During an early morning flight to Palawan, I was looking out the window and saw a flat sheet of cloud covering most of the landscape and with the sunrise breaking out of the horizon. It seemed like we were flying above the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean … and so I thought of capturing this idea in a photo series called “Tropical Tundra.”

I and couple of friends went to El Nido, at the very tip of Palawan Island. It was already my second time to visit El Nido but she still looked just as beautiful as when I first laid eyes on her towering limestone mountains and alluring waters.

The idea behind this photo series was seeing things in a new light and achieving greater possibilities out of our circumstances.

I want to fly and never come down.

You were an island and I passed you by.

I feel the cold inside me.

It calls my name.

Break down, break down.

Fortune I should have found by now.

Now I walk alone.

All the years I miss your warmth

I got buried, it won’t be long before I rise in song.

Hoping everything’s not lost.

Every trip is always different. I started traveling captivated by the idea seeing the world in the prime of my youth. Then, I started to make it a reality by making a living out of it. Soon enough, traveling started to become “work” and in those moments, I lost my sense of purpose.

Every now and then, thanks to people who tell me how I’ve affected them, I get reminded of my purpose. It’s time to break away from being too complacent and start moving towards challenging myself.