Travelling has always seduced me! i have always looked far and wide, day dreaming of going to far far away lands and just going around old, historic places ...meeting people...
Maybe I have always been a traveler all my life. Maybe in my past life I am a voyager, travelling to exotic places, meeting people, touching lives and being touched by life! Travelling seems to have defined my life , in a way.......opening my eyes to embrace all cultures, respect their tradition and share my culture and who I am....My travels have given me memories that will last me a lifetime. My travels have opened my eyes , allowed me to embrace cultures and appreciate mine.... meet people, form friendships to last a lifetime, maybe 2 lifetimes. Come to think of it, yes, memories to last me 2 lifetimes.!
I have been gifted , blessed with 2 life changing travels in my not so young life. SSEAYP was my first international encounter , I was 19 , going around South East Asia and Japan, meeting my lifetime friends and living the life every teen should be able to experience one way or another......being indipendent , bold , confident to meet life head on , feeling invinsible because I was young and I have travelled... Travelling has widen my horizons, opened my eyes and made me more tolerant of people , made me feel that each has a place under the sun, we don't need to crowd each other, the universe is vast , it is awesome. My SSEAYP experience made me love my country more, it was because of this journey that I appreciated my country more. ..Funny, I feel my being a Filipino was made more vivid to me when I was overseas, representing my country.... it was here that I began seeing myself as a Filipino.....
Since then, my wanderlust has been insatiable, whenever and wherever, I grab the chance to travel. I have been to many countries and everytime, I am a Filipino travelling the world and yet feeling like a global citizen!
I got my second gift of travel just recently when WWF afforded me tha chance to go to the Land of OZ and join the Team Solar Philippines....Life in the Outback is exciting , camping in the middle of nowhere (in the words of carol Janairo) , driving down Stuart Highway, following the Solar Car, being with young people just old enough to be my kids, meeeting people who are just willing to help , meeting people who will become my firends for a long time and meeting people who feels like thye have been my friends for a long time!
More than the places that travel takes me to, it is the friendships that I cherish more, my memory will someday fade, someday I will not remember the names and faces but the feeling of friendship , of meeting somebody and being embraced with friendship and love will stay!! Just like the memory of a smell, they bring you back to a time , to a place , to a feeling ........ they bring you back to you!!! T
hey bring you the future you and your life is forever changed!
Changed! yes people we meet in our travels change us, we are not the same people after new friendships ...after people's lives touch us... Solar Car challenge has brought me back to those feelings, I am changed, renewed and enriched by the people who are now part of the memories I shall keep for a long long time......
Travel has gifted me not only of memories but friends to share memories with.....Travel has enriched my life not only with memories but with the hope that someday I will meet them again somewhere ..........
I shall look forward to meeting you and your Wanda somewhere!!!
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