In today’s electronic and fast-paced world, travel has now become something a little too trivial. With cheap flights and microsecond tweet updates to famous destinations, the generation today covers more ground than the past two or three generations! Almost everyone have been to El Nido’s paradise, dived the unworldly coral reefs at Sabang and Coron, enjoyed the scenic views on top of Mt. Pulag, grazed on the surreal lands of Batanes, and enjoyed the mayhem of white beaches all over the Philippines. Traveling if I may say, is now a lifestyle. But is there more to it?
I’ve been to a lot of places in the Philippines and did a lot of things too – from road trips, scuba explorations, free diving, cliff jumping, zip lining, mountaineering, backpacking, and most of those bucket lists we have before we die. But what is the point in it? Are we traveling just to experience the different cultures of people, to capture a beautiful instagrammable photo, or to escape the stressful city life? Do we do it just to complete a travel bucket list? Then I realized, the answer is something more trivial as well. It opened my eyes to see deeper within one’s journey. With countless conversations with fellow travelers, mountain guides, local people, and almost anyone during the travel – it felt more alive! And the simple reason is because everyone shares their journey. We may have gone to the same place, but we never get to have the same experience. We may have ate the same food, but we never get the same satisfaction. We may have climbed the most difficult mountains, but we never had the same motivation.
Now, I not only travel just to be there, but I also get to hear the stories and hardships the people endured. Not only do I go out to enjoy, but I go there because I too have a responsibility. I not only see the beauty in a place, but also see the dark side in it. My horizons broadened, my mind nourished, my goals redefined, my character upheld. But you would be wondering, with all the changes to my perspective, how then did travel changed my life? Well, it didn’t. It just showed me how to live it better.
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