Dispatches from building a real-world + digital ecosystem
Stories, systems, and infrastructure from building off-grid resorts and automation ecosystems in Palawan.
Builder of places, systems, and autonomous operations.
I document the process of building sustainable resorts, deploying automation for local businesses, and creating an ecosystem where technology and nature operate together.
Roof framing, before the rains
Site 01 · Northern Palawan
§ 01
The people who build this ecosystem with us — architects, boat crews, chefs and resort owners, all on the ground in Palawan.
Work with us06 people on the wall · Palawan, Philippines
Latest dispatch
No. 047
Filed 5 weeks ago
Last log entry
5 weeks ago
Power · Site 01
Local time
19:29 PHT
UTC+8 · Palawan
Season
Transition
Amihan arriving
Uplink
Satellite + 4G
Automatic failover
Position
11.2° N · 119.4° E
Northern Palawan
§ 02
Not client work — proof of execution. Places and systems we’ve built, run, and had to fix.
All builds
Completed- full ECC Environmental Compliance and Permits.Off-Grid Resort Build
18 kWp · 12,000 L · 0 km of road
Off-Grid Resort Build
Solar, water systems, remote logistics
OperationalLocal Business Automation
11 businesses · 1 phone each · 0 laptops
Local Business Automation
WhatsApp flows, booking systems, AI agents
ExpandingPalawan Infrastructure Layer
6 boats · 3 van operators · 1 shared queue
Palawan Infrastructure Layer
Transport, supply chains, coordination
PilotDigital + Physical Integration
7 agents · 4 sensor feeds · 1 caretaker
Digital + Physical Integration
Agents managing real-world operations
Not a blog.
Dispatches from building a real-world + digital ecosystem — raw, operational, specific. Usually written after something broke.
No. 046Automation
It’s almost never the software. It’s that nobody designed for a two-person business running on one shared Android phone and prepaid data.
8 min read · 20 Sept
No. 045Infrastructure
Not the solar panels. A running list of the failures that actually took us offline — and the boring fixes that kept us online after.
9 min read · 13 Sept
No. 044Agents
Our agents assume the connection will drop. Here’s the architecture that lets them queue, retry, and still hand every message to a human on time.
10 min read · 6 Sept
§ 04 — Newsletter
Weekly dispatches from Palawan.
What’s working, what’s breaking, and what we’re building next.
One email a week, Sunday morning Manila time. No growth hacks, no launch sequences. Unsubscribe in one click.
§ 05
The companies building and running this ecosystem with us. Tap a logo to visit their work.
Become a partner§ 06
No skill bars, no percentages. Only capability — what we can stand up, run, and fix. Usually at night. Usually in the rain.
Technology should disappear into the place. The guest sees a hammock. Underneath, there’s a battery bank, a water line, and an agent answering WhatsApp at 2 a.m.
Solar, storage, water and logistics for sites the grid and the road never reached.
WhatsApp-first flows that run on one shared phone and prepaid data — in the languages customers actually use.
Agents that answer, draft, schedule and escalate — built to queue and retry when the uplink drops.
Human + agent approval. The agent drafts the booking and the payment link; a person taps approve.
Batteries, tanks, pumps, boats and guests reporting into one place — and paging the right human.
§ 05
A small number of projects each year, where land, operations and technology overlap. On the ground when it matters, remote when it doesn’t.
How we workSite selection, due diligence, off-grid design and build management — from the first boat ride to the first guest.
On-ground · 6–24 months
WhatsApp-first booking, messaging and payment flows for businesses that run on one phone.
Remote + on-site setup · 2–6 weeks
Agents that answer, draft, schedule and escalate — built for unstable internet, with humans approving what matters.
30-day pilot · then monthly
For resorts, operators, landowners and builders who want to plug into shared logistics, agents and guests.
Ongoing
§ 06
Short answers, checked on the ground. Anything longer lives in the stories and guides.
A living system, not a portfolio. We build off-grid resorts, automation systems and real-world infrastructure in Palawan — and document the process as field notes.
§ 07
Roof framing, solar runs, boat logistics and the crew. Updated as we build.
§ 08
The practical layer. What we wish someone had told us before the first boat ride — checked on the ground and updated when things change.
The full guide
01Flights, boats
Three airports, a handful of ferry routes and a lot of van time. How to choose an entry point based on where you’re actually going.
Verified 24 Sept
02Vans, bikes, private
Shared vans, private transfers, scooters and tricycles. What each is good for — and where each will let you down.
Verified 21 Sept
03The ecosystem, eventually
How to choose a base, what “off-grid” should actually mean when you’re paying for it, and the places in our network we’ll vouch for.
Verified 16 Sept
04Internet, power, water
What internet, power and water actually look like on the ground — for travellers, remote workers and anyone thinking of building here.
Verified 26 Sept
05The honest bits
The things that don’t make it into the travel reels: distances, weather, cash, land — and how long everything really takes.
Verified 19 Sept
