30th on Planet Earth

It is on!!!

I had somehow a not so good news from yesterday regarding my plans for August... though it resulted to a much better plan.

My original plan for August is to celebrate my birthday with my friends on the island where I found most of them... same island that I consider home.

The celebration will be two-parts: OUTREACH and PARTY!!! These 2 activities has been how I spent most of my life. :-)

FRIENDS and FREEDOM

What's the most important thing in life?

There comes a time when you start asking yourself that question.  The answer is of course subjective and it changes depending on your situation at the moment.

I have been asking myself that question again and again.  And I guess my answer has not really changed --- FRIENDS and FREEDOM.

My friends are my family and some of my family are my friends.  So FRIENDS.  They have been my reason for going "home" because for me, home is where my friends are.  I end up going home to different places and I've got many different homes.  I am also lucky to have so many Mas and Pas.

And FREEDOM.  It is sweet to have it.  And difficult to hold it.  I sometimes compromise it now to have more freedom in the future.

At the moment, I have neither both.  My friends are on other islands and I am bound here in Metro Manila to work.  Na ja, but if there's no MONEY, no HONEY.

So what to do?

When I look at the mirror, I am reminded that I am graying.  Seriously, at 29, I am.  There will be streaks of gray hairs which will be more and more visible soon.  There are some now.  And when you are getting older and older, you should be more mature. And what is the mature thing to do?

I have not really started investing on something since my money is from "hand to foot" --- I receive money then I use it to travel.  There was a time when all I do is save up money to be away for months then come back and work again to be away for months and the cycle stopped!

It's been 10 months now that I am working most everyday.  I am part of the system and freedom is fading.

But what is the best thing to do?

I need money for sure, as a friend always reiterates, "how can you travel if you don't have a job?... blah blah blah... how can you survive without money? blah blah blah"...  And finding a job in the Philippines is not that easy moreso with landing in a good-paying one.  So I guess, I should continue.

But is there a way to increase the number of leave days?  Just asking!  15 days/year is not enough!!! It is too few.  And for a terminally afflicted with nomadicity like me, it is not enough!!!

One thing for sure, next time I decide, FRIENDS and FREEDOM will be the deciding factors.

My New City

It's a challenge for nomads to settle in a place.  Nomads has got many cities or none.

When I decided to move to Metro Manila, I was really uncomfortable.  I lived with a friend for 3 months and during those months my stuff are always in my luggage.  I was also always not in Metro Manila during that time.

Last year, I finally moved to Makati City.  A city I never thought I would learn to like.  It is somehow the cliche of the big cities --- tall buildings, busy streets, swarm of people.  Well, it is!

It is also, however, trying to be livable.  And it is successful in its attempts.

I live in a vibrant area, the old center of Makati - Barangay Poblacion.  I now have all what I need and want within reach.  There are weekend markets: Salcedo Saturday Market and Legaspi Sunday Market.  There's a food bazaar some meters away from my flat: Baga Manila at the A.Venue Parking Area.  There's a grocery nearby and a wet market a kilometer or 2 away.

Hanging out is no problem.  There's a hostel next to my street and people can bring their own beer: BYOB (Bring-Your-Own-Beer) at the MNL Boutique Hostel.  The owners are really cool and you will not have a lack of topics to talk about.

Some meters away is the "red light district".  And the cheapest beers are everywhere: Giligan's sells Pale Pilsen 3-for-100.  Food is also in every direction, from Asian to African.  Just take a little walk and you'll find something that you might want to try.

For sporty peeps, there are boxing gyms along Makati Avenue.  Hotels offer membership for their fitness gyms as well - a friend is enrolled in City Garden and pays Php2,000.00 for a month.

And for me, swimming!!!  I found out about it recently through a work colleague and it was great.  Makati City operates the Makati Aqua Sports Arena (MASA)  with a dimension of 21x50 meters in the Guadalupe area just across the University of Makati.  It is only Php50 for Makati-residents and Php150 for the others.

I am starting to LOVE MAKATI... and starting to really LIVE in the city!
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I hope I don't get in trouble by using the Makati logo... BUT Makati is really making it happen.  For more information on the happenings in my new city, check Make It Happen Website.

Daydreaming of a Long Break

It was just some weeks ago that I came back from a relatively long trip (it is fairly long for Filipino workers) BUT I want to be back on the road again.

One of, somehow, my New Year's Resolutions is to save money and to save money meant not spending for traveling.  Oh well, New Year's Resolutions is valid only for a day.  Hahaha...

Last year, I have already booked tickets to Davao to visit friends there and join another friend who will be first time going to Mindanao.  I've also told myself that that would be the last time traveling for the first half of the year.  Hahaha...

BUT today, feeling the itch, I was just checking Skyscanner and found a ticket from Dumaguete to Manila at a somehow OK price.  So, I booked it and even recruited one to join me.

That is just the Dumaguete to Manila ticket.  The how-to-go-to Dumaguete is the real adventure!!!

I will be using again my old route --- island hopping my way to Negros.  So, soon, I'll say hello to Mindoro, Panay, and Negros again!!! :-)  I cannot wait for March!

Yeah yeah yeah!!!

One-week to go...

View Break 2012 in a larger map
Yeah, yeah, yeah!!!

South East Asia, here I come!

I am excited.  I am happy about it.  But I am also a bit insecure.

Four countries in 14 days. Taking stretches of road from Johor Bahru to Hanoi through Thailand and Laos.

With the time frame, I am not sure if it is enough. So one of main goals is: REACH HANOI on 5.January 2013!

I am not yet preparing anything. I should not bring so much with me anyways.  I got no baggage allowance.  But I found my passport again today. So I should be fine.

450cc

I am officially a blood donor!

With the support of a friend who donated blood last week, I also did it today.

I was actually planning for it for quite sometime now and have deferred it many times.  One reason was that it takes a lot of time at the Regional Hospital to donate blood.  It seems like you need to spare a day to do it - which I couldn't give.  And sometimes it is because I was from a party and was deferring it because of the alcohol.

So today, I did it!  I've donated a unit of whole blood to the local Red Cross.

I felt a bit dizzy and feeling a bit cold at the start of the process but I felt OK again when I started sweating.  It was not painful even though they needed to bleed from both of my arms.  I almost filled the bag of 450cc with one arm until the rubber that they tied on my arm loosened.  But it was fine.  I just looked funny with two (2) checkered band aids I got one for each of my arms.

I am really happy about it.  I am already planning for my next donation three (3) months after today.  You want to join me?

And I guess I need to be back to the Red Cross in the next days to get my donor's card... and to get the contact information for those who wanted to donate their 450cc.

1999 - 15 - 12

1999 was the year when I first got to know about Patag - a mountain village in Silay City.  It was the year I got to know Tatay Boning - one of the "landmarks" in my life.  That was also the year I got introduced to environmental advocacies and outdoor life.

15 was my age then.  So young but then so daring.  The first time I went there, I was alone with just a piece of paper from a friend describing me the direction.  And so I arrived with no one in the campsite as they all went to one of the waterfalls.

12 years already and counting... and I will still go visit this village... and try to help in whatever way I can.

SO this coming 10-11 December 2011, I will go back there again and I invite you all to come with me.  What I  plan now is to have a simple camping activity there with some interaction with the community.  Details will be posted within the week.

Spontaneity is dying...

... and I feel so old! Therefore, the youth in me is dying too... and that is so sad!

I lately always hear myself say, "yeah, I want to go away for the weekend but I got a lot of things to do" and that sounds barely like me. What is happening to the nomad?

So these no-work-days I am going to revive the nomad in me (as if I am to be concerned much about the non-working holidays when in fact I decided to be a consultant to actually be free from these work-strings).

It's Friday and I am still in a seminar.

My plan is to go home later, do my laundry tomorrow, and hit the road on Sunday.

Where to? Still not sure... and I actually am broke! So, whatever!!!

Been Away For Too Long...

And I hope, I am back!!! :)

The gap in my travelling made me one of the persons I am not - those who are not travelling. Hahaha... It was more of the consequence of working on a longer-term project than the usual I used to sign for - which is actually not a bad idea. I've grown more professionally, I can say... it's just that it becomes a low season for a nomad like me... and I am still a nomad even though I have not been out there for quite some time.

It saddens me somehow that my weekends meant staying longer in bed trying to make up for lost sleeping hours due to work. And it saddens me more to be one of those who plans a trip but ends up in his/her room just because it seems complicated to get from point A to B. I seem to have lost the spontaneity that was natural to me.

I am hoping now to have it back... I want it back!!!

What I am looking forward to now is the Asian Trip I am planning for next year...

Can't wait to eat that Banh Mi in Vietnam, hop on the islands of Laos, dive in the artist scene in Thailand, get a glimpse of the life in Burma, be amazed of Bangladesh and India, and visit a good friend in Nepal!

Celebrating my 27th! (before I turn 28)

I'm planning for quite a party this year to celebrate my 27th days before I turn 28. My 27th year is definitely one of the most colorful years in my life. It was full of adventure, friendship, fulfillment, and promise. It is a year I started somehow with doubts as I was just freshly back from my SEA backpacking trip - I was broke and I got no job then... But things turned out really fine! One of the high years of my life, I can really say.

SO to show my appreciation and gratitude, I am throwing a party.

Where did the Nomad go?

I know that there is so many entries to write to fill in the gap between the last one and this one. I'll find time to write them. Rest assured however that the nomad still existent. Just got tangled a bit but will soon be running free.

And therefore there is a need for the announcement of the nomadic seasons for the remainder of 2011:

JULY

OCTOBER

DECEMBER

These will just be short seasons but will be seasons filled with friends to celebrate different reasons.

See you on the road soon!

Postcard

I love postcards! Even if at first I don't really understand what they are about.

Writing letters or sending postcards is not that strong in the Filipino culture. Maybe because of the "strong family ties" (meaning being tied down to your family even you start your own family, even until death, that you have no reason to use the postal service to get your letters or cards reach the recipient) or because of the other available communication mediums which are becoming cheaper and cheaper. Whatever! But what I know is that in my growing up years, sending letters was a bit of an alien thing.

Though I can say, since my "kababatas" (childhood friends) moved to another town, I started writing letters and sending cards. No postcards though.

I find it refreshing to write letters on stationaries and scented papers, sealing an envelope by licking the glue, and sticking on the stamps... and dropping it off the postal office. It is really magical for me.

I held on to it... and I still do it except the "licking the glue" part which I only seldom do. Hahaha...

As I am "cleaning" my room (meaning clearing one part and messing up the other side), I found a stack of postcards and maps I got from my travels in Europe and Asia. I used to just buy them for the fear of not having a good photo of the place and for remembrance's sake. I also have sent a great deal of them to friends and family all over.

It was a nice feeling being written back by my niece in Canada that the first postcard she ever got is from me. I am hoping that they find it enjoyable too - sending postcards themselves and I am still waiting for a postcard from them.

I've received lots of letters, cards and postcards from my friends all over. It is a wonderful feeling arriving at home and finding one on top of the table waiting to be read. I even made friends with the postman assigned in my area. Hahaha...

Now, I've gotta write some postcards to be sent in time for the Valentine's Day!

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I also design and print my own postcards. If you want to receive one or your very first postcard, just drop me a note at kareen.oloroso@gmail.com.

Adventure 2011?!

I might be a bit conservative this year BUT that depends on my scholarship results. Here are the possible scenarios:

A. I GET THE SCHOLARSHIP AND WILL HAVE TO LEAVE FOR GERMANY IN SEPTEMBER.

That would mean I will not go abroad for traveling unless I will have to attend a conference or a meeting. I would better spend the months with my family before moving temporarily to Germany (if ever).

B. I DON'T GET THE SCHOLARSHIP.

Then I might go to India for some months or back to Borneo and Sarawak, the rest of Sabah, and the Indonesian Borneo.

The most possible adventure this year would be the backpacking through the Eastern Philippine Nautical Highway.

Or another adventure would be starting my own business. I am thinking of registering my own travel company focusing on a niche market. And also going for my T-Shirts business. Or do some serious writing for some travel magazines and websites.

Oh well, life is an adventure with many different forms.

Welcome 2011!!! Bring it on!!!

The Nomad Found a Home

Yeah! That's right, the nomad found a home in Pola, Oriental Mindoro. I am a proud Polanian and a proud member of the Oloroso Family.

That almost one month stay in my father's hometown have inspired me a lot. It made me realize a lot of things... things that are important and things that I had and have been looking for - a family and the feeling that you belong.

However, even if the Nomad found a home, the adventure continues... the Nomad will still be traveling and going to get the world and its people. But the Nomad now got a definite answer when asked "Where is home?" - Home is FAMILY! :-)

30 by 30

It's a dream of many nowadays to visit 30 countries (or more) before or when they reach 30 years of age.

I am one of them. I want at least visit 30 countries before reaching 30. That leaves me 2 years and 7 months... and 15 more countries to go.

That is still quite a lot!

One strategy to reach this goal is to be back in Europe. From there, I can visit:

(1) Croatia - to see Sven and finally drink that white wine he promised me;

(2) Belgium - to see Sven again as he will be moving there for a job;

(3) Hungary;

(4) Luxembourg;

(5) Lichtenstein;

(6) Italy;

(7) Spain;

(8) Greece;

(9) Portugal;

(10) Czech Republic;

(11) Switzerland - to visit Mischi and be with another crazy again;

(12) Egypt - I can fly cheap from Germany to Egypt;

(13) Turkey - I heard great stuff about the country;

(14) Romania; and

(15) the UK if there is a chance to it.

It is definitely possible!

Now we have to wait for my scholarship that will bring me to Europe. Hahaha...

Mindoro in my Heart...

"I'm going home" is my usual line... "Going home to where?" is the usual question from friends. I go "home" to Manila, to Bacolod, to Davao, to Legaspi, even to Zamboanga... referring "home" to be "where my friends are." But going home to Mindoro is special.

Of all the places I go home to, Mindoro is "where my family" is. Where some of my uncles and aunt rooted down, raised their kids and also rested forever.

It is where I first learned how to bike, how to swim. It is the place that ignited my passion for adventure - joining my uncle to the farm to get some produce, taking the boat against the big waves and strong current, climbing up some hills to pick fruits, and walk some kilometers and crossing a river to call some of the workers who are washing their clothes. That is where it began.

There is always something that pulls me towards that place. Being there is not that easy with the typical small town gossipers. I remember coming home with shaved head. I arrived at around 2am and while having coffee in the market same morning, you hear people talk about the youngest child of "Ka Ben" to be lesbian (just because of my hair). That is however something that gives the town a character. You just have to live with it.

My childhood memories in Mindoro are still so vivid. All the almost-drowning experiences, all the Moriones, all the Holy Week rituals... and all the craziness just to escape the 6pm "Orasyon."

You arrive, you drop your bags and the trip down the memory lane starts... it does even start by the time you enter the town "gate" (I mean the arch or something that says "Welcome to Pola").

Pola, Oriental Mindoro will always be a part of me.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

A nomadic greetings from the Philippines!

I am off again tomorrow for my backpacking/island hopping to Mindoro Oriental - hometown of my father - where I will spend the holidays with my friends and relatives.

Wishing you all HAPPY HOLIDAYS and GOOD FORTUNE in the coming 2011.

Let's celebrate!!!

Send the Nomad to Canada!

The nomad is thinking of going to the cold north... And if you want to help her, click on the link and vote:

http://joiedemontreal.ca/profile/1229/kareen-oloroso

It is a contest to win an International Summer Scholarship in Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

So vote now and make the Nomad's chances of winning higher!

What Happened to the Nomad?!

It's been some weeks or was it months that I have not updated my blog. The spirit is there but the will is missing. Yeah, I had been busy and still am.

I started working again... for a foundation that is taking care of one of the paradises left in the country - Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation. And yes, I am working now on that island where I volunteered as a camp leader last October.

Danjugan Island is small but packed of amazing things. It's a nature-lover's paradise... a perfect place to reflect and to relax... and at the same time extending help to the conservation efforts of the foundation and to the whole Earth in general.

That is where I am now. I go there almost once a week. Irony is that coming from my Southeast Asian tour of six countries, I am now going back and forth to this tiny island of 43 hectares.

The nomad is somehow resting BUT not really!

Visit me on Danjugan!

For those interested, here is the website:

http://prrcf.org

The New Plan - latest version

I received the confirmation for the World Ecotourism Conference in KL today... I got the volunteer post and so after the conference in Ho Chi Minh, I will fly to KL. Then after KL, maybe some days in Singapore then it is still open.

Since Thailand is in chaos, I will not go there. From Cao Bang, I will go to Dien Bien Phu to volunteer there for a week to 3 weeks as an English teacher to young kids. Then I will travel to Laos and Cambodia then will be back to Saigon for the follow-up meeting with the RED.

I am still waiting for a news from Berlin if I am going there in August, if not, I might come back to Vietnam then find my way to China.