Been there, done that

I just saw this terrific site made by Eugene Alvin Villar. Lakbayan grades you on how well have you travelled and remembered the Philippines. I am very proud to say that I did well. I had a B for the test, which would say that I am a well-traveled person. Tee-hee.

Traveling has always been a big part of my life, since my family always made it a point to travel every summer to a place in the Philippines that we have never even set foot on. I guess I inherited my being laagan from both my parents. My dad, being an army brat, would always follow my grandfather where ever he was stationed. My mom, on the other hand, has this mole on her left foot that according to my grandmother, was a sign of being laagan.

I was infected with this penchance for traveling around when I was little, as far as I remember. When I was a toddler, my father was assigned to Cebu and Iloilo, while my mother was oftentimes in Dagupan City in Pangasinan. Though I have never really set foot and explored Cebu until I was studying in Silliman, I was fairly familiar with Dagupan and the northern part of Luzon.

My mother have often told me stories of the four of us (the family only grew big when we transferred to Gen San) would go to Laoag, Baguio, La Union, and Vigan, just to name a few, just because we were there and we were itching for adventure. As long as we had a clean set of clothes, a few hundred pesos, and we were all set.

When my father found a job in Gen San, we also followed, but being in Mindanao did not stop our traveling ways, as we made it a point to go to Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and Butuan at least once. I guess that is why when I was in Tokyo for a year, I did all the traveling I did from the meager allowance ICU was giving me, and I was scrounging for a few more thousand yen from the salary I was making at Bamiyan Chinese Restaurant.

I think Jose Rizal was right in saying that one should not be a foreigner in your own country, and make it a point to travel your country first, before even America, Europe, or whatever country you go to. Not only does it say something about your being a Filipino, but I guess it is something that you can truly say, "Been there, done that."