traveling alone

i thought i'd write a blog in response to a recent comment about traveling alone in northern luzon because, well, i like talking about it. is it safe to travel alone in the philippines? i don't know. i suppose it's always safer to have someone with you, but sometimes more fun to be alone. people talk to you when you're alone in a way they don't when you are with someone; how are they supposed to open up the conversation with, "Where is your companion?" if your companion is sitting right next to you? in general, my opinion about traveling alone, specifically in northern luzon, is this:

traveling alone is a little annoying because, come dusk, you need to be in well-populated areas or inside. it's never a good idea, almost anywhere in the world, to go trampsing aroudn alone a night (particularly if you are a woman). that said, i more or less prefer traveling alone because you get a chance to do exactly what you want to in those daylight hours (and afterwards, if you are so inclined). also, if you are in any way gregarious, you wont be alone long in luzon. never did i feel like i needed someone to talk to, because as soon as i even looked a little lonely, someone came over and started talking to me. and everyone was so helpful! older men would constantly tell me to watch out for suspicious characters, not to leave my things lying about (not that i would), and to be careful at night, just like your grandparents or parents would. you meet lots of young people who want to ask you questions about where you are from, etc., which can get annoying if it's the 17th time you've answered those questions that day, but is still okay the first - 16th times.

perhaps i should end my travelogue here with an anecdote about my almost-last day in the philippines. from vigan i had to head down to manila to catch my flight back to taipei. this is an easy trip along a nice, flat, scenic national highway. you could get off anywhere and find something interesting to do or something pretty to look at. i had seen some beach resorts on my way up to vigan, and expressed interest to a nice person on the bus who was already talking to me (i think i mentioned him before; a filipino-american back home for the first time in years). he told me that you could go to any number of these resorts along the way, no problem, not expensive. so on the way back to manila i hopped off the bus at san fernando, took a jeepney up the highway to somewhere between san fernando and san juan, and picked a beach resort.

now, they really arent resorts per se. the ones i saw were more dingy than the word 'resort' calls to mind to americans. this, for me was perfect of course, because it still only cost a few dollars US a night. in any case, i got a dorm bed, threw my stuff down, and went out to the beach to walk around. you can see lots of pictures of this on my photos website.

at night, i went to have some dinner up the road at the Surfers' Resort. basically, it's a small place where two girls my age make food for surfers - filipino and foreign. i was just sitting there, reading my book after dinner, when a filipino guy started talking to me. similar things would happen anywhere if you were alone, a girl, and not ridiculously ugly or mean-looking. he was going dancing, and wanted me to come. "no thanks," i said, because, well, i didnt want to go. i had a bus to catch the next morning and didnt fancy being hung over. besides, ive sort of taken an oath not to get too drunk anymore, or at least not for the next year. causes too many problems...

in any case, when i said no thanks, instead of walking sheepishly away, this guy introduced me to his friends, and went dancing like it was no big deal at all. this was nice, as i now i had multiple people to talk to, negating the need to keep a particular conversation going with one, which is always stressful. they were drinking something they called 'gin', which was not, but was close enough. after a few drinks passed round the circle, they invited me to sing kareoke down at the beach. usually this another thing i'd say no to, but i was having a good time, so i figured 'what the hell.' i walked down there with them, and instead of anything remotely sordid (which i half expected myself to have to figure my way out of) i found cheap beer, sugarcane wine, and a raucious good time. i, bethany, sang "The Joker" and "Margarittaville" in front of countless other people, met lots of people and had a fabulous time. yeah, 'so there' to everyone who thinks it's antisocial to travel alone. quite the opposite.

as to safe, well, obviously that whole situation could have turned out differently - desperately, awfully, terribly so. i suppose it's a judgment call that you make all the time in life, whether you're at home or abroad. really, that's the crux of it. you can either go out on a limb from time to time, creating the possibility for both exceedingly good and exceedingly bad things to happen, or spend your life so worried about what could happen to do anything at all.