Skip to main content

The Road to 193 with Odette Aquitania Ricasa

Update: Odette Aquitania Ricasa just completed visiting all 193 UN countries on August 24, 2022 in Erbil, Iraq (her last country). She is the first Filipino to visit all 193 UN countries. She has also visited 301/330 TCC countries and territories. Congratulations!

Odette Aquitania Ricasa

Odette Aquitania Ricasa is poised to be the first Filipino American to travel to all 193 United Nations recognized sovereign countries. She has visited 189 countries, just four countries shy of 193. These travels have been rigorously validated by NomadMania. She is also a member of the Travelers Century Club (TCC) having visited 295 of 325 countries and territories on the TCC list. Odette is the author of six books*, an accomplished painter, a motivational speaker and a pianist. 

Odette Ricasa has received numerous awards including First Prize in an International Speech Contest sponsored by Toastmasters Club and several Best Speaker awards from the Los Angeles Toastmasters Speech Club and the San Clemente Toastmasters Club. Her painting, Doorway to Peace, has been featured in The Anthropology of Colour - What colour is a culture, an art tome which was recently published in Russia**. Odette uses her platform to reach out to children who cannot afford art classes and has plans to establish an art/travel school to serve this purpose. She also volunteers at various charitable organizations in Southern California. You can follow her travels at https://odettericasatravels.com/.

What inspired you to travel?

During high school and college days in the Philippines, my favorite subject was Geography. My dream was to go to America and then see the world. I was fascinated learning about the four seasons, the pure white snow on Christmas cards, the deer crossing the tundra, the highest mountain peaks, Mount Everest and the Andes mountains. I was curious about the world. I said to my dad, “Someday I will travel and see the world”.

What is it about traveling that appeals to you the most?

We have taken for granted the things we have. Many people in third world countries are humble, very helpful and friendly. I love to listen to their stories about their daily life. If invited to their home for tea, I accept their invitation provided the tour guide has recommended it. We Filipinos are all over the world. Our hospitality is genuine. In my sixth book, Love Echoes.....Share and Inspire, I included 16 interviews with Filipinos I met during my travels.

How many United Nations member countries have you visited?

I’ve visited 189 countries. I had visas to Sudan, Chad and Central African Republic and was ready to fly out on March 18, 2020 when the pandemic happened. Everything is on hold for now.

How many other countries outside the UN member countries have you explored?

I’ve been to 295 countries, islands and territories which are on the Travelers Century Club (TCC) list. In 2014, I received a certificate from TCC recognizing my visits to 251 countries on their list. It was getting harder to complete the list. For example, Socotra island was dangerous to visit in 2014 because we had to take a ferry across the Gulf of Aden where there were many pirates, kidnappers, etc. Last year, a flight was available from Cairo to Socotra but the pandemic happened.

God is protecting me. Four days before lockdown in 2020, I cancelled all my flights for the year. My target was to complete 300 countries, islands and territories by September 2020 including the Austral islands of Papeete, Raivavae, Rurutu and Tabua’i. I was hoping to receive a recognition certificate for having traveled to 301 countries. 

How many continents have you traveled to?

I have been to all seven continents. My advise to travelers is to see Antarctica. It is the last untouched wilderness in the world. It is a trip of a lifetime. I try to celebrate my birthdays in foreign countries. In 2014, I joined an expedition to Antarctica on my birthday. I wrote about it and presented a video to Odette’s Travel Club in Los Angeles. One of the comments I received was, it is an “obra maestra, a masterpiece”.

What was the most difficult country you had to enter from your experience?

In 2014, a visa on arrival was not available in Iran. I had to apply 90 days in advance of our trip through Pars Tours Travel Agency in Tehran. The lady in charge there was kind and replied to my inquiries but it took more than 60 days to get the visa. Since Iran has no embassy in the United States, our visa was processed through the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington, D.C. where Iran kept a small office. When we left Los Angeles for Tehran, we had to show our Letter of Invitation to visit Iran. Our visa was issued at Tehran International Airport upon our arrival. We had to carry both the Letter of Invitation and visa everywhere we went in the country.

Travelers in Iran must be accompanied by a tour leader. Pars Tours took good care of us.

What is your favorite country to visit and why?

Spain has cast a spell on me and I go there twice a year. I’ve traveled there 52 times. It’s a big help that I can speak the language and communicate easily with the people. Spain has beaches, sunny weather, fiestas, the Pyrenees mountains and UNESCO heritage sites like Mount Perdu and Canal du Midi. I’ve been to 47 of the 48 UNESCO sites in Spain. The Cave of Altamira and the Paleolithic cave of Northern Spain in Santillana del Mar have eluded me. They have been closed for cleaning and preservation since 1992. 

Barcelona is a city where you simply don’t need a plan. Without fail, I’d spend days just wandering the streets, getting lost in Barri Gòtic, sipping cafe con leche or chocolate caliente with churros at Plaça Real. I have recurring dreams of sitting at the terrace of a CULTURE bar with no name on the corner of Carrer Fernan and Plaça San Jaume. A Señor with olive green eyes and a friendly persuasion just might have the courage to ask me, “Puedo invitarle a una copa de vino?” (May I invite you for a glass of wine?).

My fifth book, Touching the Wind, features some poems I wrote in Spanish which are inspired by my travels in Spain.

What is the most inaccessible country in the world to visit?

The island of St. Helena is one of the most isolated and intriguing places in the world. It remains a British outpost smack in the middle of nowhere, deep in the South Atlantic. Flights to the island are only available from mid-October to mid-March. Otherwise, you take a steamship and the voyage lasts three to four weeks. This is a place you definitely want to visit.

It is necessary to get a letter of invitation from a local resident or show a confirmed hotel reservation before arriving in the island. A US$500,000 trip cancellation insurance is required and this must be presented at the airline counter before boarding the flight. 

From the sky I could see this charming island below. It was sweltering hot when we arrived in Jamestown. Robert (a “Saint”) met me and immediately swept me away to tour the outskirts of the city. Pretty soon I was on a first name basis with the Saints. (Saint is the term used for locals born and raised in St. Helena.)

On Mother’s Day, I attended Sunday mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral which was two blocks from my hotel. A piped organ accompanied the angelic voices of the choir. I was honored to receive three bouquets with red ribbons which the children fashioned from fresh flowers they gathered from their gardens.

What are your most memorable travel experiences?

By far the most mysterious and unexplored of Central Asia, Turkmenistan is an ancient land of spirituality, tradition and beauty. It invites me to run across the steppes toward the horizon so I can express my restless spirit of exploration.

Svalbard archipelago/Spitsbergen which is about 700 miles north of the North Pole in the Arctic region will always remind me of my dog sledding adventure with a bodyguard who carried a loaded rifle just in case a growling bear misbehaves. While there, I also saw the Seedling Vault where seeds are kept to prevent their extinction.

What place would you like to return to?

Samarkand in Uzbekistan inspired me to write a poem, Samarkand the Garden of my Soul, published by the Uzbekistan Daily News in 2010. The whole city is a World Heritage Site. Women connect their eyebrows in one line and smile showing their gold teeth. They wear pants under dresses that are loose and flowery and accessorize with colorful jewelry. It is a land of beauty and tradition.

What country surprised you the most?

I love the African continent but nevertheless, it was with a sense of trepidation when I popped into Luanda in Angola at 5 a.m. I was surprised that it wasn’t bad after all. English translators were quickly rustled up. Everyone smiles. People say, “no problem” and are genuinely helpful. 

Luanda is the most expensive city in the world where the price of a watermelon is $35.00 each. I was lucky to find a super clean Airbnb accommodation with a living room, dining room and bedroom for $52.00 per night. A mediocre hotel room usually costs $550/night for a minimum of three nights. I had a private car and driver for a reasonable price of $40.00 per day. When in Luanda, travelers must try funge, a cassava or corn flour paste which has a sticky texture but does not have much flavor. To add extra flavor to funge, it is eaten with different sauces made of fish, meat, chicken, beans and vegetables, often with extra spicy condiment called gindungo made from chili peppers, garlic, and onion.

What do you carry in your travel bag?

I carry a slim fit running belt where I keep my passport and money, underwear with zipper for passport, IPhone, charger bank, a small laptop, a sweatshirt, extra pants with pockets, an umbrella, 2 disposable raincoats, a turtleneck sweater, shorts, tank top, bathing suit, t-shirt, a small cosmetic kit, lotion in a sandwich bag (easy to see), toothpaste, toothbrush and a wrist watch with an alarm clock as a back-up. I put most items in a plastic bag in case of pouring rain. I also bring a door stopper with me. It keeps away planned thefts. 

I learned to travel light after waiting for my luggage for three days while on a trip. Since then, I haven’t checked in baggage and travel with a carry on bag only. For beach getaways, I bring only sunglasses, sandals and suntan lotion (SSS). I donate my T-shirt and clothes to poor villages when asked. 

Were you ever seriously ill while traveling and how did you cope with it?

Our guide, Abbas, ordered for us a dish of boiled sheep with head, feet and stomach (tripe). It is a delicacy in the cold season in Iran. I wanted to write about this dish so I tried every piece offered to me. It was bland but ok. After six hours, I experienced terrible cramps. It felt like my stomach was turned upside down. The next day was our flight to Los Angeles via Istanbul. I went to the medical facility at the airport as recommended by Abbas. The doctor prescribed medication for severe diarrhea. It worked for a few hours. When we reached Istanbul, I had to go to the bathroom many times and missed my connecting flight. Luckily, there was a later flight available. When we stopped in Barcelona, I was still sick so I went to the Urgencies Hospital de Mar. It took three days for me to fully recover.

What is your travel advice to older travelers?

Older travelers should be careful about getting altitude sickness. It strikes older people hard. They should bring ski poles to use as a cane on wet and uneven grounds. They should sample local breweries.

What’s first on your travel list when normal travel resumes?

The earth has stood still for so long, more than 12 months now. As soon as the Commander in Chief, Joe Biden, says it’s okey to travel, I will travel to the Philippines and see my family and friends. Then on to the next visa free destination and my last four countries on the road to 193 - Chad, Sudan, Central African Republic and Libya.

Odette in Timbuktu, Mali

* Odette Aquitania Ricasa’s books are available on Amazon.  https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Lourdes+Odette+Ricasa&ref=nb_sb_noss   

**The Anthropology of Colour - What colour is a culture

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UBm1KYI4qNRd4YtBJsAekO4f_Kvaq3xU/view

Photos from Odette A. Ricasa

******

The Road to 193 is a series of interviews with world travelers who are on a quest to visit all 193 United Nations recognized sovereign countries. Less than 300 travelers from around the world have visited all 193 UN countries, according to NomadMania, a non profit organization that validates the countries and regions visited by its community of travelers through a rigorous verification process. The goal of visiting all 193 countries is elusive at times and fraught with challenges including trying to get a visa, going to a war torn country, finding passage to a remote island nation, traveling to dangerous locations and when the budget doesn’t quite fit the bill. But once conquered, the traveler joins an exclusive club of world travelers who persisted to reach their final destination.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Filipino Struggles in History - Carlos Botong Francisco

In 1968, Antonio Villegas (then Mayor of Manila), commissioned Carlos "Botong" Francisco to paint the history of Manila for Manila City Hall. The series of large scale paintings was called  Kasaysayan ng Maynila  (History of Manila).  The paintings deteriorated over time and no attempt was made to preserve these historical canvases until 2013 when Mayor Amado Lim sent them to the National Museum for extensive restoration. Four years later, in 2017, Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada and the Manila City Council signed an agreement with the National Museum to leave the paintings at the museum so they may reach a larger audience in exchange for museum grade reproductions to replace the originals. Kasaysayan ng Maynila was later renamed Filipino Struggles in History and is now on display at the Senate Hall of the National Museum . Carlos "Botong" Francisco died in March 1969, a few months after completing the paintings. He is one of the first Filipino modernists and

The Art of Carlos Botong Francisco - Progress of Medicine in the Philippines

Pre-colonial period Pag-unlad ng Panggagamot sa Pilipinas (The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines) is a group of four large-scale paintings depicting healing practices in the Philippines from pre-colonial times to the modern period. Carlos Botong Francisco was commissioned in 1953 by  Dr. Agerico Sison who was then the director of Philippine General Hospital (PGH) together with   Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing of the National Museum, Dr. Florentino Herrera, Jr. and Dr. Constantino Manahan. These oil on canvas paintings measure 2.92 meters in height and 2.76 meters in width (9.71 ft x 8.92 ft) and were displayed at the main entrance hall of PGH for over five decades. Owing to its location, the artworks were in a state of "severe deterioration" at the beginning of the 21st century from exposure to heat, humidity, dirt, dust, smoke, insect stains, grime, termites and an oxidized synthetic resin used in an earlier restoration. These canvases were restored three times, the last was

8 Heritage Houses of Iloilo

Lizares Mansion The province of Iloilo on the island of Panay has a rich trove of heritage houses, left over from the sugar industry boom in the 19th century. Iloilo also had the largest port in the Philippines at that time which facilitated the export of sugar to foreign shores and deposited money in the hands of the sugar barons. The barons dropped their earnings into the acquisition of properties in Negros and the construction of beautiful homes in Iloilo, many of which are located in the vicinity of the Jaro Cathedral. The Lizares Mansion was built in 1937 by Don Emiliano Lizares for his wife, Concepcion Gamboa and five children. The family fled to safety when World War II broke out and the house was occupied by the Japanese military. The family returned to the house after the war but left once again after the demise of Don Emiliano. It was sold to the Dominican order in the 1960s and was converted in 1978 to a private school, Angelicum School. The mansion now houses the