I don’t like to travel

I don’t like to travel.

Okay, let me rephrase that. I don’t like to travel just for the sake of travelling. You know, going to a place just so you can take pictures and post them in Facebook for all to see or just so you can be able to key in on conversations about Boracay, Puerto Galera, Hong Kong, Singapore and so on. If I’m gonna travel, I don’t care if it’s not a very big tourist destination. I’m more interested in what I’m gonna learn from that travel.

My favorite places that I have gone to so far is Corregidor Island. It’s got amazing views, lush greenery but you don’t go here just to soak up some sun in a beach full of people (actually, the beaches here are very rocky). You go here because of the history.

Being a key defensive fortress for Filipino and American forces during World War 2, the island is surrounded by various heavy guns and barracks which were relatively left to what they looked like after all the bombing during the war.

I love seeing these mammoth guns up close some as big as cars, some the scale of buses. The scars on the metal from shrapnel seems eerie yet beautiful. Bunkers near these that are black and very scary excite me. Tales of ghosts add intrigue.

 

Ruins of buildings left as they were during and after the war seems to travel you back to those years. You imagine what it would have felt like when all bedlam was going down. War movies set in the WW2 seem very real all of a sudden.

 

I have been here twice, and still long to come back some more. No amazing beach, no major hotels nor bars/restaurants, but plenty of history and pleasant views.

I haven’t been out of my country of the Philippines yet. Part of it is that I do not want to use up my money for expensive travel but another part is that I want to get to know more about my country. There are so many places I haven’t gone too, I haven’t been to Mindanao.

It’s okay to have a trip just for relaxation of fun. Swimming during the hot season is nice. But going to Boracay because the beach is one of the best in the world and that it’s very popular among people is not a reason I would use to travel.

I will be attending graduate school in a University located within the walls of Intramuros. Apart from the great MBA program in a relatively smaller price, the prospect of gazing at those old stone walls every time I go to school was a winning perk for me.

 

This fascination for the old world Philippines also made the god-awfully long land trip (14 hours) to Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte seem lighter (and having my lovely girlfriend with me as well) since we got to visit Paoay Church (amazing, breath-taking) and the preserved village, Vigan, in Ilocos Sur (remarkable).

Some people’s passion is to get to places. That’s cool. But not for me. If I’m gonna be pulled from the ease and bustle of Metro Manila, then I better really love that trip.

(Again, I do not own any of the pictures. Peace ;))