Travel and Learn

Traveling. Who doesn’t want to travel? I guess everyone wants to travel but not all are given the means to do so. But if you have the means to do so then why not, it is an experience you will always treasure. I came upon an article by Atom Araullo on SMILES, the Cebu Pacific In-flight Magazine, and he shared some thoughts on backpacking, keeping a record of important things you have seen, take a lot of pictures and learn and experience the culture of the places you are going to. When I first started traveling in the Philippines, I was mainly a tourist. I tasted the local fare, pictures on specific destinations, seeing the places but not exactly learning the culture. And I mainly travelled with friends. I have been to Baguio, Benguet, Cordillera, Sagada, Vigan, Laoag, Pagudpud, Pangasinan, Subic, Zambales, Batangas, Bataan, Puerto Galera, Tagaytay, Quezon, Laguna, Cebu, Bantayan Island, Boracay and Davao. And during all these trips, I never actually visited museums except for the Ilocos Trip. I guess as you grow old, you learn to travel than just being merely a regular tourist. Even in my first travel overseas which was in October 2004, I went to Hong Kong and Shenzen, China but mostly for theme parks and shopping. My first attempt to an actual travel was in October 2009 when I went to Bangkok alone. I think Bangkok is a good start for a solo traveller wanting to experience the culture without the hassle of rushing your time. But since then, even though I travelled with a friend or two, I or we have made plans on experiencing the culture rather than just being a regular tourist. So you simply have to choose the right people to travel with in order to experience what you want to do. Aside from Bangkok, here are the list of places I have been to:

1.       Hong Kong and Shenzen, China, October 2004
2.       Singapore and Johor Bahru, Malaysia, May 2008 – June 2013
3.       Bangkok, Thailand, October 2009
4.       Medan, Tangkahan and Lake Toba, North Sumatra Indonesia, February 2012
5.       Bali, Indonesia, March 2011
6.       Jakarta, Indonesia, July 2011
7.       Bali, Indonesia, March 2012
8.       Yogyakarta, Indonesia, May 2012
9.       Bohol, Philippines, June 2012
10.   Phuket, Thailand, December 2012
11.   Seoul, South Korea, December 2012
12.   Padang, Bukit Tinggi, West Sumatra, December 2012
13.   Bali, Indonesia, March 2013
14.   Hanoi, Vietnam, April 2013
15.   Bangkok, Thailand, August 2013
16.   Vientiane, Laos, August 2013
17, Penang and Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, October 2013
18. Bali, Indonesia, October 2013
19. Siem Reap, Cambodia, November 2013
20. Bangkok, Thailand, November 2013
21. Kathmandu and Lumbini, Nepal, December 2013
22. Baguio City (again), Philippines, January 2014
23. Singapore, February - March - April 2014
24. Bali, Indonesia, May 2014
25. Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia July 2014
26. Singapore, September 2014
27. Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, January 2015

Hoping to visit more countries soon such as:

1.       Nepal - done
2.       India
3.       Brazil
4.       Argentina
5.       San Francisco
6.       New York
7.       Spain
8.       Italy
9.       France
10.   Turkey
11.   Portugal
12.   Japan
13.   Taiwan
14.   Cambodia - done
15.   New Zealand

There are just so many places to go so just keep on travelling to many places as long as you can.

Here is a link to SMILES CEBU PACIFIC MAGAZINE where you can find Atom Araullo's article.

http://ink-live.com/emagazines/smile/1457/september-2013/

--------

jigomeister
10.07.2013