Head spinning. Eyes swollen and red. Drunk. The picture of shattered hopes of a loving boyfriend and a long term relationship that seemed to be further and further away. It was a classic high school story. Broken hearted girl leaves with some random guy she barely remembers because she was too wasted to even realize.

She was someone who had no idea her worth. Someone too young to understand that there were many others out there.

It had once been a reality. Day and nights of drunken loneliness. Convincing herself that she was okay, only to end up crying at night when nobody is around to notice. Emo? Maybe a little. But at 15, what did you expect? When your heart’s been broken at such a young age, is there an ideal reaction? In those moments, it felt like the world was about to end.

It was sad. Pathetic, even. Innocent.

Even more so when she put up walls so high that nobody could penetrate it anymore. That she distrusted men so much that she lost her touch at telling who’s into her. That she distrusted men so much that the moment they showed interest, she opted to run the other way around.

And then she chose to enter a dynamic world of people, adventure and nature.

It started with a scary bus ride to Baguio. As she held on tight to her seat, she appreciated.

It went on to the magnificent islands of El Nido. As she sat in the boat that whizzed slowly by the beautiful limestone cliffs and white islands, she believed.

It continued in the picturesque trail of Mt. Pinatubo. As she made the last few steep steps to the view deck, she took a deep breath and she persisted.

Then, as she walked blindly in the narrow and dark trails of Mt. Pulag at dawn only to be lead by the person in front of her, she trusted.

When she walked the streets of Kuala Lumpur and encountered several not-so-good experiences in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia alone, she became confident.

As she laughed and mingled in a room full of different people in Kota Kinabalu, she hoped.

By the time she returned to El Nido again, she was willing.

And in Boracay, the island of love and mingling, she had found.

For really, where do broken hearts go? Everywhere.

Until they find home.

This is my entry to the Pinoy Travel Bloggers February Blog Carnival to be hosted by Rain Amantiad-Campanilla of www.rakistangnars.com.