Escape the City with Cagayan Province! | Throwback Travel 002

The toxicity of every day's hustle and bustle in the city, from its people to the pollution, makes me wonder, "Is province really better than the city?" How about you? What's your take on this? Let me hear!

𝐴 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

Annually, our whole family has its tradition to commemorate Holy Week in our province: the Cagayan Valley.

And, in Filipino terms, the 'whole family' means a vacation with grandparents, parents, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters! It's crazy to think, I know! We're just like that, hehe. Note: My grandparents from my mother's side have 25 grandchildren, wews!

Sadly. I can't share with you our whole family coz they don't want to, hehe. But, for our next family gathering, I'll try to get their permission again!

Anyway, to get to Cagayan province, we travel using a van owned by my aunt living in Taguig. But remember, I'm from Laguna. So my mom and siblings (my dad is an OFW, so he can't come) commute for 6-7 hours all the way to Taguig City, where we'll meet the whole fam!

After getting to Taguig City, we get things ready in the evening, usually at 10 PM, to load the bags on the cars. And at 11 PM or midnight, the true adventure begins! It usually takes us at least 12 hours to get to Cagayan!

As seen in these pictures, we travel at night so we can arrive in the morning. Ahh, the struggle! Imagine the 12 hours of sitting in a full-packed van, boredom will strike, and your bottom will hurt from sitting all day, wth T^T.

But, who cares, right? All those pains are worth it coz when you wake up in the morning, this fantastic view will welcome you! A lovely blue sea with a special delivery of Vitamin D! (I really love this shot of mine. It's rare for me to get photos like this, lol. I'm terrible at photography :<)

Every time the sunlight passes through the window's van and strikes directly through my soul, my mood is enlightened! Not only because of its calming view, but it also reminds me that a few more hours to go, and we'll be there! Yey! All the suffering must end, lol.

Filipinos are divinely influenced by the Spaniards: Christianity, to be specific. For 333 years of Spanish occupation, it would be a miracle if the Filipinos remained Filipinos. So, the Philippines has become a Christian country, so it's no doubt that religious practices here are dominant.

I mentioned that we gather here in our province to commemorate Holy Week. A procession is being done to commemorate the Holy Week where priests, other members of the church, and any people who want to participate will circle the town. And those who are not able to walk with the procession will be waiting outside of their houses while candles and crosses with candles are lighted.

It's amazing that cultures like this have been thriving with our people and passed through generations! Culture and religion are indeed a few of the mesmerizing topics that catch the interest of many! It's no wonder that many professionals are eager to learn and study every aspect of these.

As a dancer wannabe, I'm so proud of my cousin, who got offered a scholarship because they won this dance battle! All the hard work and sleepless nights paid off! I'm so sorry, we all look miserable here T^T I think the competition ended at midnight.

When the dance battle was done, and judges were tallying the scores, some "actors" appeared! In my mind, I am thinking that I have to watch TV more often, coz I don' know them!

But, as a teenager with a childish mind at that time, I took my time shouting and offering my hand, lol. Every time I remember that I did that, I wanna shrink along with quicksand! 🤣

As I stated in part 1, I'm starting this blog series of mine: Throwback Travel because I can't travel far areas as of now because my parents won't allow me due to the massive COVID-19 cases here in our country 😭

So, I'll be uploading a lot of travel blogs but bear with me as I upload them gradually because online classes have started kicking in. 😉 And as always, have a great day, everyone!