The Joys of Traveling

For someone who has motion sickness, it is very ironic for me to have a strong desire to travel and discover new places here in my country. Some fellow citizens do have a lot of complaints about the country - a few even badmouth how ugly the country is just because they have seen different countries (rants on a separate post), and while I recognize that we all do have the right to voice out opinions, I just hope certain people would also see how beautiful their own country is.

I don't travel that much (due to financial constraints), but whenever I do, I make sure I not only savor the moment, I also take the time to taste their food, discover their culture, and interact with the locals. Last year (April 2012), I was able to travel north and here are just a few of the many pictures I took during the three-day adventure.


It really makes me happy to photograph different flowers... and if there's a critter next to it, all the better.


I love watching travel-related shows, I love to browse travel magazines, and it makes me happy seeing places with my own eyes after seeing them on TV or magazines.


Likewise, I also love it when friends share their latest travel pictures or blog posts, because it allows me to know of places in my country I never knew existed.


Traveling for me isn't all about photographing different scenery, I also love eating different food - like this Pinakbet Pizza at Herencia Cafe. Pinakbet is a native Ilocos vegetable dish (string beans, eggplants, tomatoes, ampalaya, and squash cooked in fermented fish paste), and eating it pizza style was such a scrumptious discovery. Of course, part of my travels is entering different Catholic churches, and this particular travel allowed me to enter the Paoay Church, one of the four baroque churches in the Philippines, and the last of the four I visited.


For me, traveling alone gives me joy, but traveling with friends and family makes me happier.

Textured with Kim Klassen's "Canvasback," set to grain merge at 65%

This quote by Jawaharlal Nehru was such a fitting words of wisdom. Each place can be ugly or pretty to someone, depending on how they see it. For me, even if I have to return to a familiar place, one lesson I have learned is to see the world with a fresh set of eyes, and in doing so allowed me to have a much better visit than I had before.

So far this year, I have only traveled to La Union and Benguet. I am not sure if this will push through, but my brother told me some of his friends are planning to do a church hop in the province of Laguna, something I am looking forward to. What's very certain is that in a few months, I will be traveling with my dear friend K, exploring places such as Guimaras, Corregidor, Bataan, Boracay, and Iloilo.