I fell in love with the hashtag my dear friend, Cherry, gave me when I was traveling alone in Singapore last August which was #KimmyTakes and I guess I’ve been stuck with it, if ever I’m traveling alone (plus I added #monopodgoals too!) It’s my second solo trip this year and I’m questioning myself if either I’m the type of person that people liked to ditch or just insane (well both).
Supposedly, I’m going with my friends, but last minute changes happened along the way, so this time, I’m taking myself to Boracay, Philippines which according to my research is more fun when you have your family or friends with you. Trust me, it does (plus you can save some expenses too! Haha).
With my four days, three nights trip. I’ve fancied my way through the beaches of Station 1, Station 2 and a little bit of Station 3 (I have a low stamina because I walked haha). I’ve learned some tips along the way. My trip isn’t your typical let-us-have-fun-trip and adrenaline-pumping-ride (I’m saving that when I will come back in Boracay my sister). Rather, it’s more on unwinding from stress (the-solo-way).
These are just few of the takeaways that I have for this soulful trip.
1. Pick a date. I already had my eye on which date I will plot to go to Boracay last summer, so it was easier for me to play with promo rates from different airlines.
2. Pick a stop. You have two options to get to Boracay. One, is you take the Kalibo route which is approximately 2 hours away from Caticlan and two, is you take the Caticlan route which is approximately 15 minutes to Boracay Island. I was playing with promo rates and I got my one-way (you’ll know soon!) ticket from Cebu to Kalibo for just 600php (c/o Cebu Pacific). Imagine the price that I saved! A usual one-way ticket from Cebu to Kalibo will cost you around 1,500php and from Cebu to Caticlan (a nearer route) one-way ticket will cost you around 3,000php. It will continue to go higher if you delay your booking.
3. Plan your accommodations. It was less hassle for my part because my parents are members of Club Astoria, so I basically got my accoms for free! I just realized that if my accoms weren’t free, then Boracay is quite expensive if you want to stay at a better hotel if that’s your goal. But if it’s entirely a different goal then there are budget hotels in the Island as well.
4. And that’s it.
5. I’m kidding! But I basically ended with number three plus I got ditched so I immediately researched for ways to get from Kalibo to Caticlan safely since my flight happens to be at night.
6. Kalibo-Caticlan getaway. Cebu Pacific offers a one-way ticket going to Caticlan, plus the terminal fee and environmental fee with a Boat Ride to Boracay Island and a door-to-door transportation to the hotel of your choice. I grabbed the chance and bought it for 650php and that saved me for that night (since I have no energy to come up with life-saving techniques aka find a lower price because I arrived 8pm! plus I wasn’t in the mood to do anymore thinking that night).
7. Bring #ootds. Since, Boracay is literally lovely! You can never go wrong in taking #ootd shots even when you’re going solo, you can ask anyone to take photos of you.
My only decent full body photo courtesy of some random person
My only decent full body photo courtesy of some random person8. Bring your monopod/tripod. Since you’re traveling solo, that also means less decent pictures. So let’s compromise and bring some monopod/tripod for your phone or camera. It will do the trick (plus some lovely photos, too!)
9. Plan and unplan. I planned on which restaurants to go to, but I ended up diverting away from my plan. It’s good to have a back-up plan though if ever you’ll fail on the diverted plan.
10. Bring cash. Boracay Island is not entirely cheap. I went inside Starbucks and the prices increased from what I am used to. A belgian waffle costs 95php in Cebu, costs 105php in Boracay. Same goes to some restaurants (if you really like restaurant exploring), they are quite expensive actually. Bring cash as well for souvenirs!
11. Have fun and try new things. Even though I was traveling alone, I did have fun — by my definition of fun that means I go out at night for some chill music sessions by the beach and have morning and afternoon strolls (plus food trips in between). It’s quite expensive and kind of sad to do water sports alone, so I made a pass (and will do it with my sister soon or calling out my friends or, or my soon to be best…love lol, not happening!).
12. You can survive. You really can if you also think you can then you can (get me? Haha!
It’s never a dull moment even if you try going to some place you never knew how to navigate and alone. You’ll get this feeling of euphoria and you can’t get it out from your system and later you’ll eventually crave for it once more. People usually call me out for doing such crazy scheme like traveling alone!, but I, in turn, brushed it off and just think of it as one for the books! You know I’m a hopeless romantic (lol), so I try to think of it as a fun story to tell and brag my future love about (because he found me late –that if late has a standard!).
On the other note, I dedicate this post to Sir Phil and Charles who won the 2nd Visayas Universities Debate Championship-BP (I guess ditching Boracay has its perks 😎) Congratulations guys!
Valete!
Kimmy Journals 