I am on a mission. I don’t know, after hours of online researching and planning and attempts at reserving, if this will be a completed mission, but regardless I know it’s going to be one SERIOUSLY fun one to try.

I have in my head this PERFECT bamboo or otherwise-native wood and thatch or grass beach hut. It’s got a covered porch, with a bamboo-ish railing, wooden floor, a couple of wooden chairs and a little table, and a hammock. It stands on a white-sand beach, and when I walk down the three steps from the porch, I am immediately standing on said stand, mere yards from the crystal-clear turquoise ocean. There are palm trees shading my little hut, which makes the lack of air condition totally fine (air conditioning would seem out of place anyway). It has its own bathroom but no hot water, because that too would seem out of place. It is safe, secure, run by a lovely little family, and I can run out periodically throughout the day to go for a nice snorkel right off the shore and see all kinds of colorful fish and coral. It is also cheap, costing about $12-20 a day ideally, but certainly no more than $35. The picture above is a place we saw on Ticao Island during our scuba dive trip to Manta Bowl last week. It’s not quite, but very close to what I have in mind.

By day we can swim, or lounge, or read, or write, or catch up on “work” stuff, or work on opportunities to write some articles, sell some pictures, do some programming to make some money to keep the dream alive. Or on an active day we can take a boat trip to some surrounding islands and snorkel sites, do some kayaking, maybe a small hike, or a few scuba dives. By night we can drink some 50 cent beers on the beach or around the table with our new friends. We can befriend the local people and animals alike. Watch the occasional – or typical – episode of 24 before bed. We can get up the next day and do it all over again and again and again and know this is our life, this is going to be our life, for at least the next month. And then when we are sun-soaked and waterlogged, we’ll finally pack up our backpacks and hit the road again – ready and refreshed for the next big bout of whirlwind sight-seeing, adventuring, and exploring.

I am about 98% certain this fantasy is out there and my beach hut with porch and hammock right on white-sand and fish-filled turquoise-watered beach exists. Tonight we even bought the hammocks just to make sure we’ve done our part to ensure perfection. Even if my perfect beach hut doesn’t exist or if it does but not in El Nido, I am so excited for the opportunity to find out. What I know El Nido DOES offer is ridiculously gorgeous beach scenery, kayak trips, snorkeling, scuba diving, fishes, seafood, white sand, turquoise waters, boat trips, windsurfing, and a chance to catch up with myself after a whole lot of BAM BAM BAM action and excitement and intrigue that we have been so fortunate to experience these past 8 1/2 months traveling.

I absolutely, positively, cannot wait. Even the 6-8 hour bumpy, crowded van ride to get there sounds fantastic. I know I’ll be bumping along towards a dream, and I cannot wait for the chance to do so. Love this life!!!

We’re looking forward to the chance to avoid sun poisoning by interspersing snorkel and frolic time with chill time to get caught up on all our housekeeping stuff. We’ll be posting and responding to comments here again soon, hopefully from our porch and hammocks! Talk to you then! El Nido, HERE WE COME!!!