Island hopping days are my tour favorites. I don't really mind having a permanent tan, and I love the smell of sun and sea salt on skin (mixed with the sunscreen), but I do worry about my skin at 40 (that's really not now, so I might as well enjoy!) (Yes, you'll see a lot of butt-ins in parentheses in this post... I think.)

On our second day, we visited the Phi Phi Islands where the British-American film The Beach starring Leo (yeah, we're close) DiCaprio was shot. I saw the movie before we went here. The uninhabited beach, the white sand, the pristine waters, and the sense that you own the secret place -- it was all I could think about. Little did I know, that description of the place was accurate before the movie released worldwide. (Just look at the photos below.) Don't get me wrong, the place is gorgeous, definitely, but the amount of tourists just robs the place of its island feel. (So, what I'm suggesting is -- you go to the Philippines for secret beaches. We have 7,107 islands, imagine the number of beaches. Haha. #Proud)

But honestly, I really, really am blessed with this trip because we're so favored with the tour prices. We arranged everything when we arrived at the hotel, talked to a woman from a travel agency there, and the rest was discounted history.