Summer was ending, it was the first weekend of June and I was starting to get busy with my new job when I found myself spending a weekend with strangers-turned-friends at
The Circle Hostel in La Union for a much needed break from the city. I had been meaning to check out
their first hostel in Zambales but hadn't found the time to do so, so I was more than thrilled to be part of the blogger event they organized for their new branch in La Union.
It was a swell weekend to say the least (pun intended, though there were actually no waves and we weren't able to surf when we were there). My corporate sellout self badly needed the break - the fresh air, the afternoon spent hanging out in the common area talking about random things while listening to Jason Mraz and eating green mangoes freshly plucked from a nearby tree, the random
drinking games, the night spent by the beach lying down on the sand looking out for shooting stars, and the chance at meeting new and interesting people. I had been to La Union more than a couple of times prior, but it felt like a new place all over again mostly because of the people I got to hang out with that weekend. The coolest thing was realizing how small Manila is - at The Circle Hostel I spent time with people I had either met before (I was even in a meeting with one of the guys once! Hello Jake! How random is that?) or had random common friends with.
There's just something about The Circle Hostel that makes it conducive to making new friends. I'm not usually the chatty-chatty type (really, I'm not!) with strangers but during our weekend in La Union, apart from the bloggers I went with, we also met the guys from
GoodLifeCrewPH, and all it took was a few questions about their GoPro gadgets (and they sure had a lot of them gadgets!) and an offer of green mango slices. Two of them, after leaving their jobs in Singapore, are setting out on a journey across the Philippines and documenting their trip with their GoPro cameras. How cool is that? Theirs was just one of the many inspiring stories I heard that weekend about stepping out of ordinary routines and stepping into extraordinary, exciting lives.
If you're looking for a quick weekend getaway and can't find any friends to take with you, book a bed in The Circle Hostel Zambales or La Union - you would've set out on your own but you'll definitely come back with at least a few friends!
