Some of my friends proudly told me that the Philippines has hidden treasures waiting to be discovered for as long as we are willing to find them. They told me this out of sarcasm in order to trick me so I will join them in their upcoming expedition. Mountain trekking, youth camping and the like have never appeared into my mental faculties since I was a child albeit I was elected Vice-President of the Save Mother Earth Movement in my high school days.

   I don’t have the nerve to climb a mountain although mountains continuously allured me with the vastness of their faunas and verdant pastures. I usually decline invitations to go to beaches and waterfalls although I chanced to have frolicked in one of the beaches in our province. And most of all, I never pass the time to go to public places like the parks and zoos and sight-seeing areas although I find it a good idea to be surrounded by human beings for quite sometimes and of course to be in contact with Mother nature and appreciate its beauty.

   Leave it or take it, the Queen City of the South harked back at me when I arrived at the Cebu Domestic Airport for the first time. I have the choice to leave or to take the grandness of what Cebu has to offer me. Yet, right before I stepped out of the plane, I could already see Cebu’s invitation to its tasteful food delicacies and beautiful places which I saw in a Cebu map before I flew from Manila.

   By some miracle I changed from a frantic homebody into an adventurous creature looking for some niche where I could get out of my comfort zone. Manila has not changed me. Cebu did and continuously does. In Manila, I could hardly enjoy going out because the weather is no less than hell. In Cebu, I could always spot a place to chill out myself. In Manila, I could not afford to hop from one place to another since transportation takes more than half a day before I could finally reach my desired destination. In Cebu, I could both swim to my heart’s content in Lapu-lapu city then hike a mountain in Pardo in just a day. In Manila, I could spend at least five hundred pesos for my a-day itinerary. In Cebu, I have enough with two hundred pesos. In Manila, good food is expensive and would cost a considerable amount before I could fill my empty belly. In Cebu, I could miraculously eat at ten pesos.

   Just this month, I was looking over at Cebu Tops and I can’t help but marvel at the awesome beauty Cebu has to offer. I could feel how the cold mountain breeze penetrates my skin as I watch tall and small trees dancing in constant tango. I never doubted I couldn’t spot a vacant bench knowing that there were lots of visitors like me who were muffling in our own coats. I enjoyed my first trip. And I want more.

   Right after that, I found myself trekking in the mountains of Carcar. I did not particularly remember what it was called but my forest and mounting hiking had provided me a sense of relaxation and a friendly exhalation of the mind. I could understand now why there were so many who indulge themselves into this kind of hobby. Even though at times I spent half of my little salary, I never regretted the moments of my experiences where I ate with bare hands and drank cold water in the spring.

   I never had for a time followed the heels of the nature lovers because I find their pursuit as nothing but a squandering of time and a waste of money. Mother Nature, however, haunts me in the abyss of my carelessness. I never paid attention to Mother Nature until she revealed herself to me. This might be the reason why Mother Nature still becomes a secret to me waiting for me to discover her glory, her environmental consolations and her healthy benefits to my being.

    And once I read in one of the national newspapers what happened to the devastated Guimaras’ shore brought about by the oil spill caused by the sinking of an oil tanker. I am no environmentalist but knowing how human beings take for granted our natural resources which bring us life without us returning the same life they have been giving us disturbed me. I never blame her, our Mother Nature, if she would blow a typhoon or won’t shower us rain or deprive us of her sunlight. We made her womb, her Garden of Eden, deplorable and abominable in the first place.

   Bereft these formidable conditions, I long to discover all these beautiful places – the recently featured article in Island Breeze of Camotes Island, the mysterious caves of Cantabon Cave in Dumaguete City, the overwhelming sunset fronting the seashore of San Remigio, the amazing Plantation Bay, the captivating white-sand beaches of Lapu-Lapu City just to name a few. I haven’t gone to these places yet but I am sure I will be visiting them once I get a chance. Kidding aside, I am asking the mercy of my Editor-in-Chief if she permits me to become a travel writer at her own expense.

   Take it or leave it! It makes me wonder at times. I know that if I take somebody’s invitation I do not only want to take but also to leave something in return. By the way, my friend invited me to a medical mission somewhere; I took the idea without a slightest hesitance because I know through giving of my helping hand to the people in need; I pay even in my little way my Mother Earth. I know I will be able to win back what was lost in her and in me.