It all began with a dream, which inspired, moved, and motivated me. When I saw pictures of the Enchanted River in Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur (taken by Jojie Alcantara and posted on pbase) years back, I promised myself, one day, I shall jump into that deep aqua blue waters and swim with the school of fish. And the power of thought led me to action.

During a seat sale in May 2011, I booked my flights: MNL-Butuan and CDO-MNL. And six months after, the dream became a reality. I almost postponed the trip due to another trip which was work-related. And God knows I love to celebrate my special day seeing the wonders of nature that HE created. Thank you Lord for the gift of travel and living life to the fullest.

Whenever I travel within the Philippines, I make it a point to have a standard budget of Php 5,000 (as much as possible, including airfare and accommodation). And for this trip, I’m glad to share with you that I have successfully achieved that goal.

Since I booked the airfare 6 months ahead, I placed the airfare under the miscellaneous  (pre-departure expenses). The total expenses incurred for 4 days, 3 nights was Php 3,865 (food,activity, accommodation). If we add the airfare of Php 803, the overall total would be Php 4,668. Yey! I’m still within my Php 5,000 budget.

Here’s the trip expense report breakdown: 

Leaving Manila-Pre-Departure

Day 1

Day 2

 Day 3

Day 4

And for easy reading, here’s the summary in one table: