It's been almost two months since the Typhoon Odette, also known as Typhoon Rai, came to the Philippines. It hit the Philippines on the 16th of December 2021, and Siargao got the worst of it. 

When I learned about the typhoon and about how strong it was, I expected flooded roads, some fallen trees here and there, and maybe a few electrical posts destroyed. But I never imagined the actual damage that it had caused.

It was said all over the news that almost 90% of the island had been destroyed, and seeing all the wreckage everywhere, I would have to say that it is true. The aftermath of the typhoon left us with a seeming ghost town in the place of the vibrant buzzing town that we know and love. Or at least, used to know. 

Thank goodness there were no casualties. But a lot of people outside of the island thought otherwise because they couldn't contact anyone living on the island, with the signal gone for more than two weeks. Even my family was distraught.

I got out of the island four days after the typhoon. My island family and I had to part ways, and go back to our respective homes.

A lot of people were trying to find their way out. I managed to get out by trying to catch a military-operated rescue flight at the Siargao airport. I didn't get on that flight but luckily, I booked a flight to Manila for that week and the airlines went to pick up passengers with confirmed bookings. 

Once the plane left, I cried. I cried a lot, I didn't care what the other passengers thought of me at that very moment. I cried for my island home. I cried for my friends who were equally traumatized as I was. I cried because I had to leave my dog temporarily with a trusted friend. I know my dog was going to be in good hands, but I'm pretty sure he felt abandoned by me and I felt guilty.

I'm not going to sugarcoat stuff. Things have been very difficult lately. I've been crying a lot. Not for hours, but every now and then I would have a quick outburst and I would cry for a few minutes and pull myself together. Because I have to. Because I have responsibilities. Because life goes on.

I had planned to leave the island for good later this year, but I never imagined that I would be leaving the island the way I did. I felt displaced. I felt like I was forced out of the island. I knew that when I hit my third year of living in Siargao, it will be time for me to move on. I thought I had months to plan for that, but the typhoon took that away from me. It took a lot from all of us.

As I'm writing this, I'm currently back in Siargao. Electricity is back in a few parts of the island. The signal has been restored three weeks after the typhoon. The island has not been the same and it will take months or years to restore it to its former glory, but it will be restored. Siargao will heal.

During the past couple of months, I have been trying to get back on my feet. I have been figuring out what I want to do in the next few years of my life. And I feel like I know what I want, so I have decided to move out of Siargao than I had planned.

And with that thought, here are my favorite sunset photos in Siargao. These are unfiltered by the way. Yes, it's just photos of the broken boardwalk and some boats during sunset, but it goes to show how Siargao makes even the most boring things look magical.

Siargao has been so good to me in the past three years and I would hate to leave it when it has not fully recovered yet. However, I believe that life has other plans for me outside of the island. Siargao will always be there and I would love to come back to it every now and then, but if I do not move out, I might miss out on other opportunities that life has in store.

And so with this, I bid my island home a temporary farewell. I look forward to coming home to you again in the future, but for now, I have to go.

Salamat sa lahat, Siargao. Hanggang sa muli.