This is not a post on German vocabulary words. I don't speak German, after all. I do, however, speak a bit of Mandarin and Korean. But that's neither here nor there. I just really wanted to talk about how much I want to travel. Again. And I know I had just written about wanderlust a few months back and have been to Seoul since then, so it feels kind of redundant using wanderlust as a title to yet another blog entry... So I searched for another word with the same meaning. Hence, fernweh.



I was rummaging through my stuff just now and found several old boarding passes wedged inside the sleeve of my passport holder. This made me realize that I've kept so much random souvenirs from trips both domestic and international - from plane tickets to city maps, postcards to receipts printed out in Chinese characters, ad flyers to airport guides... I should probably start scrapbooking.


I've only really been to 3 other countries. I'm no extensive traveler. Up until I graduated from university, I've never even ridden a plane. All my airplane experiences happened post-graduation - self-funded or work-related. I've only been to Thailand once, Hong Kong once, South Korea twice. I have, however, been to most corners of the Philippines.


In Luzon, I've been as far north as Pagudpud and in the south, as far as Bicol. I've been to Isabela and Tuguegarao, Gapan and Zambales, Cavite and Batangas, and almost everywhere in between. I am from Luzon, after all.

In Visayas, I've been to Bacolod and Cadiz, Cebu and Aklan. In Mindanao, I've been to Butuan and Dipolog, Cagayan de Oro and Davao, Zamboanga and Iligan... having ridden buses from province to province. Alone. With just my bags to keep me company.


That was how my life was for a good 3 years when I used to work as a business trainer for a local corporation and they would send me off to different provinces almost every other week. From being that girl who has never been on a plane her entire life, I was suddenly most comfortable in airports. I kept wandering in cities whose people spoke a tongue other than my own and this became the norm. Damn, I miss it.


My next flight isn't until November when my sisters, our mom, and I head to Vietnam for a short vacation. That would be country number 4 and I am beyond excited. It's still 4 months away but every now and then I would randomly google hotels and restaurants in Ho Chi Minh. I've already looked up places we might want to put on our itinerary. I have also, at one point, mentally packed my bags for the trip. Call me crazy. I know I am. Or maybe I just have fernweh. Either way, November can't get here soon enough to calm me down.