TO BE HONEST, I am not always so brave with travels and adventures.
I did not grow up with a travel itch.
We were pretty middle class, and we didn’t travel that much.
In fact, when I was younger, the trip from Dumangas to Iloilo was already such a treat.
Never mind that I had to stand in the middle of the jeepney between the knees of facing passengers because we were so poor to pay for my seat.
***
But I remember my mom taking me to visit her birthplace in Culasi, Antique.
Of course, we took the bus.
Non-air conditioned bus, with plywood or lawanit windows.
These days, if I don’t go to Antique on my own private car, at least, I go on the air-conditioned shuttle.
***
My mom was the original risk-taking traveler.
I remember that one time, she had to take three of us siblings with her to visit her family in M’lang, Cotabato.
I’m pretty sure she had a fight with dad.
If they didn’t, maybe we just went on a summer vacation. But without my dad.
We took a boat from Iloilo to Cagayan de Oro.
And from CDO, it was an assortment of buses, jeepneys, tricycles.
It was crazy.
***
How crazy?
The most unforgettable thing was that my youngest brother at that time—because my parents added two more children—had to poop in a plastic bag!
Today, I cannot understand why that happened.
Weren’t there toilets in bus stations?
Or eateries with service bathrooms?
But I cannot invent a story like this, so it sticks.
***
And why did we ride a carroza to get to my grandparent’s farm in Dalapitan?
Didn’t we have enough money to pay for a tricycle?
Ah, but we were so poor that I remember we took home to Iloilo three sacks of rice from that trip.
***
My first trips around the country were paid by the school or provincial funds.
I was a favorite contestant that teachers bring to regional and national conventions, jamborees, and conferences.
That’s the reason seldom seen by my peers as to why I’m very competitive. Or why it would seem that I live for contests.
It’s the free out of town trips, baby!
***
My first trip abroad was the Japan-RP Friendship Program for the 21st Century.
After graduating as the most outstanding graduate and most outstanding student of UPV in 1990, I competed with other graduates all over the Philippines for the top ten positions.
The Top Ten were chosen by NEDA, who handled the search for cultural exchange scholars in the JICA (the Japan International Cooperation Agency) program.
The “prize” was a monthlong tour of Japan—seven cities, cultural tours, homestay, friendship camps.
***
I felt blessed that I experienced that.
But I also felt deep down inside that it could just be a one-off thing.
Unlike my sisters who finished Nursing, and had clear prospects of working abroad, I didn’t really believe that my BS Biology from UP would take me elsewhere in the world.
We were that poor, finally.
And so, I ended up a bum, actually.
***
Bummed I did for a while.
Until I decided to take up Nursing as a second course.
I immigrated to America in 2006. But I kept my Filipino citizenship.
***
I found my future and late husband online a few months after I’ve settled in Los Angeles.
I started to travel because he lived in the East Coast, and I lived in the West Coast.
Then, when I started my winning streak at the Palanca, we started with our international travels.
We made yearly pilgrimages to the Philippines. And I booked side trips to most of Asia: Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, et cetera.
We also enjoyed cruises to Canada and Mexico.
Enjoyed it so much that we were actually on 12 cruises together!
***
When my husband passed away, I travelled even more.
The idea of mortality became more real for me.
And because I was finally financially stable, I decided to just see the world.
And then, the pandemic happened.
And then, we had adjusted to our new normal.
And so, I’m back to seeing the world even if it kills me.
***
Because I don’t want to die sitting down.
I don’t want to die trapped in a big house.
I want adventure. I want to live life.
Live la vida loca!
That for me, or death!/PN
