don't swim past the moon: The past thirteen days have felt so long, but in reality it is such a short part of my journey. Maybe in these thirteen days I've already needed to feel some lows, so that I am able to feel (and appreciate) the highs. Somehow I needed to be reminded of how much emotion an experience like this can uncover. How every second, you feel something. Discomfort. Giddiness. Amazement. Disbelief. Disappointment attached to expectation. LOVE. An emotional connected to a place, or the lack thereof. The familiarity that sometimes lies within unfamiliarity. In these thirteen days I've already had some downs, shed some tears, crawled under the covers to find some comfort. But despite that, also in these thirteen days I've done some kick ass things. I've floated down the Loboc river after dark, the ride lit by fireflies, lightning and moonlight. I've had the hands of a traditional witch healer push and pull on my muscles and bones. I've slept in bunk beds next to hundreds of people as I made my way between islands on an overnight ferry. I've splashed around the ocean even though I couldn't go very far in because of sea urchins. And I've done it all alongside my best friend. In thirteen days I've grown closer to her. Even though we've had more downs than ups so far, we've laughed so hard, hugged very often, and ultimately (country and shitty things aside) have had a great time together. Thirteen days has felt like a lifetime, but it IS my lifetime. The journey has begun. The ups. The downs. The sticky skin and the ant filled backpack. The big smiles and the salty hair. I've fallen more in love with my best friend, and if that's that what these thirteen ultimately mean, I'd do them over a thousand times more. #gratitude #love #moregratitude