The Tricketts’ Travels

The end of the honeymoon diaries! What an adventure. 63 days of loving being married, celebrating our new life together and exploring Indonesia and Philippines. Ending our epic adventure with 3 days in Singapore, enjoying exploring the city by foot, eating at the hawker centre and watching all of the light shows Singapore has to offer. A day spent on our Philippines layover at the water park and at universal studios in Singapore being big kids!! Such a wonderful way to end a wonderful trip! I guess the only question is… where next?

We spent our honeymoon exploring the Philippines on a 3-day, 2-night island‑hopping boat trip with Buhay Isla from El Nido to Coron—sleeping in remote bamboo huts, snorkeling vibrant reefs, and sharing sunsets on secluded beaches. A serene Island life experience of endless blue skies and bright sun, filled with crystal clear water and quiet moments together in paradise. Our Philippines adventure ended with a slow, restorative stay in Coron, where we rested and soaked in the island’s serene beauty.

One of the most unique experiences of the honeymoon — staying in a remote beach hut in El Nido. Everything was made of bamboo - Bamboo bungalows, bamboo toilet & shower huts, even a bamboo restaurant. Our days were spent moving between hammocks, swing seats, and sun loungers, just soaking up the sun, and when it got too hot, we’d retreat back into our bungalow and binge watch greys! We both managed to read an entire book in three days, which is honestly unheard of for us. It was a very restful and restorative week holiday from all the travelling!! One of the most precious parts of the honeymoon was being welcomed into a Filipino church service. Worshipping Jesus in a completely different language, surrounded by people who didn’t speak much English but still welcomed us so warmly, was incredibly moving. The wonderful pastor even gave a sermon in broken English. A very touching experience. The food was an experience in itself… there were no menus, no choices, you just got what you were given. You only had the option to sign up for 3 meals a day at a set price - which was rather expensive. The range of food served was wild from spaghetti to crabs - we got to try many traditional Filipino dishes and there was definitely a lot more fish than we would usually eat. It was strange having no control over what you were eating for a whole week, but in a way, that was all part of the experience — letting go, slowing down, and just embracing whatever came your way.https://youtu.be/eSH0hnZaOtY?si=xNuFUZdVy7SZfSff

Our trip to Port Barton began with a very bumpy and slightly chaotic taxi ride from Puerto Princesa Airport, the drivers drive like they’ve stolen it. Very thankful we made the decision to split the 8hr journey to El Nido and stop for a few nights at Port Barton! After an uncomfortable 4hrs we arrived to a small seaside town strikes the perfect balance between touristy and remote—lively enough for great food and drinks, yet peaceful enough to feel like a hidden escape. We arrived just in time for a quick outfit change and head to the beach for sunset. We stumble across a wonderful bar during cocktail hour right on the beach with amazing music and let the evening pass by. Truly felt like honeymoon vibes! The next day, we hired a kayak and headed out around the bay to White Beach and Coconut Beach. I especially wanted to go to the 2nd beach because the were native pigs casually roaming the sand. We took a bag with our kindle & our speaker and laid on the kayak as our beach towel and read all day long. We wandered down the beach looking for lunch and found a beach shack selling picky bits for lunch. We had the most dreamy relaxing day and decided we would paddle back just in time for another golden sunset cocktail hour. we ended the day in ultimate comfort with a chicken burger enjoyed in bed! Such a wonderful stop with such wholesome happy vibes!! https://youtu.be/eSH0hnZaOtY?si=xNuFUZdVy7SZfSff

Our favourite way to explore - a one-day motorbike adventure. We had 2 night stop in Bohol to break up the ferry journeys and explore another island. We hired a bike from the port (travel hack!) rode it to our accommodation and then the next day had a adventure day to see all bohol had to offer in one day! First stop the Chocolate Hills - a surreal landscape of strange rounded hills stretching as far as the eye can see. It’s always amusing the “tourist” attractions we end up at in Asia 😅From there, we stopped by the Loboc River at a riverside restaurant and watched the Loboc River Cruise boats drift past - we were both feeling poorly with colds and decided for a more relaxing lunch than the loud cruises! We wrapped up the day with a visit to the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary. Tarsiers are the world’s smallest primates and they have such cute big eyes! They were so much smaller than I thought they’d be. Such a fabbb day of adventure, nature, and laid-back island vibes — all packed into one day in Bohol. https://youtu.be/eSH0hnZaOtY?si=xNuFUZdVy7SZfSff

Our trip to Siquijor was an adventure before we even arrived! Our most eventful travel day to date. We got stuck at the border for a day and a half with all boats cancelled while waiting for a typhoon to pass. We checked the shipping forecast every 3 hours even overnight at 1am and when it finally updated the boats were back on we rushed to the port and made it on to a very choppy crossing 😅. The next morning we woke up in absolute paradise — a stunning balcony view right on the beach. One of our favourite accomodations for just unreal views and spent lots of time unwinding and getting obsessed with our new favourite card game. We also adventured to a waterfall and spent the afternoon jumping off the unlimited rope swing way too many times. We adored riding around the island on our bike soaking in the gorgeous island life! https://youtu.be/S0W8nqeyyDQ?si=yRYIC2DZJC2pUVYa

2nd stop in the Philippines - Moalboal.After our mental travel day we arrived and flopped! The weather was torrential rain on and off and we spent most of the day enjoying relaxing and playing in the hotel pool. After changing our itinerary and shortening our stay to add another location one we decided to do every activity we had to do in Moalboal on our final day!! We started with snorkeling at a famous spot for turtles and schools of sardines that feel almost unreal. We then rushed home to head straight back out for a day of canyoneering! We started the adventure on a crazy 1km long zip line and spend the next four hours canyoning, chasing waterfalls, leaping off cliffs, playing on rope swings. We had and absolutely phenomenal time with the best guides who somehow made every moment special and unforgettable. We crashed back at our accommodation and found a grocery store to pick up a basic meal! Threw together a big bowl of pasta and enjoyed watching our wedding highlight film for the first time! An unforgettable day!!

Our first stop in the Philippines — Malapascua! A small island where we finally slowed down. We travelled there to scuba dive with thresher sharks, but I came down with a cold, meaning more rest and recovery than adventure at first while hoping I’d be well enough to dive.We spent our days walking across the tiny island (you could walk top to bottom in 30 minutes), relaxing on beautiful beaches, and searching for great snorkelling. After many decongestants, I decided to take the risk and attempt a dive on our last day — and thankfully, I made it down, woohoo! An unforgettable experience diving alongside thresher sharks, and Josh’s highlight of the honeymoon. Absolutely unreal our first experience of diving with sharks.Catch the highlights and hear about the adventures of exploring Malpascua on “The Honeymoon diaries - Malapascua” Episode 19 of the Tricketts travel podcast!!

Halfway through our honeymoon, we did a 3 day layover in Kuala Lumpur! We picked up a waterproof camera that had been generously gifted from our wedding registry and, full of excitement, officially began vlogging our travels. From wandering through KL’s massive shopping malls to satisfying a wave of homesickness with a stop at Nando’s, the city quickly felt both thrilling and familiar. We climbed up to the Batu Caves, took in the vibrant energy of the streets, and explored everything the city had to offer.

Our final stop in Indonesia - Komodo island. We island hoped on a small plane further east in Indonesia for a few days of boat trips in Komodo national park and what an amazing adventure it was! We kicked things off with an epic day on a scuba diving boat trip, encountering more manta rays, bamboo sharks & a baby yellow box fish - my favourite fish! The next day we set sail on a 3-day, 2-night liveaboard boat where we snorkelled in the blue waters floating along the crazy currents, hiked up to stunning viewpoints, visited a few beaches and got up close with the famous Komodo dragons in their natural habitat. We were so lucky that only 5 people were on our boat set for 30 - it felt like the VIP experience. Perks of travelling in low season hey!!