'To my right is a volcano, to my left is the ocean': Fil-Aus Zowie Palliaer on deciding to call Camiguin 'home'

Queenslander Zowie Palliaer decided to leave her corporate job in Australia and to stop "living for the weekend", eventually finding herself freediving and advocating for street dogs in the island where she was born - Camiguin in the Philippines.

Filipino-Australian Zowie Palliaer left her corporate job in Australia to travel the world, eventually settling where she was born - Camiguin in the Philippines. Credit: Zowie Palliaer

Key Points

• Zowie Palliaer was born in Camiguin, but moved to Australia as a child.
• In her late 20s, she decided to backpack around Asia, but later found herself longing for community and something more permanent.
• Although without the luxuries in Australia, Palliaer sees Camiguin as home and a place where she discovered her two passions - freediving and sheltering street animals.

Listen to

'To my right is a volcano, to my left is the ocean': Fil-Aus Zowie Palliaer on deciding to call Camiguin 'home'

SBS Filipino

13:33Filipino

I know I'm very lucky. Not everyone gets to backpack for five years and [do that and do remote work]...but after five years, I got burned out. I was tired of moving around and I craved community. I found home in Camiguin.

Zowie Palliaer, freediver and animal advocate

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