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slightly astray

an honest look at life on the road

Island life

Yesterday was an off day. The morning started off on a stupid argument. It doesn’t matter what caused it, but all you need to know is that I was seriously PMS’ing and D was seriously hungry/under-caffeinated, so that’s never a good combination. We managed to make it out the door and into the seats at one of our favorite cafes, before we decided that we didn’t want to be in each others’ company.

So I walked away, and found an empty beach chair and curled up with my thoughts. I watched the row of little white boats gently floating atop the turquoise sea. A little bit later, D found me after he’s finished up his meal.

“Hey, this is crazy,” he said, handing me his leftover iced coffee. “Look, we’re in paradise.”

boracay beach chair

It’s true. Boracay is the picture of paradise (well, I may have a few disputes, but that is another post for another time), and we’re living in it. I’ve always dreamed of living the island girl life, simple and uncomplicated and surrounded by blue. The island is my idea of the ultimate paradise. Not only is it beautiful, but I imagine that it’s a place where your worries are washed away with each gentle wave as it recedes back into the ocean, where you are free to be yourself, and where stuff like clothes and gadgets and needing to “keep up” just don’t matter. I imagine that the island is where life is pure.

Our first day in Boracay, we ate dinner on the beach with our toes tucked in the sand. The setting sun painted the entire sky a fiery orange. I felt so happy I could cry. I get to call this island home for the next month! Is this really real life?! Like, we did it (!!). This is the kind of place that people dream of visiting and here we are, living it!

So, what’s island life like? Island life is stepping out the door and having this as your front yard:

beach during dusk

Island life is living in two bikinis and one dress because those are the only items of clothing you need for pretty much all occassions. It’s showering four times a day because you’ve either been swimming or your feet are covered in sand or you’re drenched in head-to-toe sweat anytime you go out or cook. It’s using your freezer as the trash because leaving any food scraps out will attract all sorts of bugs. Island life is having the ocean as your playground and dining with your feet in the sand and being treated to the most incredible sunsets.

But ultimately, island life is still the same as any other life. We still do all the normal things we would do anywhere. We cook, we wash clothes, we clean house. We go shopping for groceries, though that’s now a long hot walk to the local wet market and instead of to an air-conned grocery store. We still spend way too many hours with our eyes on our laptop screens. D works and I write and we both curse at the flakey connection. We watch movies and snuggle and are so in sync that it’s crazy. And then we fight and yell and get so angry that we can’t stand to be near each other, the difference now is that there’s the entire ocean to escape to. Some days, we spend the afternoon on the beach, alternatively swimming and lounging on sun chairs. And some days we spend the entire day inside the dank apartment, preferring to be on our laptops and watching mindless TV, oblivious to the sun rising and setting.

We talk about future plans and feel excited and scared and uncertain. We still lay in bed at night, our heads clouded with individual worries. D’s phone still beeps with too many messages and my brain still buzzes with too many unwritten words. Island life, as it is, is just life as usual.

And paradise, maybe, is simply wherever you are happy and loved.

Where is your paradise?

Linking up with Travel Tuesday.

Comments

  1. Oh goodness gracious, paradise indeed!

    I’m not sure where my paradise is— we’re currently traveling in Southern Utah, and all the weird rock formations make my heart flutter a little :)

  2. What a wonderful and honest post, Anna! Firstly, the pics are just so picturesque and so very beautiful, wow. I love how you talk about the point that there is no place that is perfect, no matter how much we dream that there must be a place that is! Sometimes my paradise is somewhere incredibly beautiful, and sometimes I find Paradise in the everyday; cooking a delicious meal with Carlos, market hopping with friends, at an amazing exhibition etc. Have a great day :)

  3. Island life sounds pretty wonderful but your right, it is still life and daily things still go on. When I moved abroad I felt like my family and friends had this idea that I was on some kind of permanent vacation, which is so not the case. But it is always nice having beautiful beaches to spend your free time on!

    • Thanks Polly :). Being able to live on an island is still my dream, but only because I love the remoteness and the water! D is a city boy however. If you ever get the opportunity to go live on an island, if only for a month, try it!

    • At first, I felt like everyday not spent at the beach and watching the sun set was wasting it, but after a while, we just went on to live as normal, even if it means we just want to watch TV all day!

  6. HI Anna, Boracay is no longer the same paradise as when I was still living in the Philippines (I left in 1990). It has sadly become so commercialized and overbuilt, but I’m has some of its charm and I’m still drawn to it. I hope you enjoy your month-stay. You’re right, island life is like a usual life. For me, paradise is anywhere my husband and I feel at home and enjoying and living the moment.

    • Oh wow! I can’t even imagine what Boracay was like in 1990 and before. It must have been unspoiled paradise!! It’s still nice now, but I do definitely have some thoughts which I’ll save to complain about later ;). I agree that paradise is wherever we’re happy!

  7. Your pictures make me want to pack up my stuff and move, if not to an island, at least to a beach area. I don’t say that lightly, my husband and I continually talk about moving to a beautiful beach area and living a quiet and full life. MORE beach pictures plllllease. xo

    • Don’t worry, there will be more! My ideal life is one that is by the water too. Being by a beach just makes me happy and I imagine that life is simple but full too. I hope you guys get to do that someday!!

  8. It does look fabulous! But I agree and definitely live by the ol’ mantra, “whereever you go, there you are”. You might be in Paris, Tokyo, Miami, Rome, but even in the most romantic of places, life still is life and not some ever-lasting vacation.

    • Exactly!! I remember you wrote a post a while back with the title, and it’s so true! Normal life happens in all places and it’s what we make of it that determines our personal paradise!

  9. If ordinary life can happen in extraordinary places like this, I’m sold! That place it’s definitely paradise!

    • I think there are pros and cons to living anywhere, but my ideal is definitely the island (or at least by a beach)! This place is not a bad place at all to live ordinary life!!

  10. I wish we lived near a beach, maybe someday we can make it happen and I will be able to soak in the island life, even if just on random days!

  11. Wow, that last photo is absolutely amazing. I love your honesty here – i think a lot of people have similar ideas to what living in Paris is like. But like you said, you still have the “normal” things to do – like laundry, cooking, cleaning, and even the need to just unwind and watch TV/movies.

    This post does make me miss the ocean – there is something so soothing and relaxing that comes from being on the beach. Maybe it’s the sound of the waves, or just the immensity of the ocean that makes worries seem so small. Enjoy the extraordinary and ordinary in Boracay!

    • Thanks Sara! I have to admit that being here is pretty awesome, and if I could just live life here, I’d totally take it! There’s something about being near the ocean that I love too. But real life does still go on. And yep, believe it or not, there are days we don’t even go see the ocean despite living 50 feet away (even though when we first got here, I swore that I was going to go swim everyday or at least watch the sunset everyday!).

  12. OH how blessed you are! My husband and I were living in Manila for a few months for his job and we were lucky enough to visit this beautiful island of Boracay for a few days! We loved it! How awesome that you are getting to live there for a little bit! :) Although life is still life that is one incredible view to escape to! :) Stoping by from the Travel Tuesday link up!

    • Ohhh that’s so cool that you guys lived in Manila! We only get 30 days in the Philippines and we were wondering if we should split that between Manila and Boracay, but then we just decided to spent it all at the beach. Next time I definitely want to see the city. I heard Manila is really really cool!

      • It has some cool things BUT you guys definitely made the right decision to stay in Boracay the whole time!!! :)

  13. Wow, gorgeous, so gorgeous! Such beautiful beaches and water! There’s an old DMB lyric that reads “It’s not where but who you’re with that really matters”… and I find that to ring true. A beautiful location definitely doesn’t hurt… but good company is key :)

    • I completely agree with those lyrics! You can be at the most beautiful place on earth and be lonely, or you can be in the middle of nowhere with your love and be living a full life! But Boracay is beautiful and I wouldn’t mind living here at all!

  14. What a great post. It’s so true that wherever you go, life still goes with you. I think to outsiders, moving abroad can look like the ultimate escape but just because you move away doesn’t mean you aren’t faced with many of the same problems/worries/etc as you are back home. Although I have to say island life does look quite appealing, haha!

    • Yes exactly! Living abroad may be an escape from the normal 9-5 life, but we do have a whole different set of things to worry/think about! But if I could do that on an island, I would. :) Too bad the bf is a city boy!

  16. What a stunning sunset! Love your photos. And everything you said is SO true. Life happens wherever you are…paradise or no. My idea of paradise is definitely somewhere in Italy. Not sure I’ve been to the specific spot yet, but it’s definitely in that country. I’ve never felt more at peace than when I’ve been in that country. Here’s to loving all the moments…good and bad…of the rest of your island adventure!

    • Thanks Andrea! And ooh Italy!! I haven’t been there yet, but very soon, I hope! It’s so great to know how much you love it! I imagine Italy as being wildly romantic, charming, and delicious. :)

  17. Island life doesn’t seem too shabby at all. Shame about having to wash the clothes though… Guess you’ve just smashed that fairy tale that the travel life is all glamour and sparkles!

  18. Think seems like pure bliss…. amazing! Growing up basically on the beach has spoiled me. I don’t think I’ll ever truly be able to live inland. (Of course I am right now, but this is temporary). I love that you’ve found a special place with your special person and that you’re enjoying living the simple life right now. Only needing two bikinis and one dress… that’s the life!

    • Yeah! I love not having to think about what to wear (though seeing how I only have like 5 outfits total, it’s not an issue anyway, haha). I didn’t know you grew up on the beach! Where did you grew up?

  19. Lovely! This is exactly how I felt when we were in Koh Lanta – a place that I miss dearly. Can’t wait to read more about Boracay.

    • I’ve heard really good things about Koh Lanta, though I haven’t been. But Koh Chang is still my favorite beachy place as of yet! I can’t wait to share more about Boracay too!

  20. Very well said Anna, it reminds me of the movie ‘The Descendants’ where Matt says ‘My friends on the mainland think just because I live in Hawaii, I live
    in paradise. Like a permanent vacation. We’re all just out here sipping
    Mai Tais, shaking our hips, and catching waves. Are they insane?’ – life is life, it has it’s ups and downs, whether you are in paradise or not

    • Wow, I’m impressed you know that quote by heart, haha! But definitely, life is just life, no matter where you are… but I gotta admit that living life by the beach is pretty awesome!

      • Haha I don’t know it by heart, I remembered the gist of it then googled it. I agree that living by the beach is awesome (I also do). I think living somewhere beautiful that inspires you enrichs your life but it doesn’t solve all your problems

  21. The way you described the waves washing away your worries: perfect. Enjoy the warmth of island life; it may be “life as normal” in a lot of ways, but you get to “beach out” everyday now! :) Have a wonderful time!

    • Thanks so much Christy! We’re definitely enjoying it! It’s so funny because when we first got here, I swore I was going to go to the beach everyday, since it’s literally just out the door. But we quickly learned that even that loses its novelty, haha! But we’re still loving just being here and having it right outside!

  22. I know exactly what you mean about island life just being regular life…when I was living abroad people would always say things like “how exciting that must be!” And of course sometimes it was. But some days were just spent going to work, doing laundry, going to the bank and trying to take groceries home on foot in pouring rain. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows just because you’re out of your home country!

    • Yes exactly! I find that we spend soooo much more time doing more of the normal stuff, than the cool exciting stuff! My instagram feed may be full of pretty pictures, but that’s because who would care about pictures of my laundry?! Lol!

  23. Looks fantastic!!! I could take in those views all day!! But, you are right about life being life. Every time our family travels somewhere we love, we contemplate moving. Then reality sets in. It wouldn’t be paradise if we were working, cleaning and cooking. That is why is is fun to treat home like a vacation, to appreciate it like we do our travel destinations.

    • I love the idea of treating your home like a vacation! Home is whatever you make of it, so if you love it and are happy, then that’s your paradise. :) You guys are definitely doing it right!

  24. This sounds like the best thing ever!! I can’t believe walking out really looks like that—I’ve never lived that close to a beach, even when traveling! But I completely understand how things can be the same. It’s always a harsh reality of long-term travel. You still have to do the normal maintenance stuff that you’d have to do at home… Sigh.

    • Yeah! I can’t believe that’s just in front of our apartment building too… it’s seriously unreal! But yeah, being here, I realized how different long term travel is from being on vacation. For one, we’re too cheap to do any of the fun activities. And we spend more time doing the normal stuff than enjoying the beach, haha!