Life in the Slow Lane
And just like that we’re about to reach our one year anniversary of living our provincial dream.
Someone asked me recently if I’m done with the honeymoon stage of living by the beach. I guess it seems like I’m on a perpetual staycation especially since we get to have these as our front and back “yards”.
There are a lot of outdoor activities that are a few minutes away from us. Need to get some steps in? Let’s go for a quick hike in Mt. Calibungan. Want to swim, but not in the mood to deal with waves? Let’s go to Dapya or Bagsit River! Kids want to learn how to surf? Go to our beachfront and see if you can catch some waves. Want to socialize, get some city(ish) food and drinks? Let’s go to Liwa or Subic! I’ve always wanted to go on outdoor adventures and now I get to do it often, not just once or twice a year when we go on vacation.
The thing is, despite the beautiful sunsets and the crashing waves, I never got to fully appreciate the so-called honeymoon stage because we encountered problems even before moving here. There were some nightmarish days, which made me want to crawl back to Manila with my tail between my legs.
I’ve relearned how to curse at 43 years old because of my frustrations with certain people here (which could very well be the case in other places also). But for every douchebag that I’ve encountered, I’ve met twice the number of beautiful souls. Former Manileños like us (or “dayo” as the locals call us here) as well as Zambaleños from birth.
When the whole household got COVID a few weeks after moving in, the struggle of buying medicine and feeding everyone was more painful than the actual sickness itself. Having no access to Grab, Pickaroo, Foodpanda, etc. was bad. But what was worse was there was also a huge storm and power was out for a couple of days. Our new house had waterproofing issues (among others) so we had to keep on waking up to get rid of water seeping in. It made me want to go back to Manila with my sick household in tow. Was that an exercise in resilience or what?
One big realization over the course of living here is how spoiled we were trash-wise back in the city. We’re all educated on how to segregate trash. And back in the city, we have garbage collectors who pick it up every few days. Now, we have to rely on ourselves to do it and make sure it's done properly, otherwise, the segregation will be futile. Now I think twice before buying anything because the problem on how to get rid of the waste will be mine. For example: Cheetos! Its packaging can be cleaned, then brought to our friends at Alon & Araw for upcycling, so okay, add to the grocery cart.
Unlike the YanYan container— a pain to take apart and separate plastic from paper, so never mind, back to the shelf. The upside is we’ve reduced junk food intake significantly. Fruits are welcome snack options since we can compost the peel and bones. The whole family is now more aware of how this particular issue affects the environment since we experience it first hand. This brought us to learn and do so much more in ensuring that we reduce our impact on the environment.
But despite all our struggles, the beauty of our life here far outweighs the struggles. I think it’s safe to assume that our bodies get some much needed vitamin D (and sea) on the regular. Absolutely great for the body and soul. Good also for our social media and travel journals since there’s never any shortage of stories and gorgeous photos / videos to share. We moved here primarily for health reasons and it’s proven already that it was a good call.
The allergies of the kids have significantly improved over the past few months. My husband’s blood glucose have stabilized for the most part, and his skin issues have improved a lot as well. All these come back with a vengeance every time we go back to the city for quick visits. Slow living really works best for our family as we are all healthier now, and so much happier.
Currently on day 352 of slow living, taking baby steps towards our dream life.
We started Get Lost as a passion project, a digital travel journal, to keep our memories in one place. But with our new life here being a lifelong project, it seems like most of our traveling would be within our neighborhood while we build our new businesses here. We’ve been operating OTT remotely for 11 months already. But why not also share our provincial adventures with people who want to experience Zambales?
We’ve always dabbled with the idea of someday having a bed and breakfast by the beach. It was all a pipe dream back then, never thought we’d end up having it. But as they say, it’s free to dream, right? Well, most of our daydreams are now slowly becoming our reality.
Say hello to the new Get Lost (a registered business), a soon to come glamping site and small commissary.
Join us as we experience the beauty of Zambales. Guided hikes, farm tours, surf lessons, and breath work sessions are some of the many things that we can set up during your stay. If staying put and staring at the sea is your thing, then you’re welcome to hang out at our hut or we can set up umbrellas on the beach for you. And as a bonus, since we’re a family of photographers, we can also take your photos for your social media or travel journals.
So when asked if we regret our decision of uprooting our family and moving here, our answer is always a big fat NO. We’re still learning about our new home even after almost a year of living here. And soon, you’ll be more than welcome to experience it with us!
