May 1: Starbuks Trail – The Start of It All 🌄🌄

Our first destination was the Starbucks.

I honestly didn’t know where to start because even now, I can still feel the sense of contentment after hiking the Spartan Trail. I began May with an adventurous experience with my hiking buddies. We didn’t know the place at all, and to be honest, it felt a bit scary since it was deep in the forest. I already had this thought in mind that this wouldn’t be an easy adventure, especially since our target was 19 kilometers. Imagine that… 19 km, and it was our first time!

We agreed to meet at 5:30 AM, but of course—Filipino time kicked in 😆—my friends arrived around 7:00 AM. While waiting, we were already laughing about it, knowing this was just the beginning of a long day.

Before reaching our main trail, we had to pass by Starbucks, which served as our first stop. It was actually my second time there, so it wasn’t as scary anymore since I already knew where to step to avoid slipping. Compared to our last hike, where we had only 8 people, we now have 13 because some of our classmates and friends joined. It definitely made the experience more fun—there was never a dull moment because we kept laughing the whole time.

After about two and a half hours, we finally reached Starbucks. Even though it was just our first destination, we were already exhausted and running out of water. Good thing there was a small store nearby where we could buy supplies at affordable prices.

We rested for about 30 minutes to regain our energy before heading to our next destination.