Traveling is Possible Proves
Working Class Filipino Ruby

28 September 2017 | Ruby

What motivated you to travel on that first trip? Where did you decide to go and why did you choose that place out of all others?

My very first trip was when I was 7 - my mom won a raffle ticket to go to Hong Kong and decided to take me with her. I did not choose the location nor when to go. I just remembered being in a strange destination. My first ever travel when I was older was a month plus business trip to the UK. I have always wanted to go to the country and my employer was sponsoring my visa so sweet! I did not choose the location, so it just happened by chance!

When it comes to self-funded travel, I decided to play it safe and go to Hong Kong. It was close enough to the Philippines where I was living, and I remembered my first time there so it wasn’t that scary of a place to be in. It was also cheap to get there from my country and no visas required, which was important at the time.

What obstacles and fears did you have to overcome to travel that first time? Whether this was just finding a house sitter, figuring out how to save up enough money, or becoming confident enough to travel on your own.

Just trying to save enough money. I took my mom with me on that trip but unfortunately, I did not budget enough and ended up with a bit of credit card debt after that trip - whoops. I decided to overestimate my budget going forward, so as soon as I paid off that credit card bill, I never had any debt related to travel. You gotta learn the hard way sometimes, right?

Who was the most fascinating person you met on the road? What made him/her fascinating and how did you meet him/her?

I can’t pinpoint out a specific person, but I’ve met a few of them. There was a lawyer I met in Vietnam who ended up traveling for a few months and went back home to practice law. There’s this girl from Norway who travels for a few months and then comes back and works, and travels again. There’s this photographer from Austria who decided to become a digital nomad, but occasionally comes home to work as well. There’s this family who are traveling with a 3 year old and a baby which inspired me that travel doesn’t stop even if you have a family, despite what other people say.

I’ve met these people while I was traveling or attending events relating to travel. The Norwegian girl and the Austrian guy I met in Cambodia, the traveling family in NYC at the NY Times Travel Show, and my husband. I met him while I was technically an expat in the USA. He’s from Slovakia but is also an American, so that’s fascinating.

What is your most treasured travel experience? Why is this one your favourite?

Traveling with my husband is always a lot of fun! So far my favorite travel experience with him will have to be going to his home country of Slovakia. I was one of the very, very few colored people there, and the Slovaks kept asking him if I’m English because I can only speak English and of a different color. I got to see the countryside as well as the beauty of the place. I got a glimpse of how and where my husband grew up and fell in love with his country (and Czech Republic). Basically I can say I fell in love with what used to be called Czechoslovakia and now we go back every 2 years to visit his family back home and explore more of the country.

At one point we actually talked about going back when we’ve reached our goal of retiring early, buying a car, and literally going through every castle and tourist destination in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Would be great since he speaks the language so we’ll never feel lost and will definitely feel like a local.

If you could travel anywhere in the world where money wasn’t an issue, where would you be and what would you be doing? In essence, describe your idea of the perfect traveling experience.

I don’t really have a perfect traveling experience. Each destination is unique by itself, and I don’t really want to have a perfect travel experience in my head because then you’ll have an expectation that everything must be perfect and go your way. If things don’t, then you’ll say that the trip wasn’t as fun or as fulfilling as it seems.

However, if I could be traveling anywhere where money is not an issue, it will have to be Antarctica. I’ve already researched the cruises there and they are so expensive, even with discounts, my husband and I are expecting to pay over 5 digits (USD) just for the cruise alone for the both of us!

Now that you know traveling is possible for Ruby; do you still think it's not possible for you?

© 2015 - 2017 Lifelong Vagabonds. All rights reserved. Read our disclaimer for terms of use.