Meet Betchai

Welcome to The Joys of Simple Life. 

Thank You for taking time to visit the pages of my simple joys in my simple life. 

I am a Math and Chemistry teacher, whose other passion aside from teaching is to explore our natural world and to take care of the treasures on Earth that God gifted us with. 

"God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools. "- John Muir 

I am originally from the Philippines but now lives in San Diego, CA. I love hiking. It is my most favorite form of exercise. I also love to take pictures of the places I hike. It is my wish to share the wonderful joys of hiking, of places one may not be able to enjoy unless they leave the main road, get to their feet to get more out of life. 

Our delicate and fragile world has so much to offer in terms of natural beauty, and it is my hope to share these healing treasures hidden in the backroads to hopefully cultivate an awareness that we all need to work together to preserve God's greatest artistry. Our mother earth has given us so much, but she needs us to take care and preserve her majestic, wonderful beauty.

In this site, you will find some information about the hiking trails we tread, some of the places we explored, some itineraries of our travels, some road trip information, and more of the simple joys from our natural world that can never be exchanged with gold. 

Let me share with you some of my favorite quotes from John Muir.

"I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." - John Muir

"Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." - John Muir

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. " - John Muir