One for Mama

Every time I think about my dream of seeing the world, I always ask myself the same question: When has this desire for travels started?

Just recently, I have come up with an answer.

One night, when I was younger, mama and I were watching a late show from a local channel and it featured some place in Europe. And then she said: “Matan-aw ta ni kay basi indi ta na makadtuan. Bisan diri saTV na lang makita ta ano tsura sang <insert place here>.” (Let us watch this because we might not be able to go there. At least we saw how <insert place here> looks like even just on TV.)

And then she laughed. I laughed too.

Oo nga naman, kunsabagay may point siya. Anlayo kaya ng Europe! Saka sobrang mahal dun!

But for some reason, I didn’t like how she sounded hopeless.

Someday, I am going there. I thought to myself.

Someday, I am going to Europe and the rest of the globe.

Someday, I am going to see the world with my Mama.

Someday.

We might be taking baby steps but we will get there, little by little.

I still have a lot of saving up to do. Just be patient, ma. And please save with me. Hehe.

For now, I’ve made a photo essay of our past travels together. This is not complete though, you know what happened to my external HD. Huhuhu.

Macau -  April 2010

Hongkong - April 2010

Bangkok, Thailand - June 2010

Las Casas Filipinas, Bagac, Bataan -November 2010

Panagbenga Festival, Baguio City - February 2011

Palawan - August 2011

Cebu City - October 2011

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - April 2012

Most of the pictures could have been gone, but the memories will forever live on.

To the most beautiful, amazing and ever youthful woman I know,

Happy Mother’s Day mama.

I'm looking forward to more travels with you. Stay healthy and gorgeous. 

Flowers from me - Mother's Day 2010

I love you.

Your stubborn travel buddy,

Aubrey

Because I Said So

I like the enigma of travel - going to unfamiliar places; getting lost along the way; sticking up with the budget; making hostels/hotels my home away from home; eating native food and interacting with the locals. I like the feeling of being a stranger. I like being foreign – that bizarre feeling of not knowing anyone and at the same time, anyone not knowing me.

Life is too short and yet the world is a big place. An entire lifetime will never be enough to see all the beauty this amazing earth has to offer.

I dream of setting foot on all 80 provinces of the Philippines.

I dream of circumnavigating all the 7 continents.

I dream of seeing both the old and new wonders of the world.

I dream of doing a pilgrimage in Holy Land.

I dream of bathing in the Dead Sea.

I dream of beach bumming at Maldives.

I dream of seeing the majestic Taj Mahal.

I dream of bringing out the kid in me by going to every Disneyland there is.

I dream of climbing up the Himalayas.

I dream of having my picture taken with the Eiffel Tower behind me – hopefully with my lifetime partner. Lololol.

The list goes on… almost endless.

I might be dreaming. But there is no such thing as impossible dream.

If you dream, DREAM BIG.

It’s free! So why limit yourself?

And to fulfill that biggest of dreams, it must be the most wonderful feeling – next to love.

Naks.

I might be nowhere near to reaching mine.

But I’ll get there.

Because I said so. ;)