Dreams do come true: Pinay backpacker goes on journey around the world

As Filipinos, we grow up being taught that we should only leave the Philippines for three reasons: to immigrate to a Western country; to work abroad as an OFW and support the family back home; or to travel internationally as a tourist—an option usually available only to rich Filipinos.

My dream to move to a richer country began when I was quite young because I thought that was the only way I could earn money and have the chance to travel the world. Or even better, have a Western country’s passport! After graduating from university in 2009, I left the Philippines and started working as an OFW in the Middle East as my first stepping stone to this ultimate goal.

I worked and lived in Kuwait for four years, enhancing my managerial skills before eventually taking a leap of faith and relocating to Kurdistan, Iraq to work for an American oil company. “Yes, I’ve made it,” I told myself. “Now that I’m working for this company, my next step is to move to and work in America and eventually get that Western passport so I can travel the world!”

That’s what I had been told—that I could only travel the world if I followed these steps. I was doing well in Iraq; I had a good job, great salary, friends and a fun social life, but something was still missing. I wasn’t getting the satisfaction that I thought I would with all of these achievements.

That’s when I began to realize I had been chasing the wrong goals all along.

Four months later, I quit my American Dream for something better, something simpler and more fulfilling. I quit my job and left my life behind to go backpacking around the world! While living and working in the Middle East for four years, I had met a lot of different nationalities from all walks of life —rich, poor, young and old. I had heard about backpacking before, but this concept of traveling was new to me and it seemed impossible for me, having a Filipino passport.

“What is backpacking?” I asked Google. Backpacking is the cheapest way to travel: staying in shared dorm hostels, hitchhiking, volunteering and crossing different borders by land transportation instead of flying! It’s all about experiencing different countries and cultures, living a simpler existence and seeing the world for as long as possible.

After doing a lot of research, selling my stuff and booking my one-way flight, I finally decided to pursue my dream of traveling the world in a completely different way to how I thought I ever could. I left Iraq in April 2013 and flew back to the Philippines for 10 days to give away my possessions, to talk to my family and to fix my banking documentation.

I left the Philippines, armed with my Philippine passport, without any western country visas, without credit cards and with a 15-kg backpack as my only possession. I told my 24-year-old self that I had to be strong: this is my ultimate dream and I would never be truly satisfied in life unless I pursued my goal of backpacking around the world.

My solo backpacking journey

I started my solo backpacking trip in Thailand, moving up to Laos, then into Vietnam and Cambodia—and finally came back to Thailand again after two months of backpacking to think about my life.

Did I still want to pursue my dream of traveling around the world, or should I just go back to my Middle Eastern lifestyle and pursue my American dream? My OFW parents were very upset and worried about me; I was stubborn and they thought I was having a quarter-life crisis!

One of the perks of being a solo backpacker is that you will never be alone. You’ll always meet another solo traveler from another country and you will both end up being best travel buddies—I enjoyed Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam with a French-Canadian girl and two Dutch friends; traveled all over Cambodia with a German and two Americans; and did a full month's yoga retreat with the French-Canadian and American girls I met in Thailand.

But the one person inspired me the most during this trip is Jonathan Howe, a British guy I met in Luang Prabang, Laos during the first weeks of my backpacking journey. He was also in his 20’s and had quit his architectural job in the UK, sold his possessions and left the UK without credit cards to travel around the world and teach English. After few months of keeping in touch, we met again in Hanoi, Vietnam, for what was only supposed to be a short, two-week visit.

New travel buddy: A story of love on the road

After exploring northern Vietnam together, Jonathan and I agreed that we wanted to explore the world together. While in Vietnam, I met a lot of backpackers who decided to stay there for a bit, teach English and save enough money to move on again. We Filipinos are taught to speak English even at a young age, so I said to myself, why not teach and earn money? So I got a business visa in Vietnam, took my TEFL certification online, and with my university diploma I applied for freelance teaching jobs in Hanoi.

I worked and rode my small motorbike around the bustling city to work for different English institutions and to attend to private students: a new and exciting life for me! I even joined a Vietnamese reality TV show, worked part-time as a marketing manager for a Western-owned company, and still had free time to explore the north of Vietnam and even took trips to Laos. I was having the best time of my life, and I was neither an OFW nor a backpacker!

After seven months of traveling, living, working and saving enough money in Vietnam, it was time for Jonathan and me to leave and start our new journey together.

After meeting a lot of fellow backpackers in Southeast Asia, we have learned that you can work and travel at the same time. So what Jon and I decided to do was to invest in new skills and certifications so we could have different sources of income during our around-the-world journey. After planning our next journey, we both agreed that we wanted to go to South America, but our savings wouldn’t be enough.

Both being fond of yoga and enjoying a regular massage, we both decided to go to India to become certified as yoga teachers and Ayurveda massage therapists before pursuing our dream to go to South America.

As a Filipino citizen, I could get a one-month visa on arrival, but studying for the certifications would take months, so with my business visa in Vietnam, I applied for a six-month multiple entry visa for India (granted after one week) and also tried my luck and applied for a UK tourist visa for the first time in my life so I could finally meet Jonathan’s family—which after two weeks of waiting was granted by the British Embassy in Bangkok! We then booked our one-way ticket from Hanoi to Singapore, to India, to the UK and finally to our end destination of Peru in South America!

A sustainable travel lifestyle

After three months of studying and backpacking around India, Jonathan and I left with new certifications in tantra yoga and Ayurveda massage therapy. We both knew that it was time to conquer the world!

We flew to the United Kingdom for me to finally meet Jonathan’s whole family and at the same time to experience setting foot in a Western country as a backpacker.

After three weeks of exploring England, Wales and Scotland, it was time to move to the other side of the world and start living our new sustainable travel lifestyle. We arrived in Peru without much money as we had invested all of it in our certifications and flights, so we decided to find a new way to earn money. As a Filipino citizen, I was entitled to a free visa in Peru, so I spoke to the immigration to allow me the maximum days so I could volunteer and learn how to speak Spanish. She happily agreed and gave me 183 days of free entry.

Before flying to Peru, Jon and I decided to take a volunteering opportunity in the small town near the famous Machu Picchu. We worked in a guest house—doing the laundry, preparing breakfast for guests, and even cleaning the rooms and toilets. We had no choice: we arrived with no money, but we had made it to our first destination in South America.

The owners liked us a lot and they even allowed us to organize yoga classes on a donation basis in their massive garden and we were lucky enough to meet a Scottish girl there who let us borrow her extra massage bed! So during our free time, Jon carried the massage bed with a wheelbarrow around the different hostels so that I could do my Ayurveda massage therapy for different tourists.

After five weeks, we were able to save enough money to visit Machu Picchu and eventually to buy a bus ticket to Arequipa, Peru where we started teaching English, founded our own yoga and massage business and started our travel blog.

After a few months of saving and establishing our name, we had a steady stream of massage clients and private English students which allowed us to save money and do a big backpacking trip around Peru, Bolivia and down to Patagonia in Chile. After being based in Peru for quite a while, it’s now time to go and start a new backpacking journey. We may not have a lot of savings, but we know we can successfully sustain our travels around Central America before pursuing one of our main goals: to hitchhike and backpack all the way to Antarctica!

I’ve learned a great many things since I started this journey; about places, people, cultures and business, but most importantly about myself. There’s is nothing that builds you as a person more than deliberately putting yourself outside your comfort zone and finding out what you can really achieve. Our dream is to create a new, exciting and successful life for ourselves, unconstrained by careers and other people’s expectations. We know and truly feel that anything we set our minds to is possible. Dreams do come true! — BM, GMA News

Kach Medina Umandap is the travel writer behind Two Monkeys Travel. In April 2013, she quit her corporate job in the Middle East (Kuwait and Iraq) to travel the world. She’s still backpacking, and is currently exploring Central and South America while preparing for her trip to Antarctica. She's also a certified Tantra Yoga teacher and Ayurveda massage therapist. You can follow her crazy adventures on Instagram and Facebook.