Don't Date A Boy Who Travels

I just read a blog that says Date A Boy Who Travels. I got intrigued and told myself that its actually not always true. That yin and yang is the one thats always true, as well as that two sides of the coin. So just for fun, and not anything else, i went into a deep meditation..... and the secrets of why a girl should not date a boy who travels was revealed to me! (kabooom!! With matching thunder and lightning).

As i said, this could be nothing serious. I firmly believe that many among you have enough experience  and can decide on your own whether to believe even a tiny fraction of this or not. On the other hand, geeks in schools were never taken seriously. There must be a connect here, somewhere....

So here goes nothing!

Travel is his priority. Not you, not anything else.

Money is nothing... or everything. Yeah, he will tell you that money is not his priority. But you can bet your neighbor that he goes on an auto compute mode for every expense (that means the thing you ordered on your dinner date) to see how much he has left for his next travel.

Unless you don't get embarassed to be seen eating out in the most (insert adjective) or God-what-is-this-place "great/unique/outofthisworld" dining adventure, better bring your huge (but make sure that its a cheapo) sunglasses that can cover half of your face. Or that bandana or sarong, or whatever comes in handy.

And make sure you always have your health card with you just in case you ate the wrong food.

Always bring tissue paper. Always. You will find out on your own why, and you will thank me for this.

He will tell great stories, smile, laugh, make animated gesticulations, give some good shoulder massage, and even do well-choreographed begging (if necessary) just so he can control you and go to the sites he already planned before you two met. Watch out for this.

Don't expect gentlemanly behavior from him. Yes, he may had seen a lot of social realities (you know, poverty and sleeping with cockroaches) that he became more socially sensitive. But you are a different thing. You have become a companion and an equal. And equals don't deserve any special attention. Definitely nothing special above himself.

Make sure you have money,  lots of money tucked or stitched somewhere and only you would know where to get them. Trust me, there is extreme agony and panic in discovering that the guy who brought you to a most exotic and isolated place cannot bring you home.

Date a boy who's lived out of  a backpack coz he knows how to live happily with with less?  Hmmm... Better check what's inside to see how he cleverly hides the lightest, smallest, most durable and most expensive gadgets you can only drool on.

You know what morning breath is, don't you? Make that a whole day breath. Why? He simply does not care! Live the life! Oh, and you can include man-smell with that. You're complaining? Then expect goo goo eyes and an impish smile, nothing more.

A guy who travels usually zones out. See those eyes staring at nowhere? That smiling or puckering lips? And sometimes incomprehensible murmurrings? You're simply not there....

But if you're after a very different kind of experience and stories to put in your life box, go ahead - date a boy who travels. I always assuage my travel companions that miserable travels are more memorable. And yes, they make you zone out, cry, curse, smile, laugh and shake and nod your head at the same time. And thank God you survived that event in your life.


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Staycationing is a Great Travel Alternative - Our stay in Acacia Hotel in Alabang

When asked why a person travels, the usual answers are to discover new places and bond with somebody dear.

And when asked why travel is not a priority, the usual replies would be lack of time and money.

There is actually a way to throw those positive and negative answers into one bin, mix them up real well, and.. voila! You can have the word called, STAYCATION.

In the current world where nouns become verbs and independent words become combined silly terminologies, staycationing should be a welcome vocabulary entry for people who want to discover new places, bond with dear ones, but simply don't have the time nor enough money to travel.

Staycationing is a way to open your eyes to the viewpoint of a stranger eager to discover your own place and be pleasantly surprised that you could say, "hey! we've got  a lot of beautiful places in our community, pala!"

So with only a weekend to ram into our family schedule (with all the laundry and grocery gigs waiting for our attention), wifey and I decided to bring the brood to Acacia Hotel in Alabang which is just a few kilometers and some road shortcuts from our home.

The new hotel is actually a nice surprise as it has a very impressive lobby... but enough of that usual tourism thing (sorry, can't help it as I automatically go into "tourism research mode" whenever I enter any facility).  I went into observing things that are more relevant - how the staff treat their guests (passed with flying colors!), and observing other clients. And what do you know? We actually saw A LOT of families enjoying their weekend in the hotel as we were. So, our decision to staycation was shared by many living near our community!

The nice thing with business hotels in the metropolis is that on weekends, when many of their expat guests go off and spread out to the tourist  destinations in the provinces, the hotels become ideal territories of the locals (and a very good time to ask for local-friendly rates :D)

So what do you have to ensure that the kids would enjoy their "travel?" - definitely food and a swimming pool! Not really a sandy type of experience, but great nonetheless.

The good thing about Acacia Hotel is that its only walking distance from the West Gate near Ayala Alabang and we got to have some great eats in Kanin Club and Cafe Breton.

Was it worth it to spend your time and money in your own place than to hop on a bus or a plane to some far-away place? Definitely! And the kids are already asking where we will go next.

A Different View in Manila Bay

If in case your plane to Manila gets delayed and made to fly around while waiting for the go-signal to land. Keep your eyes below and be amazed how the views suddenly change in such a small area -  from urban to rural, with mountains and ricefields and fishponds. Like this view that look like stained glasses carefully made into an art form (well, that doesn't really make sense except they look beautiful :D). Yup! you can entertain yourself instead of cursing the situation you are in.

12 Reasons Why I Firmly Believe in Tourism

Yeah, there are economic development, foreign exchange, business and job generation. But tourism goes much deeper than those. More than 20 years as an active player in the tourism industry as a researcher, writer, product developer, consultant, teacher, and environmental advocate.... you can say that I've seen tourism from a lot of perspectives.

And yes, I firmly believe that tourism can make significant difference to a nation, a community, a family, an individual, and the environment they all live in.

Here are the 12 reasons why I am a firm advocate for a healthy tourism industry.

1. It makes a whole lot of meaning to many communities that had little economic choices.
2. It brings back or enhances the cultural pride of the host community. But this is s walk on glass. It can  easily go the other way and exploit, trivialize and commercialize the local cultures. So be very careful on this one.
3. It doesn't destroy the mountain or the forest that gives value to the destination.
4. One tree could build one section of a house. But if it becomes a tourist attraction, it can build hundreds of houses!
5. It rehabilitates damaged areas. Corals blown into smithereens are resurrected because of scuba diving.
6. It has been saving endangered wildlife - talk about whales, dolphins, birds, whale sharks, manta rays,
7.  It is a good excuse to clean up a decaying urban environment.
8. It is a good excuse to built roads towards waterfalls.... that pass through farmlands or schools .
9. It keeps families intact. Mom or dad need not go abroad or to the urban capital to find a job.
10. Tourism is an agent of peace, and tolerance, and understanding
11. It gives a a deeper, more spiritual meaning to the traveler, the community he interacts with, and how they view the world they both live in. I know, this is a bit hard to swallow. But you can actually easily relate to it if you've been to different places.
12. And lastly, travel is a good excuse to live.


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