Travel to Change

My friends and I were touring Bohol, visiting the famous Chocolate Hills, Lobok River, and the Tarsier Sanctuary. We were wide-eyed as we took in all the beauty around us. But as we were interacting with the locals we learned so many things; like the tarsiers, which have been considered extinct, should not be publicly displayed in areas that are not protected by the government.

Exploring a place does so many things to a traveler apart from just acquiring new learnings. Often, it gives one a closer brush to the various realities of life, creating an impact to the traveler.

Traveling has changed my perspective on places and things.

More often than not, we take most information about a particular place from guidebooks or from internet sites. But nothing can compare when you are actually there, witnessing how their native life goes every day and hearing firsthand from the locals the stories that go behind the beauty of their place.

I have read so much about Batanes and its old fishing villages. The place seemed distant, unreachable, and dangerous. Flights were not frequent. I have foregone plans going to Batanes several times in the fear that I might get stranded there should flights be cancelled. But when I finally got to the place, I realized that it wasn’t that perilous after all. In fact, I would have loved to stay there longer. It was so serene and the hills verdant. Batanes took my breath away. Even when I have read so many articles about this northern Philippine province, feeling its fresh air and enjoying its spectacular sights bore a lot of difference from the photos I’ve seen.

Traveling has made me more patient and enduring.

The long queue at airport check-in counters, the overcrowded buses and boats, the language barrier – there are so many things that could push you to blow your top while on the road. But these are precisely the experiences that I have learned to bear. I have overcome those situations and made the most out of them. Thus, traveling has also enabled me to become more resourceful by trying to find solutions or improvising when the situation calls for it instead of whining and complaining. When I am on the road to a new place, I sometimes do not mind the hassle so that I wouldn’t miss the moment.

Traveling has given me a glimpse of the characters of people I thought I have already known.

Yes, when you are traveling together, you get to see the quirks of people you have thought your friends, especially those whom you’ve never traveled before. When you embark on a journey, that’s when you realize certain aspects in their personalities that you haven’t noticed on a regular setting. Some are pleasant, some are dreadful, but you get to accept them for who they are. After all, you have to hit the road in good or bad weather.

When you travel and you meet different kinds of people from various background and culture, you learn to adjust and get along with them. It’s a way of brushing on your social skills.

Traveling is empowering.

I have learned to be more confident in myself through my travels. I find a sense of freedom when I go to places away from the constricting spaces of work and the expectations of people. I get to make decisions whenever I hit the road. It seems like I find a certain degree of inner power whenever I travel.

For me, traveling is like a form of therapy, a breather from the endless tasks we face each day. It can also be a way to healing…or discovery. Most of all, it is one form of having a good time.

This is part of the Lonely Planet Blogsherpa blog carnival #22 hosted by fellow Filipina, Nina Fuentes, of Just Wandering, with a blog carnival theme centered on how traveling has made an impact on me.