Hello, my name is Tina. I am very blessed so far to have Traveling as a very major part of my life. Although I've spent most of my life in my hometown, I've traveled across
Anyway, a little bit of history on how I delved into this wonderful world of traveling. My parents exposed me to travel early on, as we used to travel between the Philippines and Hong Kong at least once or twice every year to spend summer and winter holidays with my mom's family. I would later accompany my mom to the United Kingdom and France to visit her other sisters too. I loved how we have family around the world. My dad also loved to travel. I still remember him bringing the whole family to Japan. At that time, it was a luxury. Hong Kong was always fun, but then it became routine. So Japan was the first overseas trip I recall that we went on a family vacation. We visited a place with a totally different culture and saw snow for the first time. Imagine our excitement! My mom also brought me to the US West Coast during my teens, I think it was after I graduated from grade school. I got to see Disneyland for the first time, a place that I would only see in my dreams. Then my dad would also go on business trips and occasionally brought me and mom along, one time to Singapore. He also encouraged me to join Exchange Programs in Japan (Rotary Club) and Taiwan. I was very lucky. And this surely paved the way for my interest in traveling.
But ironically enough, I felt my view of the world was still limited. Despite my early exposure to travel, my curiosity was still piqued especially in the countries that would only appear in stories, where I don't have any relatives to visit, or it wasn't common to travel for business or leisure, places like Greece, Nepal, Tibet, Africa, Egypt, etc. When I was small, I would learn about these places through the National Geographic magazine that my dad subscribes to, or in my World Geography Class, but more so on my Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego game 😄. This is where I learned about the different currencies, flags, famous attractions, and artifacts. I got introduced to places like Reykjavik, Kathmandu, Athens, or San Marino, or Budapest, for example - not really places one would visit just like that. Oh, I also did the pen pal thing, where I had friends from Norway, Greece, and the US.
When I grew up and finished my first 3 years of work. I needed to spread my wings, so I went to the US to pursue my MBA. I went to a school with International MBA, and more than 50% of the students were international, folks from China, Singapore, Japan, Finland, and different parts of the US.
And as destiny rules, I was also exposed to travel during my work. It brought me to places like Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, China, India, and the Czech Republic, on top of the usual places like the United States, and Singapore where I've already been previously.
My travels evolved and I went on journeys to visit places where I can engage in more cultural immersion. My trip to Brazil and Argentina was independent travel and due to this, I got to really see the place and know the place on a deeper level. I also went to Cambodia for a VolunTour trip where I did a homestay and teach English to children. And I also joined photography trips to more exotic places like Bhutan and Myanmar amongst others.
I then spent a few years bonding with family through my travels, sharing with them my love for traveling and helping organize and plan trips that focus on experiences rather than just reaching a destination.
So what's next? Well, still a whole big world out there to explore. As the saying goes, my feet itch and I'm ready to travel again. After all, I have a big mole under my feet, and my mom used to say it means that my fate includes a lot of traveling. No wonder, I have this strong passion for seeing new places. Hopefully, one day, I get to visit all 7 continents, and maybe even beyond 😉
I find great purpose in traveling because every trip I take is a journey. It's a journey involving learning experiences that no classroom will ever teach.
First of all, it expanded my knowledge about the vast world, its cultures, its languages, and most of all, its uniqueness. Boy, I've felt how difficult it was not to be able to communicate with the local language, I've been culture shocked by the religious beliefs, and I've felt totally like an outsider or an intruder in a totally foreign land. Ironically, it also gives one a view that despite the vastness, everything is interconnected and fits perfectly together into the one world that God created, thereby, making it a small world after all. And it becomes really interesting when you begin to find the commonalities in a place so different, a people so unfamiliar, and a culture that's so foreign.
Secondly, the existence of the world paved its way for the journey that we all have to take, in our life. Imagine our life without this vast world, there wouldn't be a journey to take. God meant for us to experience that journey, including the wrong turns and the dead ends. For without this, we will never get to where He wants us to go. I can now remember the times when I would take the wrong turn, or get shouted at for something I didn't even know why. I even lost my laptop and passport on one trip, can you imagine that? But in hindsight, that's the best opportunity to learn.
And lastly, the awareness that learning will never end as things will always end up not as you imagine them to be. What makes an experienced traveler different from a tourist, would be this. I have oftentimes been thankful that I was prepared and thus, spared from the mishaps. More importantly, with the knowledge I have, I could anticipate and think ahead, to avoid unexpected situations that I have never experienced before. But as life is, you can only minimize this as nothing in life is as expected.
So these days when most people would spend to buy a house, a car, and fashion items; I would spend my money on Travel. As the saying goes,
I find great purpose in traveling because every trip I take is a journey. It's a journey involving learning experiences that no classroom will ever teach.
First of all, it expanded my knowledge about the vast world, its cultures, its languages, and most of all, its uniqueness. Boy, I've felt how difficult it was not to be able to communicate with the local language, I've been culture shocked by the religious beliefs, and I've felt totally like an outsider or an intruder in a totally foreign land. Ironically, it also gives one a view that despite the vastness, everything is interconnected and fits perfectly together into the one world that God created, thereby, making it a small world after all. And it becomes really interesting when you begin to find the commonalities in a place so different, a people so unfamiliar, and a culture that's so foreign.
Secondly, the existence of the world paved its way for the journey that we all have to take, in our life. Imagine our life without this vast world, there wouldn't be a journey to take. God meant for us to experience that journey, including the wrong turns and the dead ends. For without this, we will never get to where He wants us to go. I can now remember the times when I would take the wrong turn, or get shouted at for something I didn't even know why. I even lost my laptop and passport on one trip, can you imagine that? But in hindsight, that's the best opportunity to learn.
And lastly, the awareness that learning will never end as things will always end up not as you imagine them to be. What makes an experienced traveler different from a tourist, would be this. I have oftentimes been thankful that I was prepared and thus, spared from the mishaps. More importantly, with the knowledge I have, I could anticipate and think ahead, to avoid unexpected situations that I have never experienced before. But as life is, you can only minimize this as nothing in life is as expected.
So these days when most people would spend to buy a house, a car, and fashion items; I would spend my money on Travel. As the saying goes,
“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world is the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.”
- Mark Jenkins
- Mark Jenkins
A well-traveled person with wide experience knows many things and talks sense. You can't know much if you haven't experienced much, but travel can make you more clever. In my own travels, I have seen many things and learned more than I can put into words.
- Sirah 34:9-11
- Sirah 34:9-11
