series
Solo in El Nido: 4 Day Itinerary and Expenses with Solo Survival Tips
Solo in El Nido: Things To Do
Solo in El Nido: Romancing Nature in a Honeymooner's Paradise