02 December 2019. When I embarked on this journey up north, I only had one goal in mind – to escape. Several things were bugging my mind during that time, much as the number of attempts I did in the past to make this possible after immersing myself with a huge deal of Batanes primers being a desolate dream destination of architecture-history-nature mixture, for quite a while now. My whole being was fully invested in this Trip that making it happen was non-negotiable. I needed to be there for whatever cost it would take. Guess I had enough of those bigger-dreams-than-budget moments, especially for this one.
The thrill of waiting persisted for nearly a year with the Flight already written in the books as early as February. My spirit was utterly sky high with each month fading since then. However, all such exhilaration and anticipation almost ended naught. The trip was bound to a massive disaster a week prior – birds singing the wrong tunes in the wrong trees for all the wrong reasons. News broke on a possible super-typhoon hitting the country coinciding with the travel dates, basically beyond control.
I should have known better and acknowledged the red flags but the hardheaded version of myself prevailed over the sane other. Still, I brought those entropic pile of clothes and other travel stuff, eventually leading to a riot of an odyssey, airport edition. An odyssey which took me to twisted and difficult times of running around and hopping between terminals, kissing me feels of vulnerability and hopelessness on those wee hours.
My original flight bound to Batanes was cancelled but with proper mind conditioning and well-managed expectations beforehand, I easily moved forward and accepted this very fact. Well enough, it’s not really a tough fate to guess given Cebu Pacific’s reputation being a bunch of shit as always. I have tons of shitty stories anchored in a broken baggage when it comes to their shitty service for what it’s worth.
Unstably determined to scratch the travel itch, I eventually found a way to snap an Expensive 14k deal with another airline, all for the sake of pushing through with the plan. Neither do I want to return home full of what ifs nor would I allow myself put a five-day vacation leave I dedicated for this date since the start of the year all go down the drain.
So before the sun broke beautifully that day, I already found myself sitting comfortably beside a window overlooking this vastness of whateversphere above probably what I presumed to be the Cordillera mountain range, the Cagayan valley stretch, or the Ilocos northernmost seas. Wherever we were during that moment, the clouds were incredibly pleasant in gold linings softly dancing in pleasurably enchanting ways. And it wasn’t long before the plane landed into that peaceful and sleepy Basco runway, overlooking the viper-filled Mt. Iraya.
Definitely, it was a pretty rough experience just to be there, not to mention expensive, having to fight against the odds on several occasions. Looking back, I knew things could have been better should I deferred the trip and opted for a more favorable date instead. But then weighing on everything that has transpired, maybe, sometimes it also pays to just dive right in the moment, assert some urgency on things, and not wait for those deemed perfect circumstances on doing things one aspire, where everything falls in their proper places, where everything feels good as planned. True enough, the rest of the trip was a mess, but it’s also damn good to have that sense of cutoff from the comforts and predictability of everyday life. Plus, I did get a fair share of worthwhile experiences out of it as well. Even met probably some of the kindest strangers out there.
To be continued..
