Back when I was a child I used to think that only rich and famous people afford a world of travel. Right after I graduated in a University as an accountant, I worked as a marketing assistant in one of a leading bank in the Philippines. My first and only branch was at the business center in Makati. I have met a lot of rich people that are regular clients who most of the time are outside the country and would contact us by email about certain bank transactions that they need us to carried out while they are in the midst of vacation, this are “for reg”, for regularization transactions as we call it in the bank and they need to sign this transactions on their return to be regularized.

On their arrival, they generally return with fun and motivating stories to impart to us in the bank, which makes me want to envy their voyaging more and more. In any case, since I am content with my then current life, with a tight rundown of objectives to organize, I would not like to leave my usual range of familiarity and danger on spending a fortune to travel.

Until something went wrong, my first relationship of 8 years has ended. My world crashed. I would cry myself to sleep and wake up with tears after tears until I fall asleep again. I lived each day in pain waiting for time to heal my broken heart and hoped to wake up with amnesia.  Everything in the world I lived in remind me of that relationship and how the thought of knowing it has ended killed me inside. I knew I had to do something. 

I woke up one day with a thought of ending my suffering, asked my father who was working in the middle east to get me a visa and ticket to follow him, filled my resignation letter, bought my luggage, packed my clothes and told my mom I am travelling to middle east. She don’t believe me at a time, not until I had my visa and plane ticket and she is already taking me to the airport crying and wouldn’t want to let go of me.

As nervous as I felt to venture abroad without a friend and being with my father who I barely know because he was working abroad since I was 8 years old, it also felt like I could finally exhale when I stepped off the plane in a new city miles away from the person who hurt me back home. Wandering Doha and how it is entirely different from what I thought it was, met new friends who eventually became bridge to my new career. Moved out from my father’s place and start living alone. I learned to embrace my own company and love myself – complexities and all. Admittedly, at 24 I had yet to truly experience being alone and so found this move to be life changing.

I was staying in a company accommodation villa with 3 girls sat on the double bed of my room and realized, no one would pick up myself but me, no one. At that moment, I pushed myself off the bed, hugged myself and start to live again.

This is me on my 3rd month in Doha.

I finally learn to smile again. Now my life is very different but is more reflective of who I am and what I want to be; and more importantly I am happy. The pain faded and while its true that time heals, being in a different world has helped to speed up the healing process.

Now and again, I reflect back on my traveling to Middle East and know that had I not boarded that plane I may have never found the strength needed to change my life.

When I returned to my country for the first time after a year and a half of being away, I am smiling again.

Returned and laugh with good old friends who are equally happy as me to see each other again.

My career has changed, from being a banker, counting money, opening bank accounts and calculating investment maturities.

To being a Document controller receiving and forwarding drawings and other document for a construction of a building.

I met a lot of people along the way, some remain good friends, some just passed by to teach a lesson.

I still cry when I am sad, but traveling taught me how to pick myself up when down, how to be honest with what I want and need in life, reminded me of how many wonderful people are out there and showed me the unwavering strength I have inside me.

To date, I have been in 15 Countries and counting.     

Now, as I look towards my next travel adventure, my traveling is not about running away but about staying connected to myself. After all, if the relationship we have with ourselves is truly the most important, then traveling is like taking a trip with your best friend.