POV: From Strangers to Friends... and NOT the other way around!

Life is a constant search for happiness. It is a constant journey to life with fulfillment and contentment. As I experience my first ever trip as a traveler, it exposes me more to an awesome life of wandering and purpose searching.


Life wanderer...


Some people travel to unwind, leaving the busy streets of the city to relax and be with their inner self. Others do it for work. Going out of the field to attend some meetings or be present in a convention. Some people travel because they wanted to, without any itineraries or plan at all; they just go there, get lost and find out things on their own.


Chill by the beach...


My purpose in traveling does not limit to visiting historical landmarks, eating local delicacies and taking a lot of pictures for documentation. I travel because I want to know local culture and meet people from different walks of life. Last year, I’ve been part of an online community of travelers who explore different places through couch surfing. Couch surfing is a practice of moving from one locale's house to another, sleeping in whatever spare space is available, floor or couch, generally staying a few days before moving on to the next destination. The site has been founded with trust as travelers are strangers and they did not have any previous encounters. The hunger for culture exchange and learning from each ones experience pushes a surfer or a host to give that trust to travelers they’ll be accommodating.


Non stop partying and culture exchange...


I have a once in a lifetime experience as a traveler last October 2013. It was actually my birthday month and I wanted to have something different for my birthday. I planned to go to a place, far away, and discover things on my own. No particular itinerary or spots to go to. What I only prepared were the dates of the trip and secure a round trip ticket for my chosen destination. October was a busy month for Bacolod, Negros Occidental as it marks its annual Masskara festival. 2013 is Bacolod’s 75th Diamond Jubilee that’s why it has been a grand celebration for the entire city. Perfect for my first travel destination!


You will get dirty sometimes but you'll have fun!


I am a fan of festivities and celebrations. I love seeing colorful costumes and designs, hearing the beat of musical instruments, people dancing on the streets and witnessing everyone unwind and merry making. Bacolod’s Masskara Festival has been tagged as A Thousand Smiles Per Minute as the city was popularly known being City of Smiles. Each mask has been a reflection of locale’s smiling faces. Not just people from Bacolod smile a lot but as Filipinos as a nation.


It's always like a United Nations session. :)


With the help of couch surfing, I got a chance to meet an awesome set of people from different walks of life. They are travellers across the region and some from different parts of the globe. From a student who just passed the board exam, embalmer in a prestige hospital, real-state and call center agents to hospital nurse, social media addict, free lance photographers and writers, I learned a lot from their experiences since I consider myself as new born traveller.


Treating each one as real brothers and sisters...


I consider this trip as a life changing experience because it opens a lot of doors for me. It widens my perspective not only about travelling but to life itself. Hearing their adventures excite the hell out of me and want to jump start my travel escapades with them or try it solo. I don’t know each and everyone deeply but what I know is we have the common denominator here, and that is the passion to explore the world and the possibilities of finding what really makes one happy. After an awesome trip, we parted ways half-hearted. In a short span of three (3) days and two (2) nights, we’ve been treated each other like a family. Family which is rooted in one motive and that is motivation to cultivate culture through travelling. From strangers, we become real good friends.


Masskara Festival 2013 - Bacolod, Negros Occidental


As of writing, I have traveled three (3) local and one (1) foreign destination using couch surfing. It still amazed me and made me more enthusiastic with my future endeavors. I am looking forward to come back to Boracay within this year and my Masbate-Siquijor and Batanes adventure.


Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Italy, Korea and Philippines :) - Boracay Island, Aklan
My sister, me, and Marianne - Puerto Princesa, Palawan


I want to end up this blog post with a quote from an article entitled The Truth About Travelers:
“And so here’s the truth. We travel not just to travel and marvel at people, places, things. That’s not just it. That was never just it for us. We travel to learn, to experience, and to feel all the spectrums of being human in this world.”


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Comments

  1. great ! very life changing story, Go for the Gold Idol, this is a post with a substance , sana ikaw manalo, follow po kita,

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Thank you Jonathan. Hope you can share my WeGo post in your social network sites and encourage your friends too to like and comment on my post. Will truly appreciate it. :)

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  2. Hello Amazing Post

    Couch surfing? havent experienced it. Obviously couch surfing is not a concept that is going to tickle every single traveler pink. It isn’t something for everyone, but there are a number of excellent advantages of signing up for a program like this, and obviously the biggest one is the chance to save money, but there are so many more to take into account.

    I want to experience Meeting new and interesting people


    Keep on posting inspiring stories... I will follow you and add you in my roll Hope to meet you someday and travel simultaneously. I love meeting people with same interest

    ReplyDelete

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