Me and my Backpack
As I write this post, Monday evening, I should have been at a riverside cottage in Vang Vieng with my father. It would have been my 23rd country and would have been another trip that will surely be memorable because I would have done it with my Dad. I planned a trip for both of us to three countries - Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar - which my dad has never been to. It would have been my third time in Thailand (I love that country so much) and, Laos and Myanmar, aside from being my 23rd and 24th country, would also have completed my list of 10 ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) nations. But of course, the pandemic (or Corinna as my friend Iris Flavia would call it) decided to visit us all for good. I feel really sorry for my father more than me, because he has been very excited to travel again to another country and it would have been very fun for him to spend a week in three different countries.
As a little boy, I have always been a lover of Geography. My uncle taught me each and every country, its flag and its capital, and got me to memorize all of them at the age of 4. With that, it was more than drills and mind-sharpening for me, it started my love for culture, diversity, and the different kinds of people on this planet. Different attitudes, skin colors, and lifestyles, but all my brothers and sisters.
Travel has taught me that I am not alone and I am not original. That people can differ in ways and beliefs but all are capable of understanding and accepting. For every photo I see on books that have become a "right in front of me", they all were proofs to the cliche 'dreams do come true'. It has helped me know amazing people who some become my friends, foods so foreign but became tastes that are stapled to my mind, and experiences and adventures that books and movies can never really enlive.
About the Photo: This photo was taken by my cousin. All the patches on my backpack represents each and every country and territory that I have visited. In front of me in the middle of the lake is Taal Volcano, which erupted earlier this year and spewed out tons of ashes into the sky that covered a huge part of the Cavite Province. It displaces thousands of families not just those that are living on the volcanic island but also those that are at the coast of the lake. At this moment, some of those families are still in evacuation area battling more of nature's challenges such as this pandemic, and worse, the upcoming storm months. I just hope we don't have strong typhoons to come in this year.
I missed an adventure, but never the hope that it will still happen, just on a different time.
***
This post is part of my friend Jesh's All Seasons, Our World Tuesday, and Betty's My Corner of the World
Please stay patient and you will travel again in the near future. Better safe than sorry. Give your dad a hug too.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much dear Carol and I'll remain patient and hopeful that we can all go out safe again :) Will extend the hug to my dad, thanks dear Carol! Happy New Week!
Delete...travel days are in your future if you stay safe!!!
ReplyDeleteThat is absolutely true my friend Tom! Will do my best to stay healthy and immune! Happy New Week Tom :)
DeleteI am sorry about your trip. I was supposed to be in the UK at the moment as well. We will be able to travel again in the future and I hope you will be able to make that trip with your dad.
ReplyDeleteThat is very nice of you Lisa and yes to us travelling again soon and safe! I really hope me and my dad can push our travel through soon someday :)
DeleteWe all hope for better times to come, and with them more adventures. I'm sure you will have more opportunities to travel with your dad. My parents loved to travel. When I was a kid we all went camping around the United States and Canada. That gave me a love for the outdoors and living a more simple life, if that is possible. - Margy
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Margy! Travelling also gave me those realizations that you don;t really need a lot of things and what you need in this life are essentials :)
DeleteAmazing photo and love the backpack :-D
ReplyDeleteHopefully we all be free to travel the world again soon :-D
Thank you so much Ananka and I am so happy you like the backpack :) That is so true, wishing for more travel for us all very soon!
DeleteI do hope you and your dad get to make that trip someday soon...like you, I find other people of other nations/countries very interesting. I have not traveled and have not really had a lot of interaction with 'others', but those I have has been interesting and fun.
ReplyDeleteWe really are the same Rose! It gives us realizations on how just a speck we are in this world but that little specks such as us are all very special. I love to learn about the differences and appreciate them at the same time! Thanks so much dear Rose!
DeleteI, too, hope your trip with your father will still take place at some time. Stay safe :) xx
ReplyDeleteThank you very much dear Margaret! I pray and hope with all my heart! And hopefully I can also visit NZ soon, such a dream country yours is :)
DeleteStevenson!
ReplyDeleteI am very, very sorry darn Corinna causes us so much pain and keeps us from doing all the fun we planned.
A holiday with your Father sounds so wonderful - hope you can do it anytime soon!
But, really, LOL, I nearly fell off my chair seeing my name like that, LOL!
Wow, at age 4 you got all that? Respect from here, dear friend!
Fingers and toes crossed nature spares you from further catastrophes at least.
We still wait for rain and it´s still way too cold for the time of the year.
Yes, you and your Dad will add to that backpack, I am sure!
We still have not booked Perth, who knows when we can. Darn Corinna, that.
Dear Iris! hahaha I am so glad you noticed your name in there hahaha I call it Corrina to my best friends whenever it hits our conversations haha. Thank you so much Iris, I really hope that I can travel again with my Dad soon and just as you have shown and told me about Perth, It's one on my list for the next trips once it's safe again :)
DeleteI visited Thailand once, a cultural country....
ReplyDeleteWish to visit Laos and Cambodia. I rarely heard about these countries.
# Hope, pandemic disappear soon, and we back to normal live
Very much agree my friend Tanza! Thailand is probably my favorite country that I have visited because of its culture and the people.
DeleteThank you and I hope that too! Safe days to our islands!
Very Nice blog!Sorry Iam late to this!I hope you will travel soon..Pss i know you will :)))
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photo and thanx for sharing!Please we want more old or New photoes from Your Place!
Anita
Anita that is so nice of you! Thank you very much! I am always happy to see you here in my blog as much as how happy I am to see Norway through yours. May I suggest you also visit Cavite Daily Photo if you wish to see more photos from my side of the world :) I love in a province called Cavite here in the Philippines :)
DeleteDearest Stevenson,
ReplyDeleteCute backpack that is, meaningful and it can tell a tale or two (lots more!).
Yes that is sad indeed and more so for your Dad as he's a generation older and his chances thus are more limited statistically.
Does your Dad live in your country, or would you have traveled to meet someplace to start this journey?
Let's hope this crazy time will soon end. We are all held in an iron grip by the power of some people that might abuse our personal freedom in a negative way!
Hugs,
Mariette
Thank you so much dear Mariette! You are absolutely right that is why I really find my backpack to be very special. My Dad lives here with me too in the Philippines :) I agree Mariette I hope whoever has that power can please use it for the betterment of humanity and not just the select few.
DeleteHappy Midweek Mariette!
😊
DeleteI feel sorry for you guys, especially to your dad. I hope there will always be another chance for him to visit the three countries, even travel to more countries. I believe patience is the key, and I hope that you guys have opportunities to travel again once pandemic is over.
ReplyDeleteFor the time being, it might be good to do research on the future destinations, while enjoying the views virtually.
You said it very perfectly Cipu! Thank you very much! The last trip I did with my father was in your beautiful Indonesia last 2017 and we had an amazing time in Bali! I hope we can all travel again in the future (and I would love to see more of the Indonesian islands)
DeleteYou can try Lombok, if you like the happening and crowded places, you can choose to go to the famous three gilis, but if you prefer a more subtle and quiet one, you can choose Gili Nanggu
DeleteMy friend Ciup! I definitely love the subtle and quiet destinations. I googled Gili Nanggu, that place is paradise! Thank you so much for recommending this to me, now I really wanna be on that beautiful island!
DeleteThe lessons you shared about travel synch with mine -- to be in places where you might not speak the same language, the money is different, the way of getting around is unlike your usual, is so important. Maybe people look different than you do, or believe differently. But when all give respect tot he other it is the greatest lesson of travel. I'm sorry about your trip. I hope you and your father have another chance at it.
ReplyDeleteJeanie your words are so beautifully well put and at the same time speaks loudly of what I believe in and cherish about travel! Thank you so much and I am glad we have the same views about it. Respect really is number one when it comes to travel and is also the biggest thing you will learn from doing it :) Thank you dear Jeanie, praying for a solution to this pandemic and we can push through with the adventure soon :)
DeleteI love the fact that you like traveling with your dad! We can only wait until things truly get back to normal and we can do normal things again.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite sad that so many disasters have left sooo many people with their lives in turmoil. It makes me grateful for my boring life :)
Your link is a great addition to 'My Corner of the World' this week!
You are so right Betty, patience is a virtue and we all have to wait patiently! Oh Betty but you already live is such a paradise of a country! Our of this world beautiful places, amazing culture, kind people, and lowest corruption rate in the world! Now I sound like an NZ Ambassador but it's one of my dream places really :)
DeleteThank you so much Betty and to My Corner of the World!
I am impatient to travel too. The pandemic has hit the pause button on my bucket list and I am not getting any younger!
ReplyDeleteBetter safe than sorry!
Stay safe!
I love that! It's just a pause button, and we'll soon hit on play when it's all safer. Thank you so much Veronica and very very agree on that, Safety First!
DeleteThat is so cool, SQ! You remind me of a friend that kept a world map in his apartment and marked off all the places he'd traveled. At one point he started working full time at a travel agency, but eventually got fired because he was always traveling and rarely at work, lol.
ReplyDeleteYou cut a fine figure and I'm sure you'll be on more adventures soon.
Thank you so so much dear Jeanna! I'm sorry about your friend but I very much understand him especially working on a travel agency where he can sight the best deals on trips! hahaha Thank you very much Jeanna and praying we'll all have more adventures beyond our places soon :)
DeleteI am so sorry you are missing your adventure! I do love all those patches on your back pack tho - that is such a great compilation!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Alycia! I am so happy that you like the patches because I really love them to and is an amazing reminder and token that I can take out of all my trips :)
DeleteI also miss trips. This year my family and I planned a cruise to Sweden, but unfortunately we had to give up because of the coronavirus. Must be patient. I really like your backpack :)
ReplyDeleteOh Rodzina Sweden is also such a dream for me! My student now lives there with her husband and they share photos that makes me so wanna visit someday! You are right we should all be patient and just keep hoping we can travel again someday!
Delete