About Me and this Website.

About the Author My name is John Piechnick and I moved from South Australia to the Philippines in 1998, working as an electronics engineer until early 2009. During my time in the Philippines I frequently travelled around the country and started this travel website as a hobby, thinking that one day I might want to get out of electronics and into the travel business. Well, I have done that and I am now on a full-time holiday and travel writing adventure around the Philippines, and enjoying every moment of it. My current base is Puerto Princesa and from here I am updating the Palawan travel information. There will be many new locations, articles, pictures, videos and updates appearing regularly. About this Website This website is foremost about how to have a great holiday the Philippines. I focus primarily on the really good destinations - there are also lots of terrible destinations but I tend not to mention them except as a warning.  Reviews of  3 to 5 star accommodation are now also being included, partly because I have been asked to come up with a Philippines holiday package for an Australian travel agency, and also because there are many people that need their creature comforts due to medical conditions, are travelling with young children or simply because they can afford it.

About half of the visitors to this site are Filipinos but it may appear as though I am writing only for foreigners. I have not changed my style, because I have found that what the Filipino traveler is looking for is not really different than what the foreign traveler is looking for. My time here in Palawan over the last months has certainly proved that to be the case. There are plenty of other Filipino flavored travel websites and hopefully this site will give a different angle on some of the same destinations. One difference between local and foreign tourists, besides the fact that Filipino backpacker travel budget is often smaller, is probably that Filipinos usually have very short holidays and therefore need to pack everything into a few days or a weekend. Foreigners often have weeks, months or even years. Also, most Filipinos take their holidays during the school holidays (April, May) and public holidays (Christmas Easter & All Saints Day) rather than all year round.

I welcome emails with suggestions for improvements, recommendations for other great destinations, good restaurants, etc. I normally don't answer questions (because I don't have the time) but sometimes I do if it is specific to the information I am presenting. I am always pleased to hear about any typos and grammar improvements.

The Philippines is a great holiday destination!!