The Distant Places That Are Calling Me

Tonight, I asked my roommate Ahne, if which country would she really want to go to but thinks that it would be impossible to do so.

She answered, Paris. Extremely expensive airfare.

I answered, Ireland. I do not know of anybody who goes for a vacation in Ireland. (Do you? Please let me know.)

Ahne and I were the same persons who would have gone ballistic had anybody told us about a year and a half ago that we would one day, get lost in the streets of South Korea. And we later learned the lesson that no “almost impossible” pinings and wishlist items are really that impossible when we were already on the soils of Seoul, ready to get lost and be lost.

The bottomline: always prepare to be surprised.

I grew up in a family whose both parents are working to make both ends meet. Although our lifestyle was modest, but we were still lucky to have some of our little wishes be granted from time to time. But the granting of these wishes didn’t come easily. In exchange, we had to do our part in the household chores, be extra well-mannered kids, and get good grades in school. Our parents made us understood from an early age that we have to work hard to receive what we want because the money that they will be using to buy it was also from hard work.

Living by that lesson that our parents taught us also paid off. I was able to travel to some parts of the country (for free) while still studying, from joining competitions during elementary and high school. In the university, being a student writer allowed me the perk of travelling for free to different places. My parents understood and supported these little trips that I had to make, and it was also one way of gaining their trust by showing them that I can take care of and handle myself given any situations, amidst different people, and even away from home.

So now that I am working, I make sure that I set some amount of money for travelling or for a short vacation, even just once a year. I would like to think that I’m a wise traveler, I don’t spend overboard (a cheap but clean, well-researched hotel is waaaay okay for me) and I do everything “old school”---I save for it. I don’t even have a single credit card.

So, here are my “almost impossible” dream destination list. Also included are the things that I will do if by God’s grace, I’d be given the chance to set foot on them one day. As a recall, I hugged the Gyongbukgong gates (take note: gates, not gate) in South Korea.

I’ll just let luck, hardwork (savings for airfare and accommodations, uuuugh!), and my gypsy feet surprise me.

Toss a coin while wearing a gypsy outfit on the cliffs of IRELAND.

Have a photo of the Sphinx, kissing me on the cheeks, in EGYPT.

Camp in the SAHARA. Sleep and wake up to all of that immense space----I’m still undecided whether that immensity will scare me or leave me awed.

Picnic under the cherry blossoms in JAPAN.

Wave and shout, “Hey Moon, can you see me from out there?”, in the Great Wall of CHINA.

Fall in love Sing my all time favorite, “Does the Moonlight Shine in Paris”, by Paolo Santos under the Eiffel Tower in PARIS.

Touch the peak of Mount Everest from a distance in NEPAL.

Toast myself in the waters of Santorini in GREECE.

Sip hot chocolate in the middle of nowhere in ALASKA, while witnessing the Aurora spectacle.