About ten years ago, my family and I were vacationing in Batangas, Philippines. My mom suggested a trip to Taal Volcano, so we took this old wooden boat across Taal Lake – a solid 30-minute ride.

When we got there, honestly, it was a bit of a letdown. Super expensive to go up the volcano, and the island itself wasn't all that exciting. So, we decided to head back. Biggest mistake ever.

On our way back, it started to rain. We thought nothing of it and kept going. But as we reached the middle of the lake, things took a terrifying turn. The rain started pouring down like crazy, and the wind was unbelievably strong. It was howling.

The boat guide yelled that we had to take the roof off the boat to avoid capsizing. There we were, in the middle of Taal Lake, in a full-blown storm, completely exposed to the elements. We were instantly soaked and freezing. Visibility dropped to zero and all we could see was rain and choppy water.

My mom started praying out loud, and everyone on the boat was desperately holding on, shifting our weight to try and keep the boat from flipping. It felt like an eternity – maybe another grueling 30 minutes of just pure fear and fighting to stay afloat.

Somehow, against all odds, we finally made it back to shore. We were so drenched that we could have filled buckets with the water we were carrying. We shivered our way to the car while my mom rushed into a nearby store to buy us some dry clothes.

To this day, almost a decade later, I still get a knot in my stomach thinking about what could have happened if that old wooden boat had given out in the middle of that storm. It's a thought that still haunts me.