It is my last day in my birth place, Bacolod City, and I am not anxious to leave at all. I feel my time here has just begun and now it is ending … for now. Many people back in Toronto believe that I’ve been away a long time but 3 months isn’t very long when you are having fun. The adventure has to start somewhere and this is just the beginning of the journey.
- Sipalay, Negros Occidental
When I first arrived I did not know what to expect nor did I know what I was going to do. So whenever any one had asked ‘when’ or ‘where’ I was headed, I had no answers for them because all I knew is that I go back to Toronto, Canada on June 20th, 2010 from Shanghai, China. I booked my flight to Manila the night before and the same for Bacolod City. Now I have booked my flight for Manila yesterday and will be leaving tonight at 8:25pm. It seems things have been moving faster than I anticipated but I learned to let the wind blow and let my heart follow.
The first few weeks I was here I thought things moved so slowly here but I realized I was so used to things moving so quickly that I didn’t know how to keep my mind still. Sometimes when life is fast-paced you don’t really have time to think or appreciate your days. Consumed in my 9 to 5 or more like 7 to 6 Mondays to Friday, I never really had time for myself and being in a place where things are slower I have become more aware of my surroundings and realized how beautiful life is. I used to dread waking up in the morning but now I wake up refreshed at 6am because there is so much beauty to experience that I just don’t want to miss out on living.
As I gaze through my friends photos on Facebook of their 1 week vacations costing thousands of dollars and compare my 3 month mini-retirement which probably cost about the same, I would always choose the latter. I don’t believe going away for a week is an actual vacation for when you get back to work, your workload just piles up and once again you become stressed out and overworked. With companies limiting the number of employees, most likely the amount of time you were away equates to the amount of work you have missed therefore your ‘vacation’ is just a distant memory which you want to relive. I say why make it a distant memory when you can decide to live that life daily. That is our current goal – to live life to the fullest!
Though this chapter is ending, a brighter chapter is ahead.
- Rainbow in Sipalay, Negros Occidental
For more pictures you can view them in my FaceBook Album.
- Liza Mae
