On Being 26 and Lost: The Birthday Post

I was drinking the other night and in between gulps of beer and shots of tequila, I realized that I still had not blogged about my birthday. I turned 26 last Tuesday.

I have been busy.
Yes, I quit my full-time job two months ago. Yes, I stay at home, in front of my laptop most of the time. You might be asking — What the hell could I be busy with? Certainly NOT PORN. I can only wish I had time for that.

The truth is, I am lost. I am happy but I am lost.

I find it difficult to blog on Yoshke.com, my personal blog, because I feel like there’s nothing to blog about. I am usually the one to say that there is ALWAYS something to blog about. And when you head over to my About Page, you’ll find me blathering about how I notice and write about the little things in life. I am lost. How could I notice the small things when I desperately watch out for directions? Or signs. Or a fuckin’ clue where to go.

Scratch that. I know where to go. I just don’t have enough drive to get there. I have a passion for so many things. The operative word being many. Plus, I usually do not have the patience and the determination to get things started. Yes, I quit my full-time job and it’s a good start. But quite honestly, I haven’t made progress since then. My ideas are still ideas and they need to get out of my head, out of the clouds, down to earth and become reality.

Maybe this is the quarter-life crisis I have been hearing so much about. But it has got to stop. Now.

Anyway, to jumpstart this new chapter of my life, I will divert my energy into this blog and my travel blogs. This is the first time I am going to reveal what my travel blogs are.

The Poor Traveler

the poor traveler blog

This year, I promise to finish all my backlogs for my travel blog — The Poor Traveler. Actually, the Poor Traveler is not just one person. Behind it are two travelers. I take care of the writing (content) and its social media promotion, and my partner handles search engine optimization (SEO). We started this travel blog a couple of years ago even though we had not gone to that many places. I just hoped that it would push me to travel more. And it did.

Today, the Poor Traveler has more fans on Facebook than Yoshke.com, which is kind of sad in a way. Hahaha. Although I have started catching up, I still have a mountain-high pile of backlogs that I need to complete. I haven’t written about most of my trips in 2011 and 2010 and I swear I’ll finish by summer. #Weeeeh?

PhilippineBeaches.org

philippine beaches

Two years ago, we started a Facebook community for beach-lovers. It gained following. What we didn’t expect was how big it would grow. What started out as a simple blog of two nature-lovers became a community of over 840,000 travelers and aspiring travelers actively sharing information and experiences about our beaches.

In one of our trips in Batangas, we saw the dark side of tourism and how much destruction it can bring. Hence, this year we will be using the community not just for tourism but RESPONSIBLE tourism. We still aim to spread the word about the various beaches, travel agencies, beach resorts and hotels, and their products and services; and, at the same time, help travelers and would-be-travelers get a good deal. But there’s more. While we push beach tourism, we also hope to raise awareness about responsible traveling by providing tips and insights.

We have big plans for PhilippineBeaches.org this year and we will be taking our online presence offline!

So there. New year for me. Wish me luck.

Comments

  1. Woah. Didn’t know you are behind those two travel blogs haha. Guess you have a lot on your hands, think that’s a good start. Belated birthday greetings 🙂

  2. Belated Happy Bday Yoshke! Just like you, I am lost din but happy. Being a freelancer can be tough at times, pero alam ko na keri mo yan. Galing mo kaya 😀

    Sa Singapore pa lang kita nakasamang magtravel. Sana makasama kita ulit sa gala (except SG and PP LOL)

    • True! SIguro sa June! Hahaha. Peak season, ate!

      Baka ganito nga lang talaga pag nagsastart mag-freelance. #AngHirapDinHa

      Mas mahirap pa sa full time job, Hahaha

  3. Belated Happy Birthday again Yoshke! 🙂 I didn’t know that you are also behind the Poor traveler blog! OMG! hahaha I am reading din that blog! Don’t worry about being lost, ganyan talaga pag may changes, it’s just a phase.. you’ll overcome that for sure! BTW, mas favorite ko pa din tong personal blog mo, it’s honest and so witty!
    AJA on your endeavors! I will always be a fan! (naks!) :p

  4. Hope this helps! 🙂

    “No one escapes the suffering. So it is better to lose a few battles in order to fight for your dreams, then to be defeated without even knowing what you are fighting for. When I discovered this, I woke up determined to be what I always really wanted to be. The Other stood there in my room watching.
    Although it sought to scare me sometimes, I did not allow it to return. From the moment I pushed the Other out of my life, the divine energy worked its miracles.? -By the River of Piedra I sat down and wept

    http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2012/03/09/the-enemy-within/

  5. OMG!!! I didn’t know you were the person behind Philippine Beaches and The Poor Traveler! :O

    #Charot2012

    Keri mo yan teh. Medyo struggle ang quarter life crisis but you have a lot of awesome and beautiful *ahem* friends around you. Wahahaha!

  6. Belated happy birthday, ES! I wish you all the best, man. Fret not, things will fall into place soon. In the words of Victor Hugo, “There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” And yours will. 🙂

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