We spent a few weeks on the incredible island of Siargao, in the Philippines. This island will spoil you with its beaches, its waves, its fresh food and its beautiful people. At risk of causing mass tourism, as this island is already becoming a huge hit on social media. Ella wanted to write a bit about island life, and its innate simplicity.
Whilst editing my photos of the Philippines, I began to reminisce about the simplicity of island life. Many of us live in towns, or big cities, surrounded by things and people and more things. It’s easy to believe that its all necessary, that the simplicity of the island (or country) life is far from reach. But I really believe it is all inside of us, we’re all our own island in some respect – resourceful, natural, and peaceful. There’s something about the island vibe that has always caught me, for years I’ve been visiting the Greek islands every summer, and I never ever wanted to leave. The tranquility, the sense of township, and the way that the locals learn to live off of the land.
We spent a month in the Philippines, exploring the three islands of Palawan, Siargao and Cebu – it wasn’t enough, we could’ve stayed for so much longer – we spent most of this time in a small town called Pacifico, Siargao Island. At one point, sitting on the deck of our beach hut on Pacifico Beach, watching the waves, sipping mango shakes, playing cards, and generally feeling the island vibe – we made the conscious decision to leave. We knew we had to pack up our bike and speed away, otherwise we would be there forever. The island had captured us – we’d rented a bike, and then rented it for longer, and we’d done the same with the hut. We we enamoured with this small town we’d stumbled upon, it was as if we’d been pulled there but the island, and we were damned if we were leaving.
If you’re like us, and love being away from it all, you will easily understand why the surf expats who arrived in the 90s, set up shop and stayed forever after. The island of Siargao is a genuine paradise. The island has only started proper development in the past years – before that it was a kind of surf haven, for those who knew. But luckily it has retained this knowing vibe, its the kind of place that makes you feel as though they’ve been waiting for you to arrive, it knew you were coming and it knows you’re going to stay.
We would spend our days sleeping a lot, surfing a little, riding around on our bright orange bike, and wandering through forests of literally millions of palm trees. In the evenings we would buy a fish from the market, BBQ it, play with the local kids and play cards beneath the sunset. I get chills thinking about how simple life can be, and how attainable it all is if you set your mindset to the island way.
Islands, I love you. x
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