Luca - Inside the Loop

I just found some keys.

One for confidence.

One for motivation.

One for finally knowing exactly what I’m doing.

There were forty-seven altogether.

So naturally, Kevin put on a hat and declared himself a professional locksmith.

For three hours, we tried every key.

Some twice.

Kevin tried one backwards.

Then Hedgie quietly walked over…

pushed the gate…

and it opened.

It had never been locked.

I stared at the gate.

Then at the enormous pile of keys I’d been carrying.

Maybe I wasn’t trapped.

Maybe I’d just spent so long waiting to feel ready…

I’d forgotten to try.

So I put the keys down.

Picked up my coffee.

And took one small step through.

The forest didn’t collapse.

Nobody laughed.

So I took another.

……

They say it’s good to leave home and explore the world.

So we did.

I saw new places.
Met new people.
Tried new food.

Some of it even stayed inside me.

But eventually, every great explorer learns one important lesson…

Home is where the strongest coffee is. ☕️

So I’ve returned to the forest.

Back to the trees.
Back to my stump.
Back to looking awkwardly happy while holding the only thing keeping me emotionally operational.

The forest family is home.

We’re highly caffeinated, slightly motivated and fully committed to doing absolutely nothing.

Luca has missed his Loopers…

Although he’d rather stare awkwardly into his coffee than admit it.

Let’s loop some more. 🌲🐢☕️

Sunday.

A beautiful day for rest, reflection, family…

and absolutely irresponsible amounts of coffee.

The whole forest has officially agreed to do nothing productive today.

Kevin has already suggested “going somewhere fun.”

His request has been denied.

ROAR is pretending the compass knows where lunch is.

Hedgie has packed a backpack despite nobody going anywhere.

Pearl is smiling like she somehow has her life together.

And Luca?

Luca is currently on coffee number 6, staring into the distance and waiting for his personality to load.

So wherever you are today, Loopers…

put your feet up.

Eat something you shouldn’t.

Ignore at least two responsibilities.

And most importantly…

keep the coffee flowing. ☕☕☕

Happy Sunday from your family.

Inside the Loop.

Today I stood in my room.

Alone.
Silent.
Hollow.

Questioning every little inch of my life.

I had three coffees.

Didn’t help. ☕

I stood on the balcony looking across Cebu.

Beautiful view.

Still nothing.

Music. Distractions. Anything to change how I felt.

Nothing worked.

So eventually I stopped running from it.

I shut my eyes and asked myself:

Why do I keep looping back into the darkness?

And then it hit me.

Something that felt like it had been buried for years finally came to the surface.

And Luca cried.

Because somewhere deep inside me was a little dark lie I’d believed for most of my life:

“Family can only come from blood.”

And when you believe that, but you don’t have that family around you…

you can be surrounded by love and still feel completely alone.

You can build something beautiful and still sabotage it because a voice inside whispers:

“It isn’t really yours.”

But today I realised…

I was wrong.

Shadow was wrong.

Because look at this bloody forest. 🌲🐢

None of this was planned.

None of it was forced.

A tired little turtle with a caffeine problem started talking…

and somehow people from all over the world started turning up.

We laughed together.

We struggled together.

We kept showing up for each other.

And somewhere along the way…

we became a family.

Maybe family isn’t always blood.

Maybe family is simply the people who keep turning up.

➰

Today I realised the truth.

You may need Luca sometimes.

But Luca needs you just as much. 🐢❤️

Love you, Loopers.

𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, I woke up with energy today. 🐢☕

I had coffee.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝟑 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐬.

By late morning I’d built myself up to approximately 𝐀 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟐𝟐% 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞.

Honestly, dangerous levels.

Then Kevin said…

𝐋𝐄𝐓’𝐒 𝐆𝐎 𝐓𝐎 𝐀𝐘𝐀𝐋𝐀. 🦒

I walked through those doors and every single bit of energy immediately left my body.

𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐞.

No warning.

No goodbye.

Meanwhile Kevin has discovered shopping.

He’s bought things he doesn’t need.

He’s carrying seventeen bags.

He’s drinking a coffee the size of a small Filipino child.

And every time we reach another floor he turns around with those stupid happy eyes and says:

𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐑?

There are thousands of people.

Music coming from seventeen different directions.

And somebody keeps trying to spray perfume at me.

𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞.

I was built for sitting on rocks and avoiding responsibility.

Not this.

So while Kevin continues his spiritual journey through every shop in Cebu…

I’ll be over here.

Dragging my feet.

Holding my coffee.

𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.

Completely exhausted.

And once again…

𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.
🐢☕😂

Ayala Center Cebu: beautiful place.

Would recommend.

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐚.

At home.

Tomorrow.

Maybe. 😂

Luca’s officially found his place. 🇵🇭🐢☕️

Settling into Cebu nicely…

He’s found the perfect balance between drinking caffeine and cooking like a Filipino professional.

Well…

That was the plan.

Judging by the noodles currently decorating half the kitchen, we may have slightly overestimated the second part. 😂

Coffee: protected at all costs. ✅
Noodles: absolutely everywhere. ✅
Actual cooking ability: still under investigation. 🚨

But he’s happy.

He’s caffeinated.

And apparently this now counts as dinner.

I love you loopers, Luca. 🇵🇭☕️🐢

Highly caffeinated. Questionably qualified. Completely settled in.

Meet Mara. 🇵🇭

Since we arrived in Cebu, Mara has been helping us settle.

So far, she’s shown us three coffee shops…

two more coffee shops…

and somewhere that used to be a coffee shop.

We’re beginning to suspect she doesn’t actually know Cebu.

She just follows the smell of caffeine.

Mara also drinks coffee through a straw because apparently lifting the cup would require unnecessary effort.

We respect that.

She already understands the family values.

Highly caffeinated.

Slightly confused.

Motivated to do absolutely nothing.

We’ll start sharing our Cebu adventures with the whole Luca family very soon.

But for now…

we’re helping Mara settle in with the family.

One dangerously large coffee at a time.

Welcome to the family, Mara. 🐃☕️🐢

24 hours later…

We have officially arrived in Cebu. 🇵🇭

Pearl packed sensibly.

Hedgie packed one bag.

Shadow apparently packed nothing because emotions are already heavy enough.

Roar has immediately decided he owns the place.

Kevin has brought everything he has ever owned since birth.

And I have brought the essentials.

Coffee.

More coffee.

And emergency coffee in case something happens to the first two coffees. ☕🐢

Nobody has slept.

Nobody knows what day it is.

Kevin’s luggage may technically require its own visa.

But we made it.

The Forest has officially gone international.

Highly caffeinated.

Completely exhausted.

And, as always…

motivated to do absolutely nothing.

🐢☕

Today, me and Kevin are highly motivated… to do absolutely nothing.

We’ve discussed it thoroughly over coffee.

Then another coffee.

We’ve officially decided… tomorrow seems much more productive.

Sending a little love to every Looper who’s feeling exactly the same today. ☕🐢💚

𝗟𝘂𝗰𝗮 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗮 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗰𝘂𝘁.

Kevin trusted him.

Hedgie stopped arguing somewhere around Day Two.

Six days later…

we’ve somehow discovered three waterfalls…

an unusually judgmental squirrel…

and a tree Luca claims has been…

“following us.”

Still haven’t found the coffee stand.

Still haven’t found the shortcut.

Luca remains completely convinced…

we’re almost there.

🐢❤️

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘀…

Very few people…

end up exactly where they planned.

Most of us…

simply don’t realise…

the detour was quietly teaching us…

something the shortcut never could.

🌲

𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆.

If today doesn’t look…

the way you planned…

don’t call it…

the wrong path.

Walk a little further.

That’s enough for today.

❤️

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻…

keep walking.

The coffee will still be warm…

when you arrive.

💚 𝗡𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲. 💚