In Catanduanes, I connected with the landscape around me in ways I had never before. The mindset you’re in plays such a huge role in your experience of a place. The mood of the seas in early April, it felt, reflected my emotions.

I’d also never seen so much abaca - what much of the island’s industry still revolved around - in its raw forms.

Maybe it was the stormy weather, the physical separation from the mainland, uninterrupted coasts that opened into the Pacific Ocean. Or maybe it was the waves that crested and fell into near perfect tunnels off the cove of Puraran Beach…or maybe it was spending 14 hours on the back of a motorbike as our local guides zipped us around nearly the entire island.