EDMARATION #TownExplorer

INSIGHTS • Travel Thoughts in the Last Quarter of 2018

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Edmar del Castillo Guquib at Monday, December 17, 2018 0

Stories of town explorations.

Traveling has exposed me to many realities that trained me to think broadly and outside the box—now I’m applying them to my new chapter.

► It’s not the same life anymore. Some have to be sacrificed in exchange of expanding other areas of my development as human...

► I made a major decision in life in 2017 as part of my adulting process that has changed the way I acted and reacted to my life’s primary passions...

[Insights, Feature Posts]

[SPRATLY ISLANDS?] ► A SOLITARY ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA/WEST PHILIPPINE SEA. COULD THIS BE A PART OF THE DISPUTED SPRATLY GROUP OF ISLANDS? I DON'T KNOW WHICH COUNTRY OWNS THIS ISLAND.

It’s been almost two years since I last traveled outside the ▼ PHILIPPINES
. My last was in February 2017. Due to major decisions in life as part of my ‘adulting’ journey that recalibrated my personal priorities and plans, I have conditioned myself to accept my fate this year in terms of traveling.

I started traveling outside the Philippines in 2016. Since then, I’ve wanted to travel yearly to at least one country. In 2017, I was successful to visit and in that year, I transformed my dream overland travel from Saigon to for 7 days into reality. I was able to visit three countries. It was as enjoyable as my -Thailand motorbike adventures in 2016 and I had the chance to circle the whole island of Penang via motorbike among others. As much as I wanted to continue this streak up to 2018 (and beyond), it is true indeed that everything in this world changes except for constant change.

I found myself busy at the last quarter of the year 2018 without any plans for an out-of-the-country trip. I’ve accepted the reality though that my personal leisure travel in the name of finding wisdom and the truth has come to record low this year (2018)—or probably, to an end—since I started to fervently travel several years back.

This November, I was able to secure a total of fourteen (14) days of vacation leaves (including holidays, weekends, and days-off in between) from two (2) separate occasions. It was unexpected. I used some of these precious days going home back to to have quality time with my family for my birthday week. I realized it was serendipity. Spiritually, I considered this a clear sign to reboot and do the thing that recharges and motivates me in everything thing I do—traveling.

Yes, cliché as it may sound but traveling restores me in my default setting—enthusiastic, creative, passionate, joyful, optimistic, compassionate, and grateful. These are the qualitative specs of my default DNA factory setting. It’s like a car, that after changing its oil, its engine goes back to work efficiently.

With limited time to plan, everything was like a rush hour in a city full of green space. My mind was calm and excited but the short time remaining to plan this trip was scary. I’ve ditched all the promo fares because I still wasn’t sure if the cheap fare I would get would fall into vacation leave dates that would be approved. My life has changed dramatically. Two years ago, I could manipulate (legally) my schedule and vacation leaves. I had the liberty to ‘book now get a leave later’ even if that would be for a week or two. It was easy for me then. But like I said, I made a major decision in life in 2017 as part of my adulting process that has changed the way I acted and reacted to my life’s primary passions—travel and writing (blogging).

[QUEZON CITY] ► THIS IS A SCREENSHOT TAKEN FROM ONE OF MY VIDEO FILES WHILE RECORDING A VLOG FOR THIS 2018 LAST QUARTER TRIP.

It’s not the same life anymore. Some have to be sacrificed in exchange of expanding other areas of my development as human, son, brother, nurse, citizen, member of different communities, and as a dreamer. All areas should be developed I believe, but in my case, it’s just hard do two things at the same time as I have to only choose one priority that would benefit most (if not all) areas of my existence. I think it was a wise decision somehow to embrace the different life I have now. I would like to mention though that this major decision I am facing now was a result of the many wisdom I gained from traveling. Traveling has exposed me to many realities that trained me to think broadly and outside the box—now I’m applying them to my new chapter.

With a limited time to utilize, I scouted for the cheapest airfare. I found myself delving into disappointment. The cheapest I could get was 4-5x more expensive compared to what I could have gotten if I grabbed the numerous promo fares that I ignored due to vacation leave uncertainty.

Enough for the drama, I have always looked at the positive side of the story. I was grateful enough to have traveled this long with full payment although the airfare was expensive. Before, I had the liberty of time but I was never paid this way I am paid now while I’m enjoying a vacation. Those days, I go home with full spirit but broke. Now is a different story—I go home with full spirit and still could afford to chill with an overpriced coffee on my right hand. Indeed, there’s always a positive side of the story. Amen!

This is my introduction for my next blog series “Into the Southwest Corner of Southeast Asia.” | to be continued... |

FOOTNOTES, DISCLAIMERS, ACKNOWLEDGMENT, ETC

► This post was filed under the category "Insights." See more posts related to this below.

► All photos are mine.

FEATURE • How I Traveled in Crete Island as a Child?

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Edmar del Castillo Guquib at Tuesday, September 04, 2018 0

Stories of town explorations.

I brought my childhood dreamworld to the present. Being a motorbike aficionado, I'm day-dreaming of motorbiking the island with friends, or even in my solitary moments.

✈ Greece's geographic features are indeed fascinating. The island of Crete is no exemption.

✈ I found it a luxury--being able to see those pictures and at the same time, locating their positions on the map..

[Disclaimer: This is a paid personal feature post.]

| 1 | [CRETE ISLAND] ► MESSARA PLAIN IN CRETE ISLAND by JEBULON

Why Crete?

I was that child who often slept with the Atlas book. I virtually toured the world. I could recognize the location of the Rocky Mountains, the Caucasus mountain range, the lonesome Easter island, the Arctic coast of Russia, etc.

In the Mediterranean, I was also fascinated with the islands off the coasts of Africa and mainland Europe. Remembering those days is resurrecting the sweet moments. As a child, I wasn't traveling. However, the fact that I enjoyed browsing the Atlas with some NatGeo worthy photos associated with the places featured was one of the sweetest moments in my life. I found it a luxury--being able to see those pictures and at the same time, locating their positions on the map.

The Peninsulas of southern Europe were some of my favorite features. The Atlas was printed that way I could see it from above with my naked eye. You could recognize the plains, the forested regions, the ridges and high-altitude locations.

The easternmost of the three great peninsulas of Europe is the Greek peninsula that looked astonishing because of its extremely irregular shape. I didn't know how Greece looked like those days but just looking on the map, I could say that this country has a lot of beautiful places to unveil in the right time. At the Aegean Sea, clusters of irregularly shaped islands dotted the waters--some even extend near the coast of Turkey. At first I thought these islands were already part of Turkey but I was surprised that they still belong to Greece even though they are extremely nearer to Turkey and hundred folds away from Mainland Greece.

Greece's geographic features are indeed fascinating. The island of Crete is no exemption. Crete lies in the heart of Mediterranean like a gem with commanding presence. Before I came to know about the internet, seeing its location on the map was already enough. The heaps of curiosity in me made me want to stick my eyes on the printed pages as I day-dreamed of myself engaged in teleportation. What a sweet day that was! My mere imagination made me live my childhood days the fullest.

Fast forward, it's 2018. I've already accessed the internet multiple times but my Crete childhood fantasies still remain. The internet showed me the beauty of the island that I thought I would never see.

I brought my childhood dreamworld to the present. Being a motorbike aficionado, I'm day-dreaming of motorbiking the island with friends, or even in my solitary moments. With the advent of technology, traveling has become easier, cheaper, and more convenient. Renting a car in Crete would be a good option too. For car aficionados, I think this would be a great option to enjoy Crete island with family or with friends.

How did I know it would be enjoyable to rent a car or a motorbike in exploring Crete island? During those days when I was not yet introduced to the internet, I have already enjoyed the island by just seeing its shape on the map with my creative imagination working. What more now that we already have the internet in our fingertips? Today, we could access the beauty of Crete (my childhood fantasy) and even the beauty of the world. Going back, the Rocky Mountains, the Caucasus mountain range, the lonesome Easter island, and the Arctic coast of Russia are no exemption of this fascinating technology we already enjoy.

So how I traveled as a child in Crete island? I traveled in my imagination. | end |

► FOOTNOTES, DISCLAIMERS, ACKNOWLEDGMENT, ETC

✈ This is a guest post. For partnership with my blog, including but not limited to brand ambassadorship, advertising, paid postings, and sponsorship, contact me at edmaration@gmail.com.

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[Guest Post] Feature Stories

FEATURE • Reasons why The Exumas in the Bahamas should be in your bucket list

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Edmar del Castillo Guquib at Wednesday, August 01, 2018 0

Stories of town explorations.

Did you ever imagine as you will be laying on the top of the white sand beach listening to the waves of crystal clear water break at your feet?

► The sun will be all beaming down, and hence cool ocean breeze will make you feel so heavenly impression.

► If you want to catch such taste of vision in reality, then you must visit the Exuma Bahamas.

[Guest Post, Special Features]

It is truly the perfect beach location. You can also look for the Exuma rentals that are worth to visit around this pleasant, exotic place to catch the best vision of the paradise. There are just tons of things to do and see in this place, read on to find out.

Mesmerizing Clear Waters

These amazing 360 islands make up the Bahamas, and each and almost every one of them is surrounded by crystal clear and so as the almost impossibly blue water. It looks like attending on with the impression as if the ocean was filled with bottled water. You might have visited around with so many of the seas and oceans, but hence the water in the Exumas is by far the clearest.

2. Swimming Pigs

On the Exuma water sports, you will be getting into the fun entertainment of the swimming pigs as well. Just as apparently in lieu of Y2k, as so many of the locals on Exuma were worried that if online systems shut down, they might have an issue in the medium of the food supply. Every single day any person could have to visit the island and feed the pigs to take care of them as the pigs are intelligent animals motivated by food as they eventually began to associate the sound of the boat engines with supper. You should not miss out visiting this place!

3. Snorkeling

The water in Exuma is so much crystal clear as you can literally put on some goggles and also the snorkel anywhere you want. It is all placed as in between the colorful fish, sea slugs, turtles, starfish, and sharks as your snorkeling adventure would not get to have a dull moment. This place is also better known by the name of the Thunderball Grotto. It is interesting to note that this island was used as a filming location for the two James Bond films: Thunderball and Never Say Never! As in the outside of the limestone island, you will be finding it to be beautifully surrounded by the Bahama Blue water Exuma. It is all equipped with a large hallow cavern with holes in the ceiling with the sun’s rays shining through the medium of the lighting up the cave and hundreds of colorful fish swimming below. You would love exploring this place for sure.

4. Swimming with Sharks at Compass Bay

You can also make the visit to this place as if you are fond of swimming with the sharks. Compass Bay is the best destination for such kind of the activities. But they are much harmless as the nurse sharks are slow moving bottom feeders who prefer fish, shrimp, and squid. However, they do have very small but strong jaws and will bite much of the defensively if they are stepped on or bothered, so it is important to be respectful. Enjoy the adventure of this location right now!

Did you ever plan to get yourself on the solo backpacking trips on the Exumas in the Bahamas? Well, many of the people would not be much aware of the concept term of taking any kind of the destination. Traveling alone is fun to do. But most of the time it does happen that for the beginners it can be a daunting task because you become so stressed out and upset when no one is present to help you in need of the hour. The very first thing which you need to keep in mind is about the booking for Exumas. As you would be traveling alone for the very first time, therefore, you should be staying very much alert and conscious about your flight booking as well. Traveling out without making any plans to some destination is always exciting and exciting to do all the time. A sudden change in the place would come about to be very much disturbing for you.

Therefore, you should not be changing your plans as you meet other travelers. You should make an effort to learn about new cities along the way. If you are traveling alone, then you should be very much conscious of the investment too. You should be investing your money by making a decent sum of planning and budgeting in mind. If you are finding the best hotel accommodation at cheap rates, then there is no need to make your way into the five-star hotels. You should not be taking transportation to visit the places that are nearby your hotel. Walking by foot would not be a bad idea at all.

As you do step out alone from your hotel to roaming around here and there, you should not miss out carrying your accommodation card with the address. Mostly the international roads and homes are constructed with the same designing and building that would instead make you confuse even though if you have visited that place so many times. Keeping the card would make it easier to hop in a cab and get home. It is best to even though if you are a trap into some uncomfortable situation.

FOOTNOTES, DISCLAIMERS, ACKNOWLEDGMENT, ETC

► This is a guest post. For partnership with my blog, including but not limited to brand ambassadorship, advertising, paid postings, and sponsorship, contact me at edmaration@gmail.com.