Samantha Turingan

30 was the year of crazy side quests, and taking on a Muay Thai fight (and winning it 💅) with no previous experience ranks pretty high on the list At the peak of training for this fight, I was scared, frustrated, and very close to backing out. There was so much going on and I didn’t know what I was trying to prove doing this. Hirap maging bida-bida!! Well my competitive and stubborn ass wouldn’t let me quit (shoutout @letsgetlaaaud @joshdo_it for the extra push) and I’m better for it! This fight became proof that I can and will do the things I said I would. That even when I’m terrified, exhausted, and unsure, I will still keep going. And having people in your corner who love you whatever happens, already feels like a win . Anyway, I don’t know what 31 looks like but if I know anything it’s that my audacity will take me far 🤪

Love overflows here Happy birthday, Valentine’s Day, and 3070th anniversary napaka kulit kong minamahal! I love you Kalbs 🤪

This while jamming to the gayest possible playlist (that she made me) >>>

Emerging Islands presents Follow the Water, our labor of love. SAY “MOSS” AND REMEMBER THE RIVER Was it a summer filled with the churning foam of ocean waves, the gritty squelch of sandy slippers? Or the smell of chlorine and sunblock, the prickle of fear as you swam toward the deep end of the pool? Maybe water meant a soapy bath filled with bright, waterlogged toys, or the murky swirl of a river, cow dung and mud softly swallowing your toes. Take a moment to remember, and you might feel yourself afloat once more, like the first time you learned you could trust the water to carry your weight. Follow the Water began as an outdoor photography exhibit in La Union. We wanted to widen the conversation around the experiences and issues of coastal communities in the region. Since then, Follow the Water has evolved into a framework—a way to reorient storytelling around the presence and poetics of water. Our hope is to recenter the world’s lakes, rivers, wetlands, and seas in people’s imaginations, by amplifying the voices and knowledge of the communities that depend on them and fight to protect them. For this publication, we gathered storytellers whose work is shaped by and around water—from the marshlands of Mindanao to the Mekong, from the Banda Sea to the Amazon. Each story is a tributary, flowing into the next: together they form a river of memory, resistance, and care. Following the water is how we can begin to upend and invert the world we’ve built—not by escaping into fantasy, but by returning to a daily, lived truth. That the world is more water than land; an archipelago more than a continent. Where the water flows, life follows. Writer and Editor @nicolaseabass Creative Director @thisyoungfiction Photo Editor @hannahreyesmorales Editorial Assistant @samturingann Contributors: @orehuiying @shinalodon @musukn @mandybarkerphotography @mfimages @gabmejia @pabloa.photo @malinfezehai @muhamago_ Graphic Designer @alecfiguracion Illustrator @kilabotngkabite Color Proofing Editor @ekkaratpunyatara Researcher & Proofreader @geelagarcia Special thanks @insidenatgeo Storytellers Collective @llyttons

Saltwater. Sunshine. And suits that SLAP. ⚡ Are you a Wave Chaser? Get ready for a drop this Saturday ✺ 08. 23. 25 ✺ - #ridethewave #surfergirls #surfergirl #surflife #launion #caparicaswim #groovy

2025 is THAT girl Show me what else you got this year universe, kayang kaya ko pa ✨🫶🏽

Sobra-sobra sa pagmamahal ❤️ Two months into 30 and wow we love it here!!

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" - Mary Oliver I plan to love. To love by giving my whole self to a place - learning from its people, surfing its waves, diving into its oceans (yown oh diver na siya??) To love by building a strange, kind, chaotic, and beautiful life with people I believe in. To love with my full body - in play, in dance, in song, in work, in prayer. To love through work that sometimesss breaks me open (in the best way possible). To love with my whole, feral heart - even (or most especially) when it's inconvenient. I turned 30 in South Africa 2 weeks ago and just got home, still trying to process that whirlwind of a trip. WHEW What a gift to enter this new decade doing work that is so fulfilling with @emergingislands , and to meet some of the most brilliant people at the @newfcommunity Fellows Summit and Congress. Closed the trip with ten days at eKhaya - a home that held us with so much tenderness and reminded me that care, joy, and play, are just as much part of the work we do as storytellers! Enjoy this carousel of photos featuring the dumb smile I couldn't wipe off my face the entire trip. 😀 Grateful. Still unhinged. Still in love with it all! ✨❤️ Thank you @muhamago_ and @shinalodon for the diving photos!!

Spent our last day in South Africa exploring Kosi Bay, and it was absolutely magical ☀️ Thank you @noel_newf @newfcommunity , what an amazing way to meet South Africa! Til next time ❤️

Shades of summer ☀️ (when the sunsets are the prettiest and the heat is unbearable)

On my way home to myself, but I keep stopping to enjoy the vibes 🤷🏽‍♀️💃🏽✨ 📸 @arturo.photo

That weekend was the most perfect way to kickoff international women's month ✨💃🏽 Thanks to everyone who came to Boys Aside and shared your energy!! We heard you, and we will definitely be doing this again! (Diba, @louisefortinez ? Hahahaha)