Islands to Outback

I grew up believing paradise was my birthright.

Born and raised in a country of over 7,000 islands and some of the best beaches on Earth, my childhood was a perpetual chase after the sun.

Powdery white sand, turquoise waters, palm trees swaying like lazy dancers in the breeze — these were the constants of my life.

They were as familiar as the tangy scent of calamansi or the sound of a karaoke machine humming faintly in the distance.

And yet, surrounded by so much beauty, I always found myself wondering: What lies beyond these shores?

Perhaps paradise, for all its splendor, can begin to feel like a gilded cage.

There’s something restless in the Filipino spirit — a pull toward new stories, unfamiliar skies, distant horizons.

So I went. Not to escape, but to expand. Australia was my first leap, and there, I discovered that the world is both larger and closer than I’d ever imagined.

Cultural mosaic

Melbourne reminded me of Manila, if Manila had been sent to finishing school. Its cobblestone laneways were lined with hipster cafés and avant-garde street art; its skyline was a quiet, elegant mix of old and new.

It was here that I first learned the depth of Australia’s obsession with coffee.

In my ignorance, I strolled into a café and ordered an Americano.

The barista raised an eyebrow — a sharp look that could cut bread.

“Flat white,” he corrected, sliding over a cup that was so velvety, I immediately forgave him for the judgment in his tone.

Melbourne felt foreign yet oddly familiar.

At the Queen Victoria Market, I browsed stalls selling artisanal cheeses and kangaroo jerky, only to stumble upon a vendor hawking halo-halo and adobo.

It was a little jarring, but it also felt like home had sneaked its way into my adventure.

Sip into still

A short drive out of the city brought me to the Yarra Valley, a place where vineyards rolled across the hills in soft, endless waves.

In the Philippines, drinking is communal — gin bulag shared between friends over laughter and the occasional off-key karaoke.

But here, wine was both drink and art form.

In tasting rooms, I sipped Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs with a reverence I didn’t know I possessed.

Initially, the quiet of the valley could be unsettling. Back home, silence feels like an empty room waiting to be filled with conversation or music.

But in Yarra, stillness had its own weight. I learned to sit with it, to let it fill the spaces I used to rush to fill.

No mere icons

Sydney was unapologetically proud, flaunting its beauty like a peacock in full display.

The Opera House and Harbor Bridge were every bit as stunning as the postcards promised, but it was the fringes of the city that won me over.

At Hat Head National Park, I walked barefoot along beaches that felt untouched by time.

The waves rolled in with a rhythmic power, an endless, ancient pulse that made me feel wonderfully small.

It reminded me of Palawan, but wilder, less curated. Back home, paradise often feels like it’s been polished for the cameras. Here, it was raw.

Beneath the surface

In Queensland, I finally met the Great Barrier Reef — a natural wonder so vast it’s said to be visible from space.

Growing up, I had snorkeled Apo Reef, thought I knew the dance of coral gardens and schools of fish. This was something else entirely.

Floating above coral structures that looked like alien cathedrals, I felt a kind of awe that bordered on reverence.

This wasn’t a reef; it was a world alive in ways.

It made me think about how often we treat nature as a backdrop rather than a living, breathing entity.

Here, I didn’t feel like a visitor. I felt like a guest — welcome but tentative.

Red heart

From the blue hues of the reef, the red heart of Australia, Uluru, was a stark contrast.

To someone who grew up in a country lush with greenery and turquoise seas, the arid expanse surrounding Uluru was alien.

The sun rose, and the rock transformed crimson, gold and fiery orange.

Walking around its base, I traced carvings left by the Anangu people, who have called this place home for tens of thousands of years.

Their stories are etched into the stone, whispering of resilience and connection.

For someone raised on tales of diwatas and enchanted forests, Uluru’s mystique felt strangely familiar.

Every culture has its whispers from the past.

The Great Outback

In the Philippines, light pollution dims the stars, but in the Outback, they blazed across the sky, unbridled and infinite.

Lying on the cool desert floor, I felt insignificant in the best way.

The stars reminded me of nights back home, lying on the sand, listening to the waves, and dreaming of faraway lands.

Travel has a funny way of circling back to where you began. The unfamiliar often holds echoes of the familiar.

I left the Philippines searching for something different. I found it in Australia. I also found pieces of home scattered along the way — in the warmth of strangers, the wildness of the sea, the stories etched into the land.

Perhaps that’s the greatest gift of leaving: realizing how much of you stays rooted where you came from.