Leah’s Journey to Balabac and Beyond in the Philippines
Leah chilling in the Philippines - photo credit Leah Arao
Ep 160 w/ Leah Arao - Exploring Filipino Heritage and Travel Experiences: Leah’s Journey to Balabac and Beyond in the Philippines
My 160th guest episode on the Winging It Travel Podcast is with Leah Arao from the Ticket 2 Anywhere Podcast and a travel creator with LAinFlight.
Leah’s heritage is Filipino, and in honor of American-Filipino month, we deep-dived into the Philippines to talk about the best places for you to see and all the tips and tricks needed to travel there.
Leah’s travel journey has been fascinating. She grew up in LA with Filipino parents and initially rejected a chance to travel to Argentina (more on that later) before traveling the world as a digital nomad.
I recently met Leah at TravelCon, where we finally got to sit down and talk about travel, podcasting, content creation, and everything else that comes with these types of creative projects.
Leah’s podcast is one of the few travel podcasts I listen to. I find her and her co-host, Trizzy, charming. Be sure to give them a listen!
Our episode is a fun listen as it is a couple of friends catching up and talking about a place we both are fascinated with the Philippines.
Give the episode a listen below.
Let’s dive into some topics.
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No, really. You should book those flights to the Philippines like Leah! If you scan the QR code below or click the QR, a link will open a new tab on Skyscanner!
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Probably getting scammed in Bangkok
Balabac is the next big destination.
What do you think of when visiting the Philippines? Coron? El Nido? Palawan? Manilla? Boracay?
Those would be acceptable when answering that question, but have you heard of Balabac?
Nope, nor have I until Leah shared it on the podcast episode.
It is situated to the southwest of Palawan and only accessible by boat.
This area had been closed to tourists due to terrorist activity, but now, with tour groups, it is accessible, and the photos look stunning!
The local population is majority Muslim, so modest clothing is expected. However, once you get there, this won’t be a problem whatsoever, as you are welcomed warmly by the locals, and the scenes are out of this world.
Leah thinks this is what Thailand would have been like over thirty years ago, and she can’t believe what she sees.
A major hotel corporation recently bought some land to build a hotel there, so the government and travel businesses see massive opportunities.
The downside, however, is that now is the time to visit to avoid the inevitable crowds in a few years.
Leah describes Balabac as paradise. When walking on the mainland or riding on the boat, the beaches are untouched, the sand is squeaky clean, the waters are clear, and the weather is out of this world.
I may have to add this to the list on my mission to find paradise.
Here is a snippet below.
Never ditch your travel plans in your early 20s for a partner.
When Leah was in college, she had the opportunity to go on a semester exchange to Argentina, and she even received an accepted offer from the university in Buenas Aires.
What did she do? She ignored the email.
What happened? She declined because she didn’t want to be away from her boyfriend for a few months, especially as it was someone she was going to ‘marry’.
Did she marry him? No.
Did she regret her decision? Yes.
How did she rectify this decision?
Years later, Leah went back to South America and travelled around there for a year, including a stint in Argentina.
I love this story as it teaches us some valuable lessons.
In your twenties, this is a time to experiment and try new things, not to get too bogged down in the heavy stuff that will inevitably come in your thirties and forties.
Try that amazing working visa in Australia, travel to South America for six months, trek for months on end in Nepal, or work in various parts of Europe if you have an EU passport. There are so many options.
Sometimes I have not taken advantage of my twenties, even though I have lived in four countries and traveled to many places.
This is the time of your life!
You have to get out there! Scrap that crappy teaching job in your home country and get out there to see the world.
But, if you have not taken advantage in your twenties, then no dramas; just take a leaf out of Leah’s book to fulfill her travel dreams years later, and you won’t regret that!
Oh yeah, Leah didn’t end up marrying that guy, so a lesson learned!
The travel creator world is tough work.
Leah and Trizzy released an episode on the trials and tribulations of the travel content creator world and how tough it can be.
This is the episode I needed, big time!
The hours we travel podcasters put into our podcasts are huge; most of the time, we are not compensated.
Sometimes, it gets you down despite decent listening figures, and there is no recoil for the time and effort put in with any fruits such as an income, but I know it will come if we keep going.
Their episode highlights what it takes to create content and provides some strategies for doing so weekly.
What I loved about their advice was their strong opinion on taking a break.
It can seem like we are on our phones, laptops, or cameras every day of the week, but it is key that we take a break from that.
We need to reset, give the eyes a break, and enjoy not having the dopamine hit every two minutes.
Going into 2025, I will be taking this advice seriously as I look to become more strategic with my content, and I can not wait for that time to come.
However, I have a big trip coming up and I need to capture as much content as possible, I just hope it doesn’t interfere with my trip but if it does, I will follow Leah’s and Trizzy’s advice.
Check out the episode here.
Leah checking out the amazing beaches in the Philippines - photo credit Leah Arao
Check out my latest Roaming with Hammo YouTube episode about my scenic flight over Whistler.
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