Wednesday, August 07, 2019

#lakbay100 Quest Completed (2010-June to 2019-July)

visited 100 countries as an ordinary Philippine Passport holder

"Live a life to inspire, live a life with sense of accomplishment, live a life you will remember!" - Mang Andoy

Lakbay Seven Continents of the World beyond #lakbay100

#lakbay100 (100 visited countries) mission accomplished :)
Nine years of unbelievable journey (2010-Jun to 2019-Jul), hopped into 5 continents 
(Asia-38, Europe-36, Africa-19, Australia/Oceania-5, South America-1, North America-1)...
Thank you very much to all the locals throughout the adventure :)
#thankyouverymuch #livealifeyouwillremember #goodvibes #solobackpacker #philippines

1 PHILIPPINES 26 ITALY 51 LATVIA 76 CYPRUS
2 THAILAND 27 ISRAEL 52 DENMARK 77 BAHRAIN
3 SINGAPORE 28 REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA 53 IRAN 78 BRAZIL
4 MALAYSIA 29 MYANMAR 54 NEPAL 79 SEYCHELLES
5 SOUTH KOREA 30 SRI LANKA 55 BRUNEI 80 MAURITIUS
6 VIETNAM 31 MALDIVES 56 OMAN 81 ETHIOPIA
7 CAMBODIA 32 UNITED KINGDOM 57 UGANDA 82 FIJI
8 LAOS 33 MOROCCO 58 RWANDA 83 VANUATU
9 SAUDI ARABIA 34 TURKEY 59 RUSSIA 84 QATAR
10 KUWAIT 35 KENYA 60 TIMOR LESTE 85 ZIMBABWE
11 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 36 TANZANIA 61 SOUTH AFRICA 86 ZAMBIA
12 INDIA 37 INDONESIA 62 KYRGYZSTAN 87 TUNISIA
13 LEBANON 38 JORDAN 63 TAJIKISTAN 88 MADAGASCAR
14 EGYPT 39 MONGOLIA 64 AUSTRALIA 89 SAMOA
15 CHINA 40 LIECHTENSTEIN 65 NORTH KOREA 90 PAPUA NEW GUINEA
16 ARMENIA 41 SLOVENIA 66 SPAIN 91 UZBEKISTAN
17 JAPAN 42 CROATIA 67 ANDORRA 92 MOZAMBIQUE
18 FRANCE 43 SERBIA 68 PORTUGAL 93 COTE D'IVOIRE
19 SWITZERLAND 44 BULGARIA 69 BOSNIA & HERZEGO. 94 GHANA
20 LUXEMBOURG 45 ROMANIA 70 MONTENEGRO 95 TOGO
21 BELGIUM 46 HUNGARY 71 MALTA 96 BENIN
22 NETHERLANDS 47 SLOVAKIA 72 SAN MARINO 97 TURKMENISTAN
23 GERMANY 48 POLAND 73 MONACO 98 KAZAKHSTAN
24 CZECH REPUBLIC 49 LITHUANIA 74 ALBANIA 99 UNITED STATES
25 AUSTRIA 50 ESTONIA 75 MACEDONIA 100 PAKISTAN

#lakbay100 Quest Completed (2010-June to 2019-July)

#lakbay100 Quest Completed (2010-June to 2019-July)

#laybay100 journal part 1 of 8: Who would have thought that a Solo Backpacker born and raise in Tondo, Manila and yet accomplished visiting 100 countries as Philippine passport holder... Obviously, my childhood memories were not as remarkable as with the present travellers. In addition, I've worked as a Service Crew during my 1st 3 years (Thank you Jollibee/Dunkin Donuts) on my engineering degree in PUP as a regular student. After that, I was a full time IT employee while having my self-review for one-take ECE board exam. And while having my full time work in LTP, I am enrolled on an Engineering Masters Degree in DLSU for three years as a Resident Scholar.

#laybay100 journal part 2 of 8: Who would have thought that I just had the interest in backpacking after I finished my Engineering Masters Degree and was very scared of traveling alone before my 30th year and yet I accomplished visiting 100 countries as Philippine passport holder... My travel interest further ignited when I stumbled on an online travel forum last 2010 (Thank you PEx) and met an amazing group of then curious travelers. During our socials night, I did not even mention of traveling the 1st world, not even a fan of fun hiking. After ten years, super OMG, unimaginable accomplishments of solo backpacking and hiking matters.

#laybay100 journal part 3 of 8: Who would have thought that I worked on a 9-10 hour shift in my homeland (Thank you LTP), very much dependent on piso sale (Thank you CebuPac) on 2010-2012,  OFW in Kuwait (Thank you KAC) and UAE (Thank you EAE) on a regular 8-10 hour shift and yet I accomplished visiting 100 countries as Philippine passport holder... I was and even presently in a foreign environment with diversed personalities while planning to pursue visiting this amazing countries with very exciting culture and very kind locals. I am very, very fortunate and thankful that my work is in the Aviation Industry.

#laybay100 journal part 4 of 8: Who would have thought that the only group travel with friends I had abroad was in South Korea (2011), I brought my mother on 1st world countries of Japan and Europe, my favorite nephews in HK, Macau and UAE, the rest are all solo trips and yet I accomplished visiting 100 countries as Philippine passport holder... Visa application in 1st world countries are still dependent on the proper documents I sent aligned on interview of my 60+ mother with very minimal education background and yet she passed them all on single shot.

#lakbay100 Quest Completed (2010-June to 2019-July)

#lakbay100 Quest Completed (2010-June to 2019-July)

#lakbay100 Quest Completed (2010-June to 2019-July)

#laybay100 journal part 5 of 8: Who would have thought that I got the hiking interest only when I was invited by a friend which were invited only also, 1st time organized a budget hike on the rainiest month to the 3rd highest mountain in my homeland with mostly strangers, solo hiked two of the Seven Summits with no formal/informal training and yet I accomplished visiting 100 countries as Philippine passport holder... I consider my mountain adventure as a fun-hiking regardless of the elevation. I was even in the middle of strong storm in Mt. Fuji (2013) wherein Japan government declared an emergency evacuation of all the Hikers, I even did this hike just two weeks after I hiked Mt. Kilimanjaro (Africa's tallest), my 1st hike among Seven Summits. Then, I resigned on my high-earning job (2015) to accomplish my dream of hiking self-guided the famous 3 routes of Himalayas (Everest, Annapurna, Lantang) for three months. I had no work for almost a year. After that, I hiked the highest mountains of less traveled countries of Oman, Timor Leste and Rwanda on self-guided solo basis.

#laybay100 journal part 6 of 8: Who would have thought that I missed my outbound flight in India and had to buy re-route expensive ticket on the spot, scrutinized on Level 5 alert in Israel immigration for being Filipino Solo Traveler, challenged a lot on border crossings and experienced the traumatic airport locked-up in Azerbaijan and yet I accomplished visiting 100 countries as Philippine passport holder... I still keep moving forward, traveling widened my positive outlook and always train my mind to see the good in everything.

#laybay100 journal part 7 of 8: Who would have thought that despite being a loser in real life, ugly, not sociable-type, an average employee and yet I accomplished visiting 100 countries as Philippine passport holder... Obviously, being solo backpacker is a huge advantage. Since I already accepted that I am terrible on my personal life, I concentrated on the other side where my happiness lies, going on the places I've never been, the element of surprise and the challenge of being there.

#laybay100 journal part 8 of 8: Cut the crap, having Philippine Passport visiting 100 countries for 9 years as corporate slave / OFW is a very proud accomplishment and NOT COMPARABLE to 1st world passport holder achievers. They don't have the agony of visa application requirements and being unknown to scrutiny of Immigration Officers. Bragging rights is beside the issue, it's all about UPLIFTING THE SPIRIT OF AN ORDINARY FILIPINO TRAVELER to the present world of profiling and other challenges. I am VERY PROUD as a FILIPINO who accomplished visiting 100 countries. Thank you very much to LTP, KAC, EAE and the locals who assisted me throughout my journey :)

"I see my path but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it" - Rosalia de Castro

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