Old Town, Hanoi : Thoughts on a Street Corner

“Life is full of stories. Or maybe life is only stories. Good night, my dear Nao.”

- A Tale for the Time Being, Ruth Ozeki

I'm back in Hanoi, this time on a work trip, but with travel perks nonetheless. I'm sitting at the corner of Hang Thung and Ten Huu Huan. 930pm. Swarm of motorcycles crossing the intersection. The traffic lights work, but it's only for show. The Vietnamese have their own traffic rules, or probably it is its non-existence.

Nafplio, Greece : Finding Beauty in Solitude

Typical House

Nafplio, Greece

6am. I can’t pretend that I can still sleep. The five hour time difference, or jet lag, is setting in. I opened the door to the balcony and welcomed the morning light. The town is still asleep. But the birds chirping greeted me a good morning.

Here's To Now

Mt. Batulao, Philippines

“You never know where the world is gonna take you. So I’m just trying to be open and present in every moment I’m in and seeing where that kind of leads me. And just one with what feels right as well, because I think that’s what’s important. Rather than being ‘this is my goal and I’m gonna work so hard to make that’. It’s like sometimes if you have such tunnel vision, you miss everything else that’s around you and things can’t happen. It’s good to be open. I think your passions carry you through. And if you’re passionate about things, it will carry you to the next events. But I don’t want to get ever too stuck on having one objective that’s gonna kind of blind you to something that could happen that would even be more rad.” 

- Kassia Meador

That Time in Delhi

Agra Fort, India

“No, tell me. I want to know how you felt about it.” You told me this while I was trying to tell you how hard it has been to tell my parents about this trip. You’re actually the first one who genuinely listened to all the fears I had to face before I made the big decision to quit my job and travel.

Thoughts on Burma, A Year After

Village Chief, Kalaw ot Inle Lake Trek

I saw this travel writing contest in the internet, the goal was to write about a place that inspires you to live life without regrets. And the first place that comes to mind is Burma. I wanted to go to Burma because I was curious to experience traveling in a country closed-off from the rest of the world – or as they say ‘where time stood still’, I wanted to see and explore the thousands of stupas and temples in Bagan, and see the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda. I did all of it, but traveling in Burma for almost three weeks was definitely more than this. The people and situation in Burma humbled me. Coming from a third world country, I’ve come to appreciate the sense of freedom despite mere resources (compared to the first world) I enjoy and how much I have been taking them for granted.

I wrote this piece having the theme and my experiences in mind, ready to send it to the website. Until I read the guidelines of the writing contest again and realized that I read it all wrong. So I decided to just share it here in my blog.

Langtang Trek in Nepal : Regaining Focus

happy trekker :)

I forced myself to eat lunch after making it to Kyanjin Gompa, the highest village in my 5-day trek in the Langtang region. At 3900 meters, this village sits on a valley surrounded by Himalayan peaks and glaciers. I knew my body needed all the energy it can get to last a day in this village. I could feel my lungs and heart making extra effort to keep my body to function properly. To acclimatize, I decided to walk around the village.

Travel Love (Short Film) : A Story for Tomorrow.

a story for tomorrow. from gnarly bay productions, Inc. on Vimeo.

Beautiful. Compelling. 

Just like the effect of this photo on me. On how it made me realize that I can overcome my fears; and how much it pushed me to make the Big Trip a reality. This video 'a story for tomorrow.' by Gnarly Bay Productions made me nostalgic of my travels. The photos and shots are beautiful, and the words, the questions (more powerful since it was narrated by a Latino man) had quite an effect on me. And of course, it was more compelling for me since they were shot in Patagonia and Chile, which are some of the places I want to see in South America.

Are you still having second thoughts about going out there, leaving your comfort zone for a period of time, and seeing the world? Watch this. Hope your answers to Future's questions are both yes. Because mine's yes. :)

A Tribute To Last Places

Hsipaw, Burma

“The people who live in the last places – the people who are most neglected and least valued by the larger world – often represent the best of who we are and the finest standard of what we are meant to become. This is the power that last places hold over me, and why I have found it impossible to resist their pull.” 

- Stones Into Schools, Greg Mortenson 

There’s a certain kind of magic I feel when I prepare for a day or a week of trekking/walking. When I pack only the basic things I need. There’s a certain kind of excitement I feel when I wake up charged and ready to explore a new and distant place. 

What's Next After Living Out Your Dream?

Mui Ne, Vietnam

Dec '11

Photo by Anthony

I was recently invited to give a talk on traveling and career break by Tara Let’s Go Asia. Tara Let’s Go Asia’s goal is to encourage people (especially professionals) to include travel in their lifestyle. One of their maiden events was to bring together these people to hear speakers share their experiences and tips on how to make more money and save up for travels, and how they were able to do their own career breaks. One of the speakers was my good friend Paul of WalkFlyPinoy who I travelled with for two months on my Big Trip, and has long since lived on the road pursuing his love for travel, travel photography and writing. He told the organizers of Tara Let’s Go Asia about me and how I was able to ‘reintegrate’ myself back in the corporate world. After a few weeks of convincing, I said yes. 

The People You Meet On The Road

"There was once a man who became unstuck in the world – and each person he met became a little less stuck themselves. He traveled only with himself and he was never alone." 
- Castles in the Sky, Film by Taylor Steele

I walked into the common bathroom and was fascinated by its design and how a backpackers’ dorm isn’t that bad after all. It was my first day of traveling solo, my first time staying in a dorm without knowing anyone. “Hey!” Another girl walked in and she’s my first friend on this whole backpacking trip. We decided to see the city together, and met more people and walked around the city proper after that. The next day I saw her off as she left for another town and I was preparing to leave that afternoon as well. She’s one of the people who frequently liked my travel photos in Facebook and wanted to meet again in a beach in another country. Sadly, I wasn’t headed that way. But she’ll forever hold a place in my memory as the first person I met while traveling solo. 

"So, you Work to Travel?"

2015 Vision Board

Source : Various including Wanderlass, AdamTheTraveler

I recently started a new job. During lunch with my colleagues in the project, their post-graduate education and degrees were discussed. And I got asked the question : “Do you have a masters degree? Do you have plans of getting further studies?” It was asked in a non-condescending manner (they're really nice and really really smart people), just like a normal question given the backgrounds of most of the people that are working here. 

The only answer I could come up with was : “It used to be part of the plan. But ever since I started traveling, it doesn’t seem to be anymore. Maybe in the future, but for now it’s not.” 

"So, you work to travel?" 

On 2012, Life's Unpredictability, and Moments' Impermanence

Pai, January 2012 / Bagan, Dec 2012

*Written while waiting for my flight back home. Realizations here are sometimes simple and apparent. But as with anything, writing it down reminds us of the simple things we once thought to be complex. 

I started and will end this year travelling. It’s interesting and overwhelming sometimes how this year has been so unpredictable. I fell in love, I changed my plans for someone, I started a new job, I got my own place, I got hurt, nothing made sense, I quit my job again, I felt hopeless, I travelled, I met amazing people, I saw beautiful landscapes, I witnessed beautiful sunsets, I got intrigued and captivated by a new country, and then I am happy again. 

Yee Peng Floating Lantern Festival : Prayers of Hope

“Do you believe that someday it wouldn’t feel like this anymore?” My good friend, Paul, asked me the other night as we were drinking in one of the reggae bars in Chiang Mai’s old town. 

“Honestly, I don’t know. I just hope, at the end of every single day that passes by, that tomorrow it will be better.” 

One day in Chiang Mai spent riding around the old town, we passed by places familiar and so nostalgic. Memories of the places we walked by, benches we sat on, and feelings from the last time I was here. I let my guard down, and just gave in to my emotions. 

It felt refreshing to talk to a good friend about this, someone who knows me well. And how, somehow, I felt understood because he’s also a traveller. 

I’m here again, back on the road, because I want to make new memories. Travel doesn’t necessarily fix anything, but I just hope to find myself again, or at least me at my best, doing what I love most. 

On Year 26 and Turning 27

The Big Trip
October 2011 - February 2012

My 26th year was a year of highs and lows. It was a year filled with travels, dreams fulfilled and humbling realities. 

Sunsets : Vivir Cada Minuto Intensamente

Mandalay, Burma

"Live life to the fullest. It's the best way. Live every moment intensely. Because life is too short, and the moment comes when we're going to die, and we'd have wished to do so many things we didn't. That's why we have to enjoy every moment. One must enjoy life. Try not to acquire so many things, but instead have experiences. Accomplish everything you want to do, no matter the effort that it deserves. Life is too short and one must relish it." – from departures. Season 2 : Chile episode 

And in Spanish, a language I’m slowly falling in love with. Especially the line “Vivir cada minuto intensamente.” or “Live every moment intensely.” Try saying it out loud. Don’t you just love the word intensamente? I do. :) (Thanks to my friend Paul for the text of the Spanish translation.) 

Viva la vida a concho. Es la mejor manera. Vivir cada minuto intensamente porque la vida es muy corta y de repente, llega el momento en que nos vamos a morir y habríamos deseado hacer las cosas que no las hicimos. Por eso, cada minuto hay que disfrutarlo. Hay que disfrutar de la vida. No tratar de tener tantas cosas, de adquirir tantas cosas sino que de tener vivencia. Lograr todo que queremos hacer. No importa la fuerza que esto se merezca pero vale la pena. La vida es muy corta y hay que gozarla. 

Travel Photos + Quotes = Inspiration

Below are some of my travel photos and the travel and life quotes that I really love and continue to inspire me to pursue what makes me genuinely happy.

Luang Prabang, Laos
Jan '12

How Do You Live Your Life?

Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia

How do you live your life? 

Do you live for the stability? Of everyday deciding to be where you are so you can build a life you know you are supposed to have? Always on a straight path, never thought of wandering around or trying another one? Maybe from time to time you imagine what it would be like to wander, but you prefered to stay put. 

Love for Travel Rekindled in Penang

Ernest Zacharevic's Murals in Georgetown

It was an early 6am flight to Singapore on Friday. There were a lot of hassles and mishaps going there –waking up late, going to the wrong airport terminal, long lines and ques, and the immigration officer who thought it was my first time to travel because of my new passport. She asked for all my flight itineraries and hotel bookings, until I volunteered to show her my old passport. I just really don’t get why they have to be so discriminating, and wondered what would have happened if I didn’t have my old passport with me. As compared to my entry in Singapore and Malaysia, where the officers were nicer and just allowed me to pass through without any questions. 

Some of the Best Lessons from my Travels in India

You hear and read stories about India, how different and unique it is. But as with anything, you will never really know what these people mean until you experience it first-hand. It is huge and is considered to be a sub-continent. There’s a lot to see – the chaotic streets, the colorful saris, desert, beaches, mountains, heritage sites, forts, and temples. But more than these, the experiences I treasured the most from my travels in India are the people and the perspectives I got from observing their daily lives.

Dealing With Changes

Vang Vieng, Laos

Just when you thought you had your whole year planned out. Just when you thought that everything is working out. Just when you thought that everything had a purpose.

And then one weekend all of that is gone. 

For two weeks you feel lost, disoriented even. For two weeks you think that you’ve lost yourself.