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Showing posts with the label world traveler

Interview with the first Filipino to travel to all 193 UN sovereign countries

Lourdes Ricasa with Capizeños, Peewee Roldan, Mike Ignacio, Dr Munich Conlu There are fewer than 300 people who have visited all 193 United Nations recognized sovereign countries. Odette Aquitania Ricasa is one of them and is the first Filipino to have done so. The last country on her "road to 193" was Iraq, which she visited in August of this year. Ricasa's travels have been authenticated by NomadMania, a non profit organization that validates the countries and regions visited by its community of travelers through a rigorous verification process. Ricasa is also a member of the Travelers Century Club (TCC) having visited 304 of 325 countries, islands and territories on the TCC list. Ricasa is the author of six books (she's currently working on her seventh book), is an accomplished painter, a motivational speaker and a pianist.  Ricasa has received numerous awards including First Prize in an International Speech Contest sponsored by Toastmasters Club and several Best

The Road to 193 with Bernadith Barrientos

Bernadith Barrientos in Geiranger, Norway Where and when was your first trip outside of your home country?  Taipei was my first destination outside the Philippines. It was in 2018, a year full of blessings for me. I can say it was the best year I’ve had. I got the chance to travel with friends in Taipei. I feel very lucky and blessed to be able to see, explore and enjoy some of the tourist attractions in Taipei like Shifen waterfalls, Taipei National Palace Museum, Taipei 101 and their famous Sky Lantern.  What is it about traveling that appeals to you the most? Beautiful scenery, immersing myself in a country’s culture, experiencing new things and gaining new friends while traveling appeals to me the most. Whenever I am in a new place, I take it as an opportunity to explore an entirely different side of myself. Blending with locals is one of the most satisfying feelings.  How has working in the cruise industry helped you achieve your travel goals? Working in the cruise industry was re

The Road to 193 with Dr. Reysa Alenzuela

Dr. Reysa Alenzuela at Loket Castle in Czechia   Where and when was your first trip outside your home country? It was in 2004, I went to Hongkong and nearby provinces of southeast China i.e. Guandong, Guangzhou and Schenzhen. During that time, Filipinos didn’t travel as much as we did a decade later. I was relying on the travel agency and joining the bus tour. But since I was a first timer, that was the most I could get for an experience. As expected, the bus tour brought us to those jade museums where we ended up buying unnecessary things. I remember we were also brought to a factory of leather products. That was my first vicarious experience of a different culture - the tour guide told us about legends of the five goats in Guangzhou, how people love tea in China. It was the first time I bargained by only using a calculator. That was pretty much a superficial experience but my love for travel grew from there. I became curious about different cultures. What is it about traveling tha

The Road to 193 with Michael Alfred V. Ignacio

Michael Alfred V. Ignacio Where and when was your first trip outside of your home country? My first trip outside of the Philippines, alone, was when I left for Spain to take up my masters degree, back in 2002. I resigned from my work in San Miguel Corporation in Manila to pursue my degree in international business at the Universidad de Alicante in the Valencia region. Looking back, I actually do not know if I would be as brave now to do the same thing all over again. I enrolled in a course where the medium of instruction was purely in Spanish, armed with only my high school Spanish from St. Pius X Seminary and my own self-study a few months before I left for Spain. For the first two months, I could barely understand a word of what the professors where saying in class with their dizzyingly fast Castilian Spanish, and I thought I would fail my subjects ... until I realized, even my classmates from Latin America also had about the same challenges in comprehending the professors. After abo

The Road to 193 with Jazmin Gaite

Jazmin Gaite and Al Manahan in Viña de Mar, Chile Where and when was your first trip outside of your home country? My first trip was  with my  ex-husband   to the US in 1985 to plan our relocation from the Phili ppines to the United States. It  was a trip around the US to scout for a place to relocate. Our trip took us to California, Illinois, New York, Washington DC, Missouri, and Florida. By this time, all our 3 children have been born, but they were 3, 5 and 7 years old. We decided to settle in California and in the City of Los Angeles as it is a bigger city with lots of business opportunities. After settling in California, I spent most of my time raising my  3 kids and taking care of my  retirement home business  s o there was no time nor money to spend on leisure or  travel. I made sure all the 3 kids were finished with college before starting to travel. My first trip for pleasure was with my mother after my father died. As soon as we buried my father in the Philippines, I took m