I could feel it spreading through me like a heat rash — my stomach twisted, my throat tightened, and my pulse quickened. I tried my usual coping mechanisms of deep breaths, visualization, and repeated mantras. I was in a battle with my own mind — logic was trying to prevail, but panic was winning by a…

This post marks the final week in this particular chapter of my travels. After five months and four countries, I am headed back to New York for some much-needed family and friend time, as well a bit of work and health business to take care of. At the moment I’m dying to write a big, verbose…

I left Banaue and Batad feeling physically exhausted after three days of intense trekking through the Cordillera rice terraces. But as I boarded the public Jeepney that would take me three hours to Bontoc where I would transfer for another three-hour public Jeepney to Sagada, all for less than five dollars, I was filled with excitement…

On the morning of my third day in the Cordilleras, I jolted awake and rolled over to look out the window. Had I dreamed how beautiful it was? The view that answered me back assured me it was very much reality. Despite, or perhaps even partly because of, the total isolation from the outside world, I…

Getting to Batad is not for the faint-hearted. This remote Filipino village, famed for having arguably the most beautiful rice terraces in the world, is not accessible by motorized vehicle. First, you get to Banaue, a remove village in Northern Luzon, accessible by bus from Manila. Then, you set out towards Batad, and go as far…