My trip to the Philippines: 14 days, Manila to Siargao

Fourteen days. Four stops between a chaotic city, two Palawan gems, and an island we genuinely struggled to leave. That was, broadly, the trip that later became the itinerary you have in front of you on this site.

We started in Manila, two days to adjust to the heat and traffic before jumping to El Nido. Everything changed there at once: turquoise water, hidden lagoons and an island vibe that feels different from the moment you step onto the pier. From El Nido we moved to Coron by ferry — five hours that fly by between islands appearing on the horizon — and went back to El Nido before the final jump: Siargao, the surf capital of the Philippines, where we ended up wanting a lot more time than we had.

It's a trip that doesn't follow a perfect script, and that's exactly why it works as well as it does.

Ferries run late, plans change on the fly, and even so every day ended with the same feeling — of having seen something that doesn't show up in the typical Instagram photos.

It wasn't a trip of constant relaxation, not by a long shot. Between island hopping, mopeds and long ferry rides, there are days of a lot of movement and some accumulated fatigue. But there are also whole afternoons doing nothing more than sitting on an empty beach, which is exactly the contrast that makes the trip feel complete rather than exhausting.

This series of posts is my way of telling how that trip really went — the good parts, what I wouldn't do again, what surprised me most — beyond the organized version of the itinerary itself. If you've already booked it, welcome to the club of people who are going to bring more flip-flops than they think they need.