Photo Credit: soapylovedeb

 'You're the one I have decided
  Who's one of my kind'

...and so with that song from Train, the seeds of a wonderful collaboration sprung between the two of us. It started with casual conversations about our travels in and outside the country which eventually moved on to intimate talks about men and dealing with relationships (hey, we're girls!). It's crazy/funny/weird how alike both of us are.  Here's a snippet:

Lois: Dai, have you read this website/know about couchsurfing/added a signature to our email/watched The Darjeeling Limited?
Chichi: Girl, I read this website/want to sign up on Couchsurfing/added a signature to our email/just watched this great movie about India!

Twos peas in a pod? Kismet? Split-aparts? No, we're Sole Sisters right through the core.


'Every single dream I dream'

We forget exactly how the idea to start a travel blog came to be. We're guessing either one of us blurted out 'Why don't we start a blog?' The other was like, 'Why not?' We figured between the two of us, we've logged about a quarter of our lives reading travel sites/blog/books/magazines and traveled from the Philippines to Asia to the US and Europe. We had plenty of ideas just bursting at the seams. A travel blog? Why not.


' I'm so obsessed
My heart is bound to beat
Right out my untrimmed chest'

That was the start of our online adventures. Today, We Are Sole Sisters turns 3 months! It's been an amazing and exhilirating roller coaster 3-month journey.

Photos of the Sole Sisters by Russ Patalinghog of the Digital Light Scribe

So, what if it's been 3 months? Big effin' deal? Here's why it is, in fact, a big effin' deal!


'I'm so glad you have 
A one-track mind like me.'

56 posts in 3 months

How did we do it? Do we not sleep? Don't we have a day job? You can call us obsessed, crazy, addicts, zombies. Our reply? In the profound words of Cher (not the singer)...Whatever! We're on a roll, we can't seem to stop because we're just positively bursting with wild crazy ideas and adventures!

Allow us to reminisce and share each of our Top 3 favorite posts from the last 3 months.


#3 Ticket for One Please: 10 Downsides of Traveling Solo
Lois' take on solo traveling was a laugh-out-loud kindof funny, honest and witty piece. I envy my Sole Sister's guts in conquering what I only hope to do before I turn 30. I loved her article so much that I encouraged her to submit it to one of the biggest travel website out there. Sadly, they didn't publish it. No biggie, it's their loss because Lois' article could have catapulted their site to kingdom come!


#2 Why Travel, Chichi?
My most personal article to date...and the hardest one to write. I had a really tough time searching for my reason to travel and in starting this article. How and when did my wanderlust start? Why do I crave and feel the need to travel?

In this article, I bare my soul and heart to the anyone who cares to read our ultra-public site. Scary, I know.

#1 Battle of the Islands: El Nido vs Coron
After 5 long years and after almost giving up on the El Nido trip (due to heartbreak), I finally set my sole on this island paradise. After 5 years, I was able to cross off 1 item on my 30 before 30 list. It's not all about the list, you know. This trip was about my race against time, my battle between heart break and breaking free. In the end, I won.



#3 How I Finally Got to El Nido: a Race, a Heartbreak and a Seat Sale
I love how Chichi bares her heart in her posts. This article is fun, entertaining, yet really helpful at the same time. Plus I've never been to El Nido so it tells me exactly what I'm missing.

#2 Battle of the Islands: Boracay vs Panglao
One of the most difficult posts I've had to write so far. Only because of all the research and fact-finding involved. But after I learned to do it the 'Chichi way' (which means I have to go into the nitty gritty details) I found it very rewarding. I liked the photos I chose and when you readers responded with enthusiasm, it felt really awesome.
 
#1 My So-Called 2-Suitcase Life
This article chronicles my journey so far and I how I reached my transformation. Some details are very personal although there are still certain things I can't rehash from my past life in Europe. This is where I turn a bit serious, a bit wistful and honest all throughout.


The way you move ain't fair,
you know'

Alexa, we gotcha baby!

We are Sole Sisters started with an Alexa ranking of more than 10,000,000 (which is where most infant websites start at). In 3 months, our site's Alexa ranking has gone down to 978,583 933,635.

But isn't it supposed to go up not down, crazies?

No no, this is actually a good thing! In the wonderful world of the web, the lower your Alexa ranking, the more successful your site is. Or something like that.  We're in fact still puzzled about all this ranking business and we find ourselves asking who the heck Alexa is.

Photo by Pink Sherbet

'And so I went and
Let you blow my mind'

3 months. 3 posts. 3 websites. 

Yes, 3 is the magic number.

First, check out Chichi's Top 10 Things in Palawan on Our Awesome TV. Second, we became part of the first ever Travel Bloggers' Pinoy Blog Carnival when Chichi wrote about El Nido, her favorite place in the Philippines. Lastly, the Sole Sisters were featured as the Travel Blog of the Week on Riding out the Economy (Thanks boys!)


'The way you can cut a rug 
Watching you is the only drug I need'

We've only just begun, you haven't even seen 1/134325th of what our fabulous tandem can do! Here's what we're cooking up over the next few months:

• More Battle of the Islands feature before the end of the year. You asked for it and we will gladly oblige.

• The Sole Sister Facebook fanpage will be launched on December 17th. Just because we know our Facebook friends are a hair's breath away from clicking the HIDE POST button on our spamming (crossing fingers that's not happening yet).

• Want to see the Sole Sisters in action, just like the one with Chichi and Zuring dancing (if you can call it that) their way to Calaguas and El Nido? We'll give you more travel videos but with not so much dancing this time.

• The Sole Sisters' are Going To Batanes in January 2011! Yes, we are. We're thinking positive thoughts in the hopes that we will be one of the 7 lucky winners to win Seair's contest. If you haven't already, please like Seair's Facebook fanpage and then send positive vibes our way by liking our picture here.

• A BIG reveal in 2011! We're talking earth-shattering, mind-numbing, Armageddon-like kind of reveal.  Yes, it's that BIG.

Photo by Pink Sherbet

The Sole Sisters would like to thank our sponsors err send the warmest hugs and kisses across cyberspace to these wonderful soles who've helped us in the past 3 months:

- Paul the Ekstranghero, who helped us start this baby of ours.
- Russ Patalinghog of The Digital Light Scribe, who has selflessly shared his talent and knowledge to 2 newbies.
- Carl Custodio, whose wonderful photos Chichi shamelessly uses on all her posts.
- The Pinoy Travel Bloggers, who provide us with limitless supply of advice, tips and encouragement. We all share the same passion for travel and for the Philippines.
- and to all our friends (you know who you are!) who still love us even if all we think/talk about is this blog.

'Hey Sole Sister,
I don't wanna miss A single thing you do'

 



BONUS! We're giving you a double-post to celebrate our 3-month blog birthday. Yeah, we know you're already tired reading our daily post but just one more...

Grab a copy of the Sole Sisters' Guide to Keeping Sane When Traveling in Twos!