I arrived from Batanes yesterday morning and headed straight to Papa’s 60th birthday lunch at Mall of Asia, Manila. Extremely tired, I fell asleep for a few minutes on the couch of Viking’s Buffet. After that, I went to my sister’s condo for a quick bath before being driven to Alabang to attend a wedding. I got lipstick smears on my dress from attempting to do my makeup in a moving car.
Today I realized I have six days left to complete my online Travel Journalism course. I haven’t finished blogging about my recent Camariñes Norte and Boracay trips. I haven’t planned for my family’s upcoming Singapore trip, where I volunteered to be the organizer. I also haven’t fixed the program for my sister’s baby shower next week.
Last year I prayed hard for a busy work schedule that’s filled with many travels in between. I got what I wanted. Sometimes I feel like I’m running around like a headless chicken.
But I am grateful.
Yesterday morning I visited a small café outside the airport of Basco, Batanes, where I shared a table with two young women who were also killing time before their flight. When we started talking about our careers and they found out I’m a writer, one of them asked, “Do you have a blog?”
I told her about KateWasHere.com and she said, “Wait, that’s you? I read your blog!”
Except for people within my six degrees of separation, I rarely meet my blog readers in the flesh. What an exciting moment! We took photos before they left for their flight.
As I prepare to tackle my growing to-do list, let me first wallow in the aftershocks of visiting Batanes, a place I’ve always dreamt of visiting since the ’90s—that and the little surprises life gives you when you open your heart and soul to the world.
And…
Let me catch my breath.