It’s the end. It’s time to move on. I decided it was time to say goodbye. Goodbye to blogging, but not goodbye to this website. I’ve had 7 precious years of blogging on this site. It’s the end of an era.

There’s nothing as beautiful in this life than throwing your whole heart into something and seeing it come into fruition and being proud that you did. I remember as a junior in college, sitting in the library, just hoping away that there is something I can be doing with my life that could provide value to some society, of some sort. Little did I know, it would be blogging. Blogging filled my college days with ease, and not just stress to lean on, and it led me to opportunities I can only dream of from thereafter. In my last Year in Review (for 2024), I wrote how I was deciding if I should call it quits soon and I reached a decision, which I am getting better at doing in my life.

Blogging started out as a hobby and it then became a side gig, where I was getting paid. I always thought of it as a hobby and with hobbies, you do not do them forever. Some endings have to happen so new beginnings can come about. 

I will always look back at this time of my life where I worked hard, shared my stories of adventures, and was able to help the tens of thousands of strangers I would probably never come across in person. Being a blogger had been my identity for 7 years and to end that is like unattaching a big piece of who I once was. However, sometimes the hard work can take up much of your time and away from priorities. Sometimes you just grow tired and that is the part of living we will all inevitably come to terms with.

Although I will be quitting my blogging, my blog will live on so I will continue to have this website up and running so that anyone can always read my blog posts. I will also continue to share my recent adventures on my Instagram and other social media channels and I plan to utilize my newsletter to do the same as well.

Thank you to everyone who has supported my work, who has found value in my guides and other blog posts, and who has seen me grow and live through my words and pictures. 

I have discovered a few other things from living this life of travel and the outdoors. I have taken a dive into photography, I have worked with some brands I could never forget working with, I have been featured in some of my favorite media outlets, I have met so many through this community that are doing just the same. It’s been such a fun, very fun journey. I will also never forget how proud I made my dad that I had this going and how impressed he was with my writings. He always said I was a big dreamer.

Here were some huge highlights in my life that I had with blogging:

• National parks bridged my parents and I together. As national parks are known for bringing families together, I am glad that was the case for us.
• Solo hiking and traveling was empowering for me. I grew stronger, independent, fearless, and had so much wisdom and knowledge gained through my solo hikes and travels.
• Traveling after my dad passed made me have a deeper sense of gratitude for life. My dad will always have a huge impact on my life and with his supportive comments he’s made with my work towards my blog, I had to continue to do things that I know he would be proud of even if I was unsure of it. I wanted to continue to travel, even after something that my dad and I did together (especially in his last years), because adventure will always run in my blood and I always feel even more grateful to be a part of this society and world.
• Blogging helped me appreciate my roots from the places I grew up in. I remember starting this blog, I was mostly stuck in my home state of New Jersey and did not have the flexibility or freedom to get outside of it. However, blogging instilled some perspective for myself that where I came from, my home state and my heritage (the Philippines), can be beautiful to explore and to appreciate. It also widened my perspective and options in life as I was not willing to settle for certain things in my life.
• I feel accomplished. I went from just exploring states in my country and then to expanding that beyond the United States with going abroad. Those cultures of each country and even state has been awesome to experience and to abide by. I’ve had some struggles from my early 20s and part of it was struggling with my confidence and self-esteem, but that grew a lot while having my blog. I was also able to overcome some mental struggles too with using blogging as a coping mechanism as it rewrote parts of my brain and the way I saw things outside of my big traumas. I’ve healed significantly from those times, as well as be more self-aware of others and for myself.
• Blogging was a passion project I will always look back on in my life. And I will always keep that memory close to my heart, no matter what I do next or go next.

Thank you, thank you guys. Love you all! xx