It only seemed to dawn on me when the calendar notification said “Return to Adelaide”. My time in the Philippines was at an end. Obviously I’ll miss this country, its breathtaking views and the lovely, hospitable people who live there. I’d certainly recommend a visit to any foreigner who’s curious. At least to the northern parts of the nation. Don’t be scared by people’s thoughts about the Philippines. I had many friends look at me oddly and say they’d be too scared to go there. Rubbish! Unless you’re afraid of rice and motorcycles. Then you might reconsider.

It’s not an understatement to say I had a definite lack of self control at the airport.

Don’t judge, this was comfort food to stop me weeping over leaving. But before long my flying had finished and I had dropped back into wet and windy Adelaide

I think I can summarise my trip with the countdown below.

5 near death experiences. The moving Jeepney, The stampeding taxis. Both of the Filipino theme park rides and the robotic elephant…

4 regions travelled to. Olongapo, Manila, Playa la Caleta and Puerto Galera.

3 bucket list items crossed off. Scuba diving, Jumping off a waterfall and making a blog!

2 Churches with wonderful congregations. It has been an honour to make music in both of them as well as other things including testimonies and fellowship events.

1 incident of getting lost in Manila. I asked for directions, walked 3km in the wrong direction and called a tricycle driver to get me home. He didn’t know the way either…

0 Regrets!

That being said, back home I opened my bag to find that my shampoo had exploded. Sigh… and I might have left a few things behind. All well. I had family and friends and fatter cats waiting dutifully for me. And I’m already sunburnt. Thanks Australia.

It’s incredible to think that this started off as just a few emails back to family to reassure them I was still alive and suddenly this magical thing appeared! Unfortunately this is all for the Philippines blog. But do not despair. I have writings from the mysterious plains of Japan which I shall upload here soon. So stay tuned! Thanks for staying on my adventure with me, you guys (in part) inspired me to always try the new experiences and do the things that took me out of my comfort zone. Having an audience keeps you accountable in your trip to make sure you do something besides sleep and use up foreign wifi.

That’s all for now. Goodbye. You can stop reading now. What’s this? You’re still going? Why are you still reading? Go out and enjoy your own life. Have your own adventures!