I Found a Corner of the Internet Where I Finally Feel I Belong
How in a small hotel in the Philippines I discovered my place in the world was somewhere I never planned to be
📍Cebu, Philippines
The days in Cebu mirrored those in Manila - the same rain, the same grayness, despite the calendar insisting it was summer. I found myself stuck in another bustling city and, surprisingly, I didn't feel like exploring it.
Maybe it was the after-effect from the islands, maybe it was my emptied wallet after all those incredible experiences there. Either way, I didn't feel like being an energetic tourist. I just wanted my quiet corner.
And that "corner"? A nice room in a hotel with a restaurant in the lobby, where you can charge everything "to the room" - a perfect solution for someone left with only 150 pesos and zero motivation to exchange another Australian dollar. Especially when in a few days I'll be leaving this place, and most establishments don't accept credit cards at all.
At the hotel, all the staff always greet me with a wide smile and an enthusiastic "Hi ma'am!" as if Princess Diana herself had entered the building. When I arrived, they insisted on helping with the luggage. But the moment that really made me feel strange was when I returned from the nearby 7-Eleven with a huge 6-liter water bottle and a bag of groceries.
The staff simply swooped down on me, snatched the shopping from my hands, and asked in astonishment: "Did you walk like this from the main road?!"
As if I had committed a crime against humanity. As if I weren’t royal enough, as they expected me to be.
But the truth is, I'm simply not. I'm used to carrying heavy things, working hard, and suddenly here they're treating me like a princess. It's incredibly nice, and it makes me appreciate myself a little more, even when I know it's not really who I am.
For a moment, I felt like that scene in the movie In Time, where someone watches Justin Timberlake running while everyone else is just walking slowly.
During these rainy days, I found myself checking off some important tasks I had been postponing. And one time as I sat on the bed, laptop on my knees, I found myself being sucked into Substack like some new addiction.
But it was different from the familiar addiction to Facebook or Instagram. This time it felt like discovering a place I should have found long ago. As if I suddenly realized - "oh, this is where I need to be" - and everything just fell into place, seemed logical and right.
It's funny how I found a corner of the internet that makes me feel at home, because all other networks do is make me feel not good enough. I don't have enough followers, I'm not pretty enough, not rich enough.
Maybe that's exactly what made me fall in love with Substack - on one of my first days on the platform, I saw a note from someone (I apologize for not remembering who it was), but he wrote a sentence that caught me at the "you had me at hello" level.
He wrote that "on Substack, people don't like you for how you look, they like you for your mind."
Wow. That sentence simply hasn't left me since, and it's exactly what I needed to hear. As if someone dispersed the cloud of uncertainty hovering over me, and in one moment, I just knew - I'm in the right place.
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Maya, this was stunning! Both grounding and elevating at once. The way you described being seen and treated with dignity in such a simple hotel moment says so much. And then finding Substack, finding a place where it’s your mind that matters, not how you perform or appear? That hit deep. I felt that shift too when I arrived here. It’s like finally being invited to sit at a table you didn’t realize you were always meant for. Thank you for sharing this with such warmth, honesty, and clarity.
Enjoyed reading this very much. Wonderful story. And I'm so glad you've found your space.