To Travel is to Live

My name is James. I am a gamer, a writer, an editor, a nurse, a husband, and a father. I was not a big fan of exploring new places. I preferred to stay at home, comfortably reading a book or watching a movie. I dreaded dust and sweat… and don’t get me started on travel horror stories. My greatest adrenaline rush came from hospital emergencies when I worked as a nurse. My most heart-pumping moment was when my wife was in labor.

That was before.

My perspective changed only when I married a lady who believes that she was either a backpacker or a savvy tourist during her past life, and until now, I really do think that she is. She’s been to Puerto Princesa, Davao, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Iloilo, and Boracay, among many other places here and abroad. The farthest place I’ve been from my hometown, Bulacan, is my father’s hometown, Bataan. I was living in a tiny piece of reality. My wife convinced me to go on a journey, because for her, traveling is a way of life… a part of her that I used to dread.

My first ever travel destination outside my comfort zone was Negros Occidental. You should have seen how nervous I was. The only words I uttered during the entire flight were, “Lord, please, please, please, don’t let this plane crash.”

We reached the destination safely, and it gave me the chills. I felt like I was coming out of my shell, a tiny shell in a massive world waiting to be experienced, explored, and adored. It was like being transported to another world that I thought I’d never see in my entire life. All the while I thought that Bulacan was giving me what Belle from Beauty and the Beast refers to as a “provincial life,” but I was caught off guard when we reached the humble and hospitable place that is Bacolod, where time moves slowly, thus giving me an opportunity to think about things. It got me to thinking, “what if I didn’t travel?” I can’t imagine the things that I have been missing. I wasn’t able to understand the local dialect, but I realized that a smile is universal and works wonders. I was able to see how simple life can be, how amazing it is to see new places, and how we can actually enjoy living. Life is indeed a journey, not a destination.

I was able to taste the food, especially the authentic inasal, piaya, and biscocho. The sceneries were rich, from the sugarcane-lined roads to the idyllic and magnificent Ruins. I was able to travel back in time when we visited ancestral houses, such as Balai Negrense. When we went to the city of Cadiz to buy dried seafood, I was able to appreciate the fact that you can live a modest life and enjoy every single day of it. I guess simplicity is indeed beauty, and simple living has a charm of its own.

This experience taught me a lot of things. Like a small spark that burst into flames, the experience made me thirst for more travel destinations. Traveling broadened my horizons and helped me appreciate how amazing it is to go places. Traveling can teach you things that you can never learn from school. Traveling makes you realize how large the world is, how diverse people are, how wondrous nature is, and how fleeting life can be. Traveling made me realize that there is a larger reality than my own and that I should embrace experiences that teach me how to be open to other people and to other places.

Traveling also tightens bonds and strengthens relationships. Traveling with the people you love will bring you closer together. Shared experiences and shared memories nurture the ties that bind forever. Moments are made more special when shared with people that you care about. Sunsets become more vivid, rainbows become more colorful, sceneries become richer while ties grow deeper.

I guess what’s life changing about traveling is not the destination, but the passion for traveling itself. My first journey planted a seed of realization in that it is indeed a worthy endeavor to make memories and travel often. As a couple, my wife and I agreed to pass on this passion to our children, so that they can see how big and wonderful this world is, to open their eyes and hearts to the wonder of enjoying the journey that comes with every destination. Indeed, memories from traveling cannot be stolen and can only be carried for a lifetime.

I quote Hans Christian Andersen when I say that, “to travel is to live.” I could not agree more. When I was confined to the boundaries of my limited reality, I was merely existing, content with the knowledge that I knew everything I had to know, seen everything that I had to see. I could not have been more wrong. Traveling made me realize that even a lifetime may never be enough to see all there is to see and to learn all there is to know. This is why I will always strive to broaden my horizons, so that at the end of the day, I can say that I have truly lived.

My name is James. I am a gamer, a writer, an editor, a nurse, a husband, and a father, but more than all these, I am a learner of the university of life and an explorer of the world. My greatest adrenaline rush came from my first time diving in Boracay. My most heart-pumping moment was during my first zipline experience in Bukidnon. But I know that all these are bound to change with the many journeys that I still plan to make.