Growing Up Between Islands

I’m Giovanni Carlo Bagayas — Gio to most, Bunny to those who’ve known me since childhood. I was born in Cebu City — the Queen City of the South, home to Sinulog, lechon, and some of the most vibrant urban energy in the Visayas. But I didn’t stay in one place for long. Growing up, my life was split between Cebu and Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental — the City of Gentle People, where the pace slows down, the silvanas are famous, and the university town culture shapes everything around you.

Going back and forth between two very different cities — one fast and buzzing, one calm and academic — gave me an early appreciation for how different life can be from one Philippine island to the next. Two ferry rides apart, yet worlds away in culture, food, and rhythm. That contrast became the foundation of how I see the Philippines: not as one monolithic destination, but as thousands of distinct stories waiting to be told.

Today I live in Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur in Mindanao — a quieter side of the Philippines that most travel guides overlook entirely. Living here has deepened my understanding of what makes this country extraordinary: the warmth of its people, the richness of its Muslim and indigenous cultures, the seafood, the sunsets, and the stories that never make it onto a brochure.

I created Best Philippines Travel Guide — Giovanni Carlo Bagayas, writing as Gio — because I kept seeing the same problem: most online content about the Philippines was either written by foreign tourists who visited once, or generic articles that recycled the same top-10 lists. I wanted to build something different — a resource written by a Filipino, for anyone who wants to understand this country the way locals do. Honest, specific, firsthand, and always free.