Even as I write this post, I can hear Christmas music being played in our neighbor’s house, just across the street. Being reminded that December is near also reminds me that the end of 2017 is also just around the corner. This has also made me think about the trips I have done this year.
Well, it turns out that I have only done one trip this year! By a trip, I mean taking a plane or a boat to travel away from our city. I did not include driving trips that took less than hour from our place. On the other hand, I looked back to 2016 and realized I actually made a total of 6 trips that year! In fact, it would be more than 6 trips if we consider the connecting flights/boat travel that I also had to go through to reach these 6 destinations. Three of my travel destinations in 2016 were new ones for me, two within the Philippines and one abroad.
Count it memory gaps 🙂 but until today I was thinking that 2014 was my most traveled year but it turns out that I made 5 trips for that year. So overall, 2016 is the winner 🙂
Here’s what my 2016 travel itinerary looked like:
February – I was in Bohol for about a week. I ran a training focusing on Cultural Anthropology and then spent a few days with my family in Bohol. My two brothers and their families are based there. I also had a really fun time swimming in the pool of my late Uncle’s home together with my nephew during this trip. It turned out that this was my 2nd to the last time of seeing my uncle as he passed away this year.
My trip to Bohol required that I fly to Cebu first (Butuan-Cebu) and then I took a fastcraft from Cebu to Tagbilaran. I also spent a couple of days in Cebu.
May – I finally got the chance to travel to Bukidnon for the 1st time 🙂 I was asked to help facilitate a training there for LGUs. Bukidnon, I would say, is the equivalent of Baguio in Mindanao. The temperature was much cooler there. Aside from the pineapple plantation there and of course, Dahilayan, I would also remember the clean and green surroundings.
July – My sister based in the US decided to visit our home province, Bohol, and my husband and I decided to go home and spend time with her and the family. Together with my other siblings, we checked in at Dumaluan Beach Resort. It was also nostalgic when we met the resort owner who had served as mayor in Panglao for several years. Our families had been neighbors when we were kids and my older siblings were his friends and playmates along with his other siblings. This trip also meant my passing by Cebu.
October – I was invited again to hold a training on Cultural Anthropology this time in Kalibo, Aklan. This was my 1st time in Kalibo and it made me discover that Kalibo is one key gateway to Boracay 🙂 And so after the training, I traveled to Boracay 🙂 To get to Boracay from Kalibo, you can take a bus or a van. I opted for a van. The last time I was in Boracay was about a decade or so already! So obviously, there were changes 🙂 It’s still a beautiful place. I had to pass by Cebu again to fly out to Kalibo.
But my trip in October did not end with Kalibo or Cebu. My husband and I also traveled to New Zealand in October 🙂 Our travel there meant we also had to fly to Manila and then to Bangkok, Thailand first. Our stopover in Thailand gave us the opportunity to still go around Bangkok. In New Zealand, we attended a leadership gathering of leaders and pastors upon invitation by a church there. An added bonus for this trip is that we also got to spend our 7th wedding anniversary there 🙂 We left Butuan on the 26th (for Manila-Bangkok-Auckland) and got back home on November 9. New Zealand is my first travel destination outside of Asia.
November – Just when I thought my travel schedule was winding down, it turned out that I had one more trip to Kalibo, Aklan again 🙂 I was asked to run again another training, this time on Resource Development. I just explored some parts of the city on this trip. There was a typhoon during the week that I was there, just when I was about to finish the training. My flight back to Cebu was even delayed because of the bad weather. But thank God, I was able to fly home safely together with some friends from the training course. I was back in Butuan in one piece soon after 🙂
My initial plan is that I might take up graduate studies next year. So that might mean less travel time for me. But we’ll see how it goes. I might have just one more travel to do before 2017 ends but it is pretty clear that this year is more of a restful year for me, for us than 2016. All in all, I am thankful to God for all the travel opportunities that have been given to me not just in 2016 or 2017 but for all the past years as well 🙂
