Starting to Become Fond of Traveling

I am not a traveler. Aside from the fact that it costs to travel, I always feel like it’s not for me. As a person who stays pretty much in front of the computer most of the time, I always think of traveling as a waste of time. Maybe not, but something that one should do like once in a year or even two years. The past couple of years have allowed me to experience it and somewhat change my heart about it.

Just a quick background, I’ve always been a computer guy because of my work and even hobbies (blogging and doing internet-related things). I also tend to shy away from going out of house unless there’s a concrete purpose (e.g. do groceries, pay bills, meet with friends). Prior to 2013, the farthest I’ve been to is a 4-hour travel but that’s even a work outing so I’m obligated to come which I don’t feel bad about by the way.

Now during the latter part of 2013, I went to Baguio by myself to unwind and it was out of the blue. It’s a 6-hour bus ride and I stayed there for about 4 days. It was my first long travel but what made it exciting is that I didn’t tell my family about my plans. Only a couple of friends knew about it and of course I took all their advice. I was understandably scared at the beginning but became comfortable as time passed by.

Since then I’ve traveled to Boracay, a local Beach with friends and then Sweden and South Korea. All of those three required a plane trip which was something I don’t have an experience really. My trip to Boracay was the first time I experienced riding a plane and while I was uneasy, it went well (considering it’s just 45 minutes).

Now Sweden was the real ‘conquer your fear’ moment as the flight went for 17 hours from Philippines. I experienced turbulence inside the plane for the first time and was scared to death (even when I read it’s normal). Nonetheless, it went absolutely fine.

Lastly was this recently concluded visit to South Korea. This time I flew by myself which is something I never thought I could do. As soon as I entered the airport by myself I looked very rattled. And then it doubled when I arrived in Incheon but everything as you might have guessed went just fine. It sounds odd that I’m scared with these simple things considering I’m already in my mid-20’s but that’s because of my lack of experience traveling.

More traveling in the future?

First of all, traveling is expensive especially since I’m living in the Philippines and I have to provide for my family first. But thanks to the travel bug that bit me so hard, I think more traveling for myself (perhaps with friends, family) is expected regardless of how far or near the destination is. 🙂

I’m also fortunate to be in a position where I can go to places due to the nature of my work. However, it’s still best to go to places not as part of my job but on my own. I don’t think I’ll be traveling a ton more but 1-2 a year is the realistic target for me.

That might help me become less scared of  riding airplanes. 🙂