Nagagawa ng walang magawa: Why Travel?

Most people would say or even associate that travelling is bragging that you have the budget to do it, pretentious, ambitious, a pricey hobby, for well off people, etc. Even I, have also thought of that many years ago. I thought that it was not easy to plan and execute. I thought that it was not my thing. But since I'm a netsurfer (word!), I have visited blog sites and found myself being slowly influenced by my idol Patty Laurel. She is a jet setter and a happy wife of Patrick Filart. She has gone too many places already. She said that travelling is discovering and collecting memories. I agree with her. Now, thank God that airlines have improved their marketing strategy and they have made fares to be fair.

I have already posted months ago my 12-day trip ala Amazing Race with my travel buddies and I kinda like refreshing those moments that we have bit our time for bus rides, train rides and everything else. The adventure started at Singapore and ended in Vietnam. No plane rides between these 5 countries, just explored everything via land. Yes, it maybe tiring, time consuming and draining activity to do but it's cheaper, better and lovelier to board buses and trains because you get to seize the moment when you are passing the highways and along the road, you will see greenfields, trees, you're close to nature.

So, why travel?

It's like an exercise. Travelling means your toes must be prepared for a lot of walking, striding and running. Everytime you will move into another place, you have to have a tough arms and shoulders to carry your own loads. Because travelling is not as fancy as you think it is. Not all the time, you have your trolley bag. In our case, since we are backpackers, we did not overload ourselves since it will be additional to our airfare (Manila to Singapore, Vietnam to Manila). Every passenger is allowed for 7Kg of load, if you exceed, you have to shed money, as it will be considered as a check in baggage. So, travel lite!

It's a discovery. I know Philippines is very rich in culture and history but, stepping outside your territory will give you good stories to know as well. You get to experience their food, their lifestyle, and how preserve their country's treasures. You get to know locals and folks from these countries that may somehow generous enough to share their traits and attitude. Then, you will be able to adjust and manage your behavior when you meet them again or when you get back to these places.

It teaches discipline. Money is involved in travelling. When you plan, you save. When you execute, you learn to wake up early in the morning to explore the place. You will learn to be time conscious, since you have be ahead of time for your flight, or for your ride. You will be sensitive enough for your travelmates who exercise discipline.

It will benefit your memory bank. Seldom that we think of crossing borders and flying abroad because we have a lot of excuses or reason. But defying what we can do more, means we can always look back and tell the whole adventure all over again. That there's a time that we were able to break the so-called expensive adventure. Moreover, you will think of saving up and furthering more your wings.

So travelling is not just adding glory to your passport, pictures for your facebook or instagram, shopping, souveneirs and all that stuff. It is a leisure that will give you priceless, sore feet.