Each night as I drift off to sleep I think of several ideas for new blog posts. Of course, when I have the time to write a post each and every idea 
escapes me. Today I’ll wing it and write about one perfect day I had with my good friend and amazing traveling partner, C.
Luzon, Philippines, November 2000
C and I had been traveling for a few days in the Philippines. Our journey began with a 12 hour, nearly non-stop bus ride,sleeping briefly at a cockroach hotel (you get what you pay for at $5.00/night) and then jumping on another bus to Pagudpud. We were ready to relax a little. The next morning, we dressed in sundresses over swimsuits, sunglasses and sandals. We began our morning at Jollibee’s, the most enchanting fast food restaurant in the Philippines. We rented a trike (something like a motorcycle with a covered sidecar) and were driven out to the SAUD Beach Resort and Hotel. We paid the security gaurd for entrance to the deserted beach. A typhoon had recently passed through, sending the tourists home and leaving the South China Sea to C and me. We didn’t bring much,so we quickly settled in on the beach and headed for the water. The water was the most wonderful, warm water. Gentle and soothing. We laughed and talked as the waves pushed us back and forth.
When it began raining, we headed up to the hotel bar. We were befriended by the very bored and lonely bartender, Brian. He was extremely outgoing. C and I listened to his stories while drinking sweating glasses of Coke and eating our packed lunch. After lunch we took some time to visit the hotel’s pack of stray dogs. I remember very clearly, how warm and lazy we were, sitting with the dogs and looking out over the ocean…until , gazing at one of the dogs, wondered, “What if humans could lick their butts?” That gave us the giggles and we headed down to the beach again where two girls about 9 years old, approached us selling shells out of plastic shopping bags. C and I generously bought one or two (I say generously because there were plenty on the beach for free) and tried chatting with the girls for a little while. We swam a little more and headed back to our pension.
It wasn’t an eventful day, but it’s a day I will never forget. A day with a good friend, spent relaxing, laughing and meeting new people. A day completely and totally without stress. A very rare day.
I read this post at just the right moment.
This was one of those days with Kahlilah. She was cranky all day for apprarently no reason, and all I’ve been thinking about was how precious it would be to have just a little bit of time for me. Remember, me? This post reminded me that “me”–the non-mom–is still in there. Maybe it’ll be a few years before I can steal away to have such a care-free trip as we did TEN (gasp) years ago, but I’ll get there. I’m sure I’ll slowly be able to take back a few minutes here and there for me, my interests, my passions. It won’t be the same, I’m sure, but I strongly believe that we have some more days like the one you described ahead of us! And, believe me, as soon as I know where we’re headed in 2011, you better believe I’ll be calling you and telling you to start planning some time to come explore with me!
P.S. Although I LOVE that you have such a detailed memory of our trips together, since god knows I don’t remember all those details, do you HAVE to remember all the stupid questions I pose? 😉
Your questions were/are part of what makes the trips so fun (and memorable)! And the only reason I can remember the details are the many photos and journal entries!
I’m feeling such wanderlust lately. I guess that’s why I chose to write that today. I think I’ll be recounting more of our adventures in future posts (and looking forward to 2011!)