It seemed at the beginning of the year that I’ve lost the desire to travel. Well, it’s there, it’s just that unlike the previous years, I was more laid back. Whereas before I’d spent countless hours and days of mad research, I’m now content to sit back and just go whereever I feel like going.

No long term planning, no checking to see whether the stars and planets are aligned just right on my travel dates. I’m happy to stay put in Manila.

This sounds pretty contradicting to what I’ve been writing about in my travel blog. I’ve been to a couple of trips out of town, but they’ve been organized by other people. Frankly, I don’t mind taking the back seat and letting other people take charge and make the decisions for me.

The upside was that I’m making an effort to explore Manila. Whereas before I dread having to go to Manila, now I’m looking forward to it. In the past five months, I’ve been to Manila more times than I’ve been in the past five years. The dirt and chaos that I’ve always complained about are the very things I love about this city.

But now I get that feeling stirring inside. That old wanderlust, which I thought I’ve lost. I kinda feel like a traitor, but I suddenly got this strong feeling of homesickness for Melbourne. I guess I loved Melbourne more than I thought. But Melbourne can wait. Manila needs me.