People along the way.
18 YEARS AGO, when a rare lull in our usual afterclass conversation presented itself, Maw broke it with a seemingly random musing. “Parang ang saya mag-travel sa US and Canada, ano? Gawin kaya natin.” And the only thing I could say to that was, “Hindi ko afford.” “Tange, hindi agad,” she said. “Years from now…
Whenever I conduct social media/travel workshops, I always say that in order to stand out in an ocean of influencers that we have today, it’s not enough to just start creating content. You have to find a niche that is close to your heart and through which you can add value to the online experience…
Okayama City, Japan, November 2023. Vins was taking pics of me against the fiery autumn colors of the Korakuen Garden when a local grandpa showed up. Since we were blocking a narrow foot path, we immediately stopped to let him through. He motioned that we continue. Seemed like he wanted us to finish the shots…
Limassol, Cyprus, 2023. DRIVER A When we arrived in Limassol, we booked a cab via BOLT, a ride-hailing app, to our hotel. When the cab arrived, the driver wasn’t very friendly at all. He didn’t assist us with our luggage. He told us to wear a mask before getting in. We’re always ready with masks…
ATHENS, Greece, May 2023. At one point in our 2019 Euro Trip, we had dinner at a small family restaurant in Athens, where we were served by a lovely old couple who were so good to us. We enjoyed that experience so much that this time, 4 years later, we returned and hoped to meet…
A few months ago, when I checked my message requests, I found a message from someone I didn’t recognize. It was from MARVIN, a boatman we hired for an island hopping tour a few years ago. He was using his wife’s FB account coz he didn’t have one.
Back when I was a college freshman, I decided to move out of the boarding house and instead commute from Batangas all the way to QC for the second term. To make it to my first class, I had to catch the 3am bus. Our house was far from the terminal so I had to…
A few years ago, we were invited to speak at the World Tourism Forum in Istanbul. On the first night, there was a dinner with government officials. I was seated next to a Slovenian diplomat. When I introduced myself, her reply was, “Your name is Yoshke? Really?” I said yes and then she asked if…
