About Me
My family moved frequently when I was younger. The places I’ve lived include the Philippines, Bahrain, Westchester, Pennsylvania, Florida, Albany, and, most recently, NYC. That constant exposure to different cultures has fostered a seeker mentality for me and ultimately translated into my travel addiction. Topics as mundane as talking with your hands, how people queue for food, or if showers have a full vs. half closure to the important topics like how religion affects architecture, different ways to address elders vs. peers, or the intricacies of dating in different cultures fascinate me. Everything that differs from what my standard is interests me.
Let’s set the stage. I immigrated from the Philippines to the USA when I was 8 and knew very little English. I only knew a handful of words and couldn’t even construct a proper sentence in English. All of a sudden, I was transplanted to Westchester, NY in 1998. Everything was different: the food, the language, the customs, the architecture, the plants, people's expressions, idioms, fashion, etc. To put it concisely, it was the definition of culture shock. After acclimating to my new environment, I never realized it but I liked the feeling of uneasiness and exploring a strange place for the first time. Fast forward 10 years or so, and I’m ready to publicly declare myself a travel addict. With each place I visit, I try to immerse myself as much as possible as I seek out that culture shock.
Now whether this reaches 100 people or just 2 (Hi, Mom & Dad!), I thought it would be beneficial to my personal growth to journal my thoughts about travel, what I’ve learned, and how I’ve grown from that. Now, be warned! My grammar and writing abilities are not article worthy. I distinctly remember taking an AP Language class in 11th grade. One of our mock exams was to interpret a Winnie the Pooh quote. I wrote and submitted that paper so confident that I would finally be the sample essay our teacher proudly showed the rest of the class, only to receive my paper a week later with HUGE RED INK “2 out of 5, please see me after class”. It turns out, my teacher was so baffled how I could possibly misinterpret a Winnie the Pooh quote.
In any case, here we go!