My Story

My wanderlust started at a very young age. My late maternal grandfather worked for a travel agency, and he used to bring home piles of travel magazines with glossy pictures of places and peoples from all over the world.

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Our weekend visits to my grandparents’ house meant long afternoons of going through my grandfather's magazine stacks, perusing the colourful pages, reading inspiring stories of travel, and dreaming about my own future adventures.

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And then there was my mother’s mini-library at our ancestral home. When I was in grade school, she started a collection of hardbound reference books – encyclopedia sets, dictionary sets, atlases, almanacs, bibliographies, assorted manuals, literature companions, scientific journals, Bibles, religious writings, and cookbooks. Suffice to say, I grew up reading A LOT!

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My favourite was the multi-volume encyclopedia series called Lands and Peoples.  It is a collection of books that feature world cultures, history, geography, and amazing facts and figures, complete with detailed maps and captivating pictures. I read each volume from cover to cover, and dreamt of someday visiting these countries.

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Traveling in my younger years was limited to local places. Weekend and summer trips with my family included destinations within the country that were easily accessible by car. The only time I traveled abroad was when an aunt finally convinced my mom to go on a couple of family trips to Hong Kong - the first one, after my high school graduation, and the second, over the Christmas holidays.

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During the summer of my junior year at university, I travelled to the East Coast of the United States and Canada as part of a student theatre tour, followed by a side trip to California with a friend before heading back home to finish my senior year and get my diploma.

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I had the opportunity to see more of my country as a young professional while working as an in-house television producer for a major media network. My job entailed filming episodes of my shows at tourist attractions, going on road trips and excursions to hunt for interesting locations, and conducting ocular inspections of proposed venues. Our company sponsored annual management conferences held at popular island resorts, followed by a few days of relaxation while enjoying the special amenities. Our production team also often covered special events in key cities, where we had the honour of receiving VIP treatment. All those were mostly local travel. By the time the network ventured into international co-productions and started filming abroad, I had already resigned from my job to emigrate to Canada.

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I did get the chance to do some personal travel in China and Thailand a few months before I left my home country for good...a kind of “last hurrah." I flew to Beijing with a friend to get a few days' break from work, and two months after, went on an unexpected tourism incentive trip to Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

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Living in Canada made some of my travel dreams easier to reach, both logistically (closer to Europe, where most of my top bucket list items are located) and financially (earning dollars means more purchasing power). But as a young and single immigrant, I had to first focus on establishing myself in my new country before I could do some “real traveling,” that is, aside from weekend and summer trips with my aunt’s family and my new friends within British Columbia (I lived in Vancouver for nine years) and across the border to the United States.

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“Real traveling” began after I had gotten engaged. My then-fiancé (now-husband) and I did a couple of trips to Montreal before our wedding, cruised Atlantic Canada and New England for our honeymoon, moved to Ottawa after a year, and traveled to Namibia, Western Europe, the Philippines, and the U.S. West Coast.

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We took a break from international travel for a few years after we had our son in order to focus on being hands-on parents. My husband and I also agreed that going places with a toddler (i.e., lugging around a car seat and a stroller, carrying a huge bag of supplies, and making frequent stops for feeding, napping, and diaper changes) was not how we wanted to travel. Our family trips in those days only involved visiting my in-laws in Montreal and exploring the city while there.

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As our son grew, we gradually returned to traveling again, first within the province of Ontario, then within Canada, then the United States. But the pandemic broke that expansion pattern, and we went back to traveling only locally for two years until we were comfortable enough to venture outside the continent. We finally took our son to Central and Eastern Europe after his grade school graduation. And as of this writing, we are planning a trip to Greece in the summer.​​​

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I love traveling with my family. With them, travel is focused on the experience of being together in a different setting and embarking on adventures as a team, while creating many wonderful memories.

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But from time to time, I embark on solo trips. My husband travels for work and sometimes prefers to stay home in the summer months to focus on home projects. Our son does not seem to have acquired (but this could change) the travel bug that afflicts his mother and prefers to “chill” at home or hang out with friends during his school breaks (especially when there is basketball, soccer, or gym workouts involved). These are the times when I would take my journeys alone. My boys get a break from my constant requests to keep things tidy around the house and I get to enjoy some “me time” and travel at my own pace and style.

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When I travel, I seek to explore. I admit I have the tendency to plan so many activities within the day. But that is how I find joy and fulfillment from my trips – to see and experience as much as I can within the limited time frame. According to my husband, I morph into Dora the Explorer when I am on travel mode - I don’t get tired nor need long breaks or naps; I don’t balk away from anything uncomfortable; and I never complain about walking long distances even under the rain or during a heatwave. My boys, on the other hand, share the same travel style – rest, relax, sleep in, have a leisurely meal, and do what they feel like doing depending on their mood without stressing about a set schedule or itinerary. Hubby says they are definitely not like Diego, whose energy matches that of his cousin, Dora.

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Moreover, their idea of adventure is quite different from mine. While they look forward to hiking, trekking, and rock climbing, I get excited about visiting archeological and historical sites. While they check out natural history and science and technology exhibits at museums, I gravitate towards the history and anthropology collections, or head out to art galleries to view renowned paintings. While they get a kick out of watching rock concerts or sports events, I indulge in theatre productions or cultural presentations. While they hunt for raw gems and collectible sports cards, I go to local markets in search of artisan products. While they prefer the comforts of sit-down dining and classic dishes, I delight in the thrill of eating all kinds of regional street food, both the trending and popular ones, and the unfamiliar and strangely exotic. But over the years, we have learned how to compromise, and I think it is safe to say that we have perfected the art of a balanced vacation, where there is something for everyone and everybody can be happy at the end of each day.

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My solo trips are a completely different story, though, and I treasure those moments. I get the chance to step away from being a wife and mom (which also includes being the timekeeper, chief planner, logistics manager, navigator, detail spotter, and emotional anchor) and just be myself again without any of those labels. I get to set my own pace, go where I want to go, do what I want to do, make instant decisions without needing to consult others, have a wider opportunity to engage with locals and meet fellow travelers, and experience a deeper cultural immersion by getting out of my comfort zone without worrying about inconveniencing others. I also get the chance to discover my own strengths while troubleshooting and problem-solving without a network of familiar people around me. And most of all, I get that quiet time that enables me to reflect and focus on the actual travel experience.

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Our world has so much to offer and I am open to experiencing all its wonders.  Traveling has a way of igniting that flame inside you and keeping it alive. It provides a complex but wonderful mix of longing, curiosity, wonder, anticipation, mental clarity, relaxation, heightened joy, and hope for better things to come. When I am out there, I bask in the exhilaration of stepping into unfamiliar territory and immersing myself in a kaleidoscope of cultures and traditions that are different from my own. I never shy away from the peculiar. Rather, I embrace its novelty and promise. More importantly, I do not mind getting lost at all. In fact, I welcome it with no trace of apprehension. I am convinced that it is when we get sidetracked that we unravel secrets and uncover mysteries that not everyone is privileged to know. I believe that when we let ourselves wander, we get to know ourselves more, and we begin to understand our place in this world, as we view our life from a much wider perspective.