Wordless Wednesday :- Silent Reflection

Travel Tuesday :- Sagada, Philippines

Nature is an integral component to living a balanced life. The fresh air. The silence. The beauty.

Personally, I try my best to spend some time with nature during my travels as I live in a metropolitan city.

While I was traveling in the Philippines, I made sure to give myself time for hikes in nature. Coincidentally, prior to my arrival to the country of 7107 islands, I heard about a person’s wonderful experience from hiking in Sagada. So I did my best to include Sagada to my itinerary.

Macro Monday :- Spring Blossoms

Scenery Sunday :- Market Life in Laoag, Philippines

It’s Sunday and I just got back from the Laoag Public Market in Ilocos Norte province of the Philippines. Now I’m hiding in an air conditioned McDonald’s to share with you the photos I just captured in the buzzing market.

It is a combination of an outdoor and indoor market. Outdoor hawkers spread out their goods onto tarps on the road and inside the permanent structure, 4 levels of shop stalls keep their goods in a more organized fashion.

It is literally swarming with people stocking up on fresh produce and daily necessities.

Wordless Wednesday :- Catch of the Day

Travel Thought Thursday :- The Last Frontier

With my recent return to Hong Kong and then a visit of the Philippines next week, I am contending with family issues. Within the past few years, I have significantly shifted my perspectives, broken down and rebuilt my own version of my belief system, more so since my journeys in 2013 and 2014. I appreciate these changes in me, however, they contrast the belief systems held by my family but do form the basis of my evolution.

This post is in regards to traveling outside of one’s psychological boundaries and barriers. What happens when you’re the lone dove who wants to test out your wings?

To me, “leaving the nest”, typically relates to finding financial independence and creating my own home and life. What about the mental and emotional aspects of “leaving the nest”?

Finding the courage to break away from familial structure and mind set is challenging, if not at times – impossible. I would know. Despite the fact that I have been alive for 40 years now, this is still a struggle of mine. My mother, does not approve of my ways, neither does my brothers. I receive more love and support from friends and complete strangers. Sad, I know.

Travel Tuesday :- Asia bound

Greetings! Apologies for the lack of written posts. I was neck deep with the Spiritual Travel Tours website – I still have a lot of work to do in the background but at least I have launched it and happy with the results! If you don’t know why another website… it is my business venture. I am combining travel with spirituality to help empower those interested to see the world with a different perspective and a greater level of awareness with stronger intuitions.

Within 48 hours of this post, I will have landed in Hong Kong, my birthplace. I took these night shots back in July of 2013 when I was there last.

View of Hong Kong harbour from the Peak after dark

48 hour Intercontinental Flight-less Travel

This year I spent my birthday in Toronto, Canada – amongst amazing friends in a locale I am somewhat familiar with. I admit there are still many pockets of area in Toronto that I have not visited yet. It is a funny thing that happens to me, as I mentioned before I love to explore. However, when it comes to places I actually live in – like Toronto, Winnipeg, Hong Kong. Even on a broader reference, I have barely explored the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, they are the provinces of Toronto and Winnipeg, respectively.

So to celebrate my birthday, I naturally “traveled” and ate. In the last 48 hours, I had traveled to Mexico, Japan, Philippines and Italy – without getting on an airplane. Would you like to come along?