As the trip to Siargao wraps up…again…this time for real..we reflect on those magical moments and valuable lessons learned from casual and random conversations with other travelers, and people you meet along the way. The clarity of thought from one girl we met just partying and dancing in the rain summed it all up. She had an incredible talent for baking cakes, but refused to expand her business as she did not want to lose herself in chasing money. I refreshed so much on this trip and hope you will find some important nuggets of info as well from my journey to Siargao!

Today we discuss how travel can improve your quality of life from an educational to a holistic standpoint. We also talk about the benefits of group versus solo travel and which one is right for you. Is it better to just plan a trip and your tours (if any), by yourself, or is it better to book a total itinerary through a tour operator like Contiki or G Adventures. Both have their advantages and disadvantages but ultimately it depends on you and what you’re looking for!

There’s a curse in Siargao where they say that once you travel to Siargao, it sucks you in and you never want to leave. Well, I thought that would never happen to me but…I’M BAAACCKKK!!! Yep, after just a few days I decided to return to Siargao, this time with a buddy of mine named Thailandy who was criss-crossing Thailand and visited Bangkok and Chiang Mai to see the Loy Krathong festival. I was going to go home to help my Dad but even he said to just hang out for longer. So today I introduce you to my buddy Thailandy and we discuss his trip throughout Thailand as well as the benefits of solo versus group travel.

After a week, my stay in Siargao, Philippines is coming to a close. It’s been an eventful week, full of great memories, relaxation, and the continued realization that I don’t like living in big cities or dealing with people every day. When your biggest concern is whether to order a matcha latte or spanish latte, it’s safe to say, that life is going great. Listen in on my closing thoughts before I fly out back to Cebu!

So I just spent a couple of weeks on this amazing island paradise known as Siargao, in the Philippines. You may have heard the term Cloud 9 and believe it or not, it exists and Cloud 9 is actually here in Siargao as it is the name of the famous surfing area. There are plenty of hostels and small boutique villas and hotel along with the normal accoutrement of Bohemian style restaurants. Amazingly, the food at the restaurants is exceptional regardless of whether you’re ordering sushi, or even a shawarma. For me, Siargao is an incredible island just to detox from society, rent a motorbike, and enjoy some lazy days. Listen to my podcast today for my incredible experience on this beautiful island!

There’s a meme floating around the internet where Keanu Reeves says that he won’t argue with people. To be precise (assuming he said it):

“I’m at that stage in my life where I stay out of arguments. Even if you say 1+1=5, you’re right. Have fun.”

It’s a great quote because in life it really is true. The biggest waste of time and energy you can engage in is arguing with people. Let people believe whatever they want. Unless it’s a family member who needs guidance and their belief will harm their health, let people be themselves and figure out stuff for themselves.

I spent far too many years wasting my time trying to convince people or educate them when I thought they were wrong. I’m sure I myself have been wrong about my position in certain instances and rarely did people try to pressure me into changing my position. Today’s podcast discusses letting people just believe whatever they want to so you can focus on yourself!

As empaths we tend to be the target of other people asking us to do stuff for them. I’ve found myself being asked by everyone to do everything, including things they could do on their own. As empaths, people feel way too comfortable asking us for things and favours. Check out today’s episode on how to set boundaries because what you’ll find is people won’t get mad at you for hot helping them, they’ll just do what they should have done to begin with, which is figure it out on their own!

“Friendship” can be a justification for many things. It’s important to not let that be an excuse for putting yourself second. I’ve always had a bad habit of putting everyone else’s needs ahead of mine, especially my friends. As life’s demands stacked up, it became increasingly harder for me to keep fulfilling my imagined obligations to my friends while managing my own life. This problem would rare its ugly head every time friends would want to visit me in LA. I would have to put my life on hold to play host and drive myself nutty juggling my already overflowing schedule. Today’s podcast discusses how to manage your life and friends as things change over time.

As an empath, we have a heightened sense of other people’s character and their emotions. As we all have empath power, even if you don’t define yourself as an empath, we have to respect that we all have a gut instinct. Unfortunately, as we grow up, we often are trained to disregard our instincts. Instead of accounting for the intangible feelings we have around certain people, we revert to the more objective facets of our interactions with them in order of judging a situation. Perhaps we are afraid of hurting their feelings or offending them, but instead of staying away or denying these people from being within our proximity, we often accept them. Whether it’s a business, romantic, or friend relationship, often the result can be disastrous when we ignore our feelings. Check out today’s episode to learn how to follow your gut and acknowledge the gifts you’ve been given.

Once upon a time there was an Indian trader who went to Africa to acquire some local products and animals. In the jungle, he saw many colorful talking parrots. He decided to capture a talking parrot and take him back as a pet.

At home in India, he kept his parrot in a cage, he fed him honey and seeds and treated him very well. When it was time for the man to return to Africa, two years later, he asked his parrot if there was any message he could deliver to his friends in the jungle. The parrot told him to convey to his friends that he was very happy in his cage and to pass on his love.

When the man arrived in Africa, he delivered the message to the other parrots in the jungle. Just as he finished his story, a parrot with tears welling in his eyes fell over dead. The man was very alarmed but he thought the parrot must have been very close to the parrot in the cage and this was probably the reason for his sadness and death.

When the man returned home to India, he told his pet parrot what happened. As he finished his story, the pet parrot’s eyes welled up with tears and he kneeled over dead in his cage. The man was astounded but he figured that his pet died from the grief of hearing the death of his close friend in the jungle. He opened up the cage and tossed the dead bird onto the trash heap.

Immediately, the pet parrot flew up to a branch on the tree outside. The trader said to him “So you are not dead after all, why did you do that? You tricked me.” The parrot responded “The bird back in Africa sent me a very important message.” “What was the message?” the man asked. He told me, “If you want to escape from your cage, you must die while you are still alive.”

In life it’s easy to be risk averse, especially if you’re an empath.  We fear rejection, failure, and loss so much that we often live in a state of analysis-paralysis, and never actually take a step forward to achieving our dreams or bigger goals in life.  If you’re happy and you know it, then going with the status quo is totally okay – you don’t always have to be reaching for that brass ring.  However, if there are any areas of life in which you feel stagnated, or you’re not as happy as you think you could be, then it’s time to start taking some risks!

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