Welcome the Connubial Explorers

(Our opening photo shot in the Sierra Madre Range marks the beginning  of our adventure as the connubial travelers)

This is our story of how we lived life amidst the adversity we are facing. Ours is a love story like no other.  Many couples who became famous of their undying love because one of them is sick with an incurable disease such as cancer are either trending in the internet or television.  

(A walk in the clouds in the Sierra Madre Range)

At the end, one of them will be gone and the other one grieving but alive.  But for the two of us, there would likely be no one left to tell the end of the story.  Don't worry, we don't expect pity for our situation.  We are sharing our life experiences to serve as an inspiration to everyone who is also going through their own trials and difficulties.

(Photo taken in the highlands of Benguet where natural hot springs abound in the quaint and secluded sitio of Asin)

I started this blog as an offshoot to the early and first blogs that I wrote where I was a solitary traveler.  Now I have someone who will be with me in all my travels, and so the word "connubial" which pertains to a married couple is the new blog that I will be sharing to the world and as a married tandem, we now embark on a new adventure as the "connubial travelers".

(photo taken in front of BenCab Museum, Baguio)

Before we got married this 2014, we were already into traveling and exploration.  One of my duties at work is to scout for places where our department can spend our vacation off from school during the summer and the sembreak.  And so I always ask the company of my then fiancee during these reconnaissance missions.

 (the rugged beauty of Tuba, Benguet)

We had many trips that had a lot of interesting finds and we also had some share of dangerous and frightening moments.  But we survived it all and overall the experience was fun.

(photo taken along the shores of Taal Lake, Talisay, Batangas during a group outing with my PCAPI family)

It was in the summer of 2010 that fate showed its ugly hands on us when I was first diagnosed with kidney cancer. My world crumbled during that fateful day of revelation after biopsy reports revealed malignancy in the tissue specimen.  I went through a gruelling period of accepting my fate and lived my life one day at a time, enjoying the remaining days that God had bestowed on me. 

(Taal Lake - home of a sleeping dragon)

I am thankful to the Lord that He gave me the chance to prepare and live my life according to His will.  It has been 4 years of remission since the discovery of the tumor and until now, no signs of recurrence had resurfaced yet.  Life has to go on and me and my fiancee took it in stride together.

(photo taken atop Mt. Luho overlooking the Boracay Peninsula)

The greatest challenge to our relationship came last 2013 when my fiancee got her share of misfortune when she was also diagnosed with colon cancer.  There have been many stories of couples in which one has the dreaded disease, but nothing compares to what we have encountered. Both of us are now face-to-face with this evil disease and like a tiger trapped in a corner, we were left with no choice but to fight to survive.  And with God as our guiding light, we will carry this fight to the end.  And no matter what the consequences are, we will leave this world having lived this life happy and content with each other.  

(photo taken in the north harbor of Corregidor Island)

Pardon for that melodramatic portion.  It was a necessary component to give light and substance to this blog.  Having said our current plight, I hope that our life story that we will be sharing with you will serve as an inspiration to those who are also going through the same experience.  

(rising from the ravages of war, Corregidor is stunningly beautiful today)

We hope that it will be a motivating force to medically-challenged people to feel that it is not the end but an opportunity to change for the better with the remaining life and that life should still be lived to its fullest even with the shortest time left.

(photo taken at the Big Horn, Fontana Leisure and Water Theme Park)

Nothing really beats traveling and exploring with the one you love.  I can say this because even a self-proclaimed solo traveler who would always write his awesome experience when visiting a new place would say to himself that "I wish I had my sweetheart with me at this moment".  It is human nature to share your joy with someone you love rather than keep the fantastic moment to yourself. The joy would not be as fulfilling as when you have your loved one experiencing that magic moment with you.  I was one of those solo traveler during my stint as DocFun-the Dr. of Fun and Adventure.

(the gratifying beauty of Graceland, Tayabas, Quezon)

But now I begin with a new story of my life together with my wife as we explore the world as the connubial explorers dubbed- 

"The Doc and Mrs. of Fun and Adventure".

Follow us in our many adventures in the future and live life as God willed us - to enjoy its splendor.