A woman lived on a remote island with just 80 people for FREE - and washed her clothes in a well and climbed trees for coconuts.
Brooke Megan, 20, spent two weeks staying on Darocotan Island, Philippines, for free by volunteering in December 2023.
Brooke says the island was so small you could walk or kayak around it easily - and you had to get a boat to the mainland to get produce to make meals.
She lived in a bamboo hut for the two weeks - sleeping on a mattress on the floor and says the experience was "amazing".
Brooke, a social media sales co-ordinator, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, said: "It's a tiny island - 70 to 80 people live on the island.
"Everything is simple.
"You never end up wearing shoes.
"I didn't pay for anything - just drinks."
Brooke was able to stay on the island, situated just near El Nido, for free - in return for volunteering through the Isla experience.
She would help out with social media and greeted guests on the boats.
She spent her days looking after pigs, relaxing on the beach and enjoying bonfires in the evening.
She said: "You can see so many stars. It's amazing."
Brooke also got a chance to meet locals living on the island and see their small village.
She said: "People appreciate so much.
"The locals show you how to get a coconut down from a tree.
"They wash clothes in a well and scrub with their bare hands for three hours."
Brooke had her meals provided for her as part of the volunteering experience - which were made from fresh produce fished and sourced that day.
She had to take cold showers and had limited internet but said it allowed her to "live in the now".
Brooke said: "You appreciate just being in nature.
"It's such a different way of life.
"It's a beautiful place."
Besides spending two weeks on the island Brooke has been to 26 countries - travelling around Australia, Thailand and Malaysia.
She was able to travel around on a budget while also volunteering and working as a travel guide.
Brooke Megan, 20, spent two weeks staying on Darocotan Island, Philippines, for free by volunteering in December 2023.
Brooke says the island was so small you could walk or kayak around it easily - and you had to get a boat to the mainland to get produce to make meals.
She lived in a bamboo hut for the two weeks - sleeping on a mattress on the floor and says the experience was "amazing".
Brooke, a social media sales co-ordinator, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, said: "It's a tiny island - 70 to 80 people live on the island.
"Everything is simple.
"You never end up wearing shoes.
"I didn't pay for anything - just drinks."
Brooke was able to stay on the island, situated just near El Nido, for free - in return for volunteering through the Isla experience.
She would help out with social media and greeted guests on the boats.
She spent her days looking after pigs, relaxing on the beach and enjoying bonfires in the evening.
She said: "You can see so many stars. It's amazing."
Brooke also got a chance to meet locals living on the island and see their small village.
She said: "People appreciate so much.
"The locals show you how to get a coconut down from a tree.
"They wash clothes in a well and scrub with their bare hands for three hours."
Brooke had her meals provided for her as part of the volunteering experience - which were made from fresh produce fished and sourced that day.
She had to take cold showers and had limited internet but said it allowed her to "live in the now".
Brooke said: "You appreciate just being in nature.
"It's such a different way of life.
"It's a beautiful place."
Besides spending two weeks on the island Brooke has been to 26 countries - travelling around Australia, Thailand and Malaysia.
She was able to travel around on a budget while also volunteering and working as a travel guide.
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FunTranscript
00:00 Syracuse and islands I'm here with is our experience and I basically just want
00:03 to show you everything that this place has to offer it is a remote peaceful
00:08 it's got amazing snorkeling swimming and look at this water behind me I'm part of
00:12 the isla experience and it is basically a tiny little base camp that has got
00:18 very little tourists that come in and I basically living here but nothing so I
00:25 came here at the beginning of December and my role was for in exchange for free
00:30 accommodation and free meals so I get breakfast every morning lunch and dinner
00:34 I also get 50% off any drinks that I want here and the staff have been so
00:39 amazing we generally have had the best time I'm actually leaving in two days
00:44 and I'm really really sad to be leaving but it's been a really different
00:47 experience something I've never done before so in exchange for this I have
00:50 basically just been volunteering on the island with anything they need and that
00:53 ranges from social media so I've been taking lots of videos photos getting the
00:57 team in for lots of videos doing tours of the island doing some drone shots
01:01 until my drone actually broke and also I've been going on the boats welcoming
01:05 guests getting the welcome drinks in helping out clear out plates bringing
01:09 out food and just all-rounding helping on the island I obviously I'm an English
01:14 speaker as well so people that come on the island and they may need help with
01:17 translation I've been there being able to give that extra little bit of help I
01:22 have had a really flexible schedule so in the morning I would wake up I would
01:25 help with guests or any problems and then I'd be able to do a workout with
01:30 the team here as well I'd be able to do a sunset swim I would be able to go on
01:34 the boat I'd be able to do kayaking I'd be able to do loads of different
01:37 activities and it wasn't like a strict schedule if I wanted to work on social
01:41 media content I could also do that as well morning actually started off with a
01:45 sunrise at 530 it was absolutely incredible one of the most beautiful
01:50 sunrises ever and then I went back to my room and relaxed till around 7 and then
01:56 I started getting ready brush my hair and then went on my morning walk
02:01 that little baby heart is mine and then I'm gonna walk to my bathroom which is
02:07 just here so normally I wake up at 8 o'clock in the morning this morning I
02:11 woke up at 530 because I went to watch the sunrise and it was so beautiful I'm
02:16 so happy I did it but I just like to wake up a little bit earlier and then my
02:19 body naturally wakes up because I sleep with the curtains open and all the
02:23 blinds open and so I wake up to the natural light anyway and here is my
02:27 little hut it's a bit messy so you're gonna have to excuse it got these little
02:34 crazy steps this is what I'm living in I then made my bed as best as I could for
02:40 living in a hut and then I done my morning stretching now I'm not gonna lie
02:43 I do not do this every day and I sometimes do forget but I try and make a
02:47 most of it and then I make a cup of ginger tea because this makes me feel so
02:53 much better in the morning and then I enjoy the views because look at where
02:57 I'm living it's absolutely incredible and then the guests start to come so we
03:01 actually welcome them with a welcome a little drink and then I sort out all the
03:07 charging station because normally it looks a lot like this say morning to
03:10 everyone make sure everything's ready for the day have my breakfast which is
03:14 all included in the volunteering session and then I do some morning chores this
03:19 is like rewriting the book I also drink a little coconut whilst I'm doing it so
03:23 I can feel really on the island do a quick little workout with the amazing
03:27 twice savage ma then I go and feed the pigs and that is the morning routine on
03:32 the island by the end of it I was not vibing with the pigs we set up a very
03:38 traditional Filipino lunch and made banana spring rolls and these were
03:42 probably the best things I've eaten in the whole of the Philippines had some
03:46 volleyball volleyball is so much fun and the
03:49 Filipino knows take it so seriously then we went to the village on our little
03:52 tour met some of the locals and also saw how they clean their clothes and played
03:57 games and everything like that there's only eight people that live here so it's
04:00 really interesting watch the sunset and then it was time for dinner we get a
04:05 fresh-made buffet that's all included in our volunteering expedition as well and
04:10 then we had a bonfire done some games and listened to some classic karaoke and
04:15 done the butterfly dance which is very very famous I was actually really
04:18 nervous but really excited so I got picked up and I met Justin who was
04:22 related to be someone that I worked with really closely as well as Roy who I
04:25 actually had a little special place in my heart and yeah I just met the team it
04:29 was a bit like all over the place and I didn't really know what I was doing so
04:32 they just said go and explore the island and then you can check into your room
04:35 now I only stayed here for two nights and two nights it was luxury it was the
04:38 four-bed room and I was like oh my god surely I'm not staying here I didn't I
04:42 got moved very shortly after this into a tiny little hut but it was still amazing
04:46 and the view was incredible I met the doggies that I spent with the whole time
04:50 on the island met some of the locals and by the end of it I actually loved coming
04:54 here just for a different bit of an experience and then watch the sunset and
04:58 I was like oh my god I'm actually here and I felt a bit of like an up-and-down
05:02 for the first couple of days but honestly it had the most amazing food
05:05 and then ended the night with a fire show