On Seeing the World
I was once asked if I traveled to fill a void. That person had no idea just how much I wanted to see the world at a very young age. I travel because I love to and I consider having traveled to over 100 Traveler Century Club's (TCC) countries an achievement.
Back in Manila where I grew up decades ago, travel was often something which only the rich people could do. Every time I went to our international airport to see a relative or a friend off, deep inside, I yearned to do the same. Fortunately, I have been blessed to have done just that and continue to do so up to this day. I work hard and the vacations I take are the rewards I give myself.
People collect cars, jewelry, and many other stuff, my collecting, on the other hand, takes the form of countries. I have no regrets doing so and am very proud of it too.
This is a drawing I made of myself when I first traveled. Here, I recall traveling in a blue linen suit made specially for me my by dad's tailor buddy. I bought a black suitcase from the popular Manila department called SM Cubao, and had a brown Philippine Airlines hand carry bag which mom gave me. My very first plane ride was with KLM Royal Dutch Airline and my very first travel was to Madrid, Spain. It was a dream come true as I received a year long cultural scholarship to pursue graduate study in the Spanish language courtesy of the Kingdom of Spain.