I Was Interviewed by Peter Greenberg, CBS News Travel Editor!
When I wrote my post Date a Girl Who Travels, I never expected it to click with readers, much less go viral. I was just very surprised to see it had been shared in Facebook 200 times after a few hours, and seeing the numbers steadily go up in the next few days gave me a feeling of unreality.
Now, two months later, it has been shared on Facebook over 26,000 times—and counting! It’s very good to know that people like your writing, especially when they take the time to comment or send personal messages.
Aside from these affirmations, though, one thing I got from that post was an opportunity to be a guest of Peter Greenberg in his radio show. For those who love to travel, his name should be familiar: he’s well known as the travel editor for CBS News in the United States, and he also has a well-syndicated radio show shared in his website PeterGreenberg.com.
I was in Venezia when the invite came.
I was in Venice, Italy when I received an email from one of his producers: Peter Greenberg would like to have me as a guest on his show. Would that be possible?
I haven’t had a lot of experience guesting in TV or radio shows (by choice), but I immediately said yes. Peter Greenberg is a name in the travel industry, and the fact that he knows my blog, and would like to have me as a guest, is a great honor indeed!
In lieu of the actual recording of that session, I had it transcribed (many thanks to my sister. She’s a great transcriber!). The transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity. Listening to the recording again, I wished I could have sounded more confident and more witty, but in any case, I was just glad for the opportunity.
I waited up until 1:30 in the morning for my time slot (worried that I wouldn’t catch my flight early the next day for Brussels Charleroi), but the loss of sleep was worth it. Peter Greenberg was a very good host, and the fact that he had been to the Philippines and liked my country made me all the more comfortable.
Here it goes.
Peter Greenberg: As of sort of introduction of my next guest, I have to give you a little bit of personal history. As many of you know, I am not married. I am single. I live on airplanes. I travel all over the world. I travel about 420,000 miles a year, I do so happily.
I also go to the Middle East the way people go to the supermarket. I’m back in a day. I’m not in a cruise ship for four weeks to find out if the food’s any good. I was a correspondent for Newsweek for many many years and the most number of days I could ever work on a story was about two and a half because we were a weekly magazine and if I couldn’t get the story done in two and a half days there was either something really wrong with the story or something really wrong with me.
So I am constantly confronted with people saying to me how could you ever have a relationship because you travel too much? How could you ever be in a committed relationship because you’re never home? I have news for you. I’m always home. I define it differently.
So, the other day one of my producers is reading out there in the blogosphere and comes across this piece by our next guest. I said we have to get her on the show; and for reasons now you will totally understand when I tell you the title of the piece. The title of the piece is, Date a Girl Who Travels. Amen. So joining me now, on the phone, is the writer of that piece, and I’m gonna try not to butcher her last name. It’s Aleah Taboclaon. Did I get it?
Aleah: Hi Peter! Yes you got it.
Peter Greenberg: Good. Are you laughing based on my introduction?
Aleah: Yes, very much. I’ve been told several times also about my tendency to travel a lot and the relationship thing.
Peter Greenberg: Well, listen, I mean you’ve been backpacking, you know for 70 days at a time. A little different than I travel but you know a lot of people do that at least once in their life and they see the world at a different way. And of course they end up, and sometimes by doing that in great relationships as well.
Aleah: Yeah and they are very lucky, actually because I don’t know a lot of men who would do that. That’s one of the reasons why I wrote that piece.
Peter Greenberg: Well let’s talk about that. I mean I’m assuming you’re single. Where are we talking to you from right now? Where are you right this minute?
Hundreds of love locks in Juliet’s House, Verona, Italy.
Aleah: Right now, I’m in the city of Juliet in Verona in Italy. I arrived here this morning from Padova.
Peter Greenberg: And you’re there waiting for a gentleman from Verona?
Aleah: I wish! I’ve been to the house of Juliet earlier and all I saw were lovers kissing and using their love locks .
Peter Greenberg: Okay. But you started your blog by saying, date a girl who travels. Yes, a girl who travels knows that anytime, anything can happen as she just has to be prepared with it. Nothing takes her by surprise. Does that describe you?
Aleah: Yes, very much! Actually most of that piece comes from my own personal experience. It’s a personal piece. It’s not like a philosophical piece like others think. It’s idealized though.
Peter Greenberg: I have to put you on the spot. Let me ask you the question. You travel a lot. So are you dating a lot?
Aleah: Actually, no. I mean, you know when I told my friends in the Philippines that I will be traveling for 70 days in Europe; all they could think of was the movie Before Sunrise. They were thinking that I would meet the man of my dreams on the train, on the plane, or on a bus, but it never happened. I don’t know.
Peter Greenberg: Okay. Well there’s an old saying, “He may not be the perfect man but he’s the perfect man right now.” So have you met, not maybe the man of your dreams but if you had some great experiences?
Aleah: Actually now I believe that, you know, there are several people for different phases of our lives. So I’ve had those relationships and they were right for that particular phase of my life, but right now, I have nobody to call like a partner or something and that’s okay also.
Peter Greenberg: Well if you’re listening to the show, you have our website, PeterGreenberg.com. Aleah is standing by the phone waiting to have a travel partner.
Aleah: Thank you for the plug, Peter. (Laughing)
Peter Greenberg: Absolutely! Because after all, you want to date a girl who travels.
Aleah: Definitely! And I also want to date a man who travels.
Peter Greenberg: Oh well, okay then, ha, we’ll talk later.
(Laughing)
Peter Greenberg: Speaking about your trip alone, and not necessarily talking about a man in your life, when you did this trip just traveling alone a lot of people might think you’re a little nuts ‘cause people, it takes a great deal of self-confidence to spend 70 days on your own traveling, doesn’t it?
Aleah: Yeah. Especially for someone like me who’s from the Philippines you know, people are a bit conservative and they are always thinking, at least most of the women that I know, they’re afraid of traveling alone because of a lot of fears of being raped, of being scammed, of being mugged, all those things. But actually if you just use your common sense, if you follow your intuition, you won’t get into any dangers at all.
My backpack, daypack, and all the winter clothes I could bring.
Peter Greenberg: Okay. So let me shift and ask you this, how do you pack? Because you were traveling with just a backpack, so what do you have in there? What are your must-haves? What do you have in that pack that you have to have or you can’t travel well?
Aleah: Yeah, I was just reading your article about luggage and I was thinking that was one of my mistakes because I came here during winter. It was a February (when I arrived) so the winter clothes took up most of my pack. It would be have been so different if I were here during summer when all I’ll wear are shorts or shirts. But now I have coats that I cannot even throw away because I just borrowed them. Speaking of what I should always bring, it’s my Kindle. No matter how many clothes I bring, it’s my Kindle that I can’t leave without.
Peter Greenberg: All right, but I’m talking about the real essentials to make sure that you get through any kind of situations. So for example, I always pack not one, but I have two flashlights. I have extra batteries. I have what I call a Gorilla tape. It’s better than duct tape because it fixes everything. Those are the kinds of things that you know.
Aleah: Yeah. That sounds like the contents of my bag. I have also a flashlight, a compass, a piece of string, and a Swiss knife that…
Peter Greenberg: Wait, wait, stop, wait, wait, stop right there. Wait, stop right there. A piece of string?
Aleah: Yes, a piece of string. You know, a mountaineering string you can use in your hostel bed where you can hang your sarong to use as a curtain.
Peter Greenberg: Oh so it’s basically, it’s your portable clothesline.
Aleah: Yeah, among other things, you know. You can tie your bag to yourself if you’re in a bus and you would like to go to sleep and you’re afraid of it being taken away from you.
Peter Greenberg: That’s a very good tip.
Aleah: There’s a lot of things you can do with a string.
Peter Greenberg: Okay, I want that to be your next blog item, all the different things you can do with a little piece of string.
Aleah: Definitely! (Laughing)
Peter Greenberg: Now Aleah, where are you from in the Philippines?
Aleah: I live two hours from the city of Manila.
El Nido, one of the beautiful beaches in the Philippines.
Peter Greenberg: Most people don’t realize that the Philippines is over 8,000 islands. I’ve had the chance to be in many of them: everywhere from Ilocos Norte down to Zamboanga and Legazpi and Davao and Cebu.
Aleah: Very good memory!
Peter Greenberg: Of course, and not just Metro Manila but Makati and, and getting out there. But I have to tell you, people who have not been to the Philippines are denying themselves a phenomenal opportunity to see real beauty out there. All those islands and the water are just amazing.
Aleah: Uh huh. Actually that’s one of the reasons why I also travel a lot, within the Philippines and outside of it. I think more and more Filipinos are traveling now because of the presence of low cost carriers. Before, it was so expensive to travel. You can’t afford it.
Peter Greenberg: You’re absolutely right and you know, the low cost carrier phenomenon is just basically recent in Asia and it’s really taking over and it’s giving people the option to travel with their Kindle.
Aleah: Definitely! (Laughing) I mean, can you imagine? I always bring a book whenever I travel, so if I’m gone for 70 days, how many books would I have to bring?
Peter Greenberg: I know. So, you know what it is, here’s the name of your new book, Kindle and A Piece of String. (Laughter) Aleah, thank you so much for joining us and again the name of her post was, Date a Girl Who Travels. By the way, I love that idea. I’ll get back to you.
Yup, that was it, my 10 minutes of fame. My thanks to Peter Greenberg for the chance to be on your show!
Aleah Taboclaon is a freelance writer and editor. She likes running (completed one marathon, training for the next!), diving (PADI open water diver), and traveling with her Kindle. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus. You can also email her; she would love to hear from you! Share and Enjoy
Sounds awesome, congrats! I loved your article!
Gen recently posted..San Giovanni in Laterano, Roma, Italia
i had fun reading through Aleah. great job and nice travels always
I love it! Congratz!!
@ Gen/TheFrugalWanderer: Thanks, thanks hehe
@ Estan: Thanks. I was a nervous wreck during the interview!
Aleah recently posted..My Interview with Peter Greenberg, CBS News Travel Editor
Congratulations on the interview! Very inspiring!
Pauline recently posted..The Top 10 Amazing Natural Wonders in the Philippines
i love it too…
going to Vietnam and taking the open tour bus… must bring along my string… really cool tip.
@ Pauline: Thank you. Hopefully there will be more opportunities like that
@ Elise: haha let us know when you’ve finished your Vietnam trip! I have a guide here on what to do in HCMC. Do check it out.
Aleah recently posted..My Interview with Peter Greenberg, CBS News Travel Editor
Based on the transcription, you sounded confident and great, Aleah! Good job and thanks for representing the Philippines! Do you happen to have a recording of the interview? I wish I could listen to it! Congrats!
soloflightEd recently posted..Digital Nomad Life: One Month in Siem Reap, Cambodia
i like it because they chose that specific article and focused the interview more about it. galing! proud ako sa interview sayo dito.
dong ho recently posted..mindanao – a bigger picture
@ Ed: I deleted all the nervous laughter haha It’s so distracting kasi. I don’t have a recording, I just got it from Peter Greenberg’s site
@ Dong Ho: Salamat, I was really very worried that I would sound like a ninny here hehe
Aleah recently posted..My Interview with Peter Greenberg, CBS News Travel Editor
Congratulations, seems you just enjoyed yourself in the interview. Nakakaproud Pinay moment!
Congratulations! Ang galing mo po. Great job.
EDMARATION recently posted..Batac City | Farmers Festival – Carosa Parade
What a fun opportunity! Good job, and congrats
Andrea recently posted..The Finished Product: Getting a Custom-Made Suit in Seoul
@ Mars: Thanks *blush* haha
@ Edmaration: Mukha lang, but not really. I was a nervous wreck.
@ Andrea: Thanks, it’s a once in a lifetime thing
Aleah recently posted..My Interview with Peter Greenberg, CBS News Travel Editor
congratulations! Ive read your article about it too and I love it. I hope more guys will be moved by it
You write really well! I am now a fan *giiggles!
xx
WANDERSHUGAH recently posted..Overview Park, Quezon Bukidnon
congratulations! way to go!
@ Wandershugah: Thanks shugah hehe Hope to see you again in my blog!
@ Rashmenon: Thanks!!!
Aleah recently posted..My Interview with Peter Greenberg, CBS News Travel Editor
I read through your interview… it went quite well! It’s great that some time was devoted to help promote the Philippines as destination as well.
Congrats on the interview! I did remember the Date a Girl Who Travels article very well. It was circulated widely in my FB friends list as well, and even my foreigner friends shared it as well
Congratz!! Aleah.
You are a winner.
@ The Wanderer: Thanks. I wish we could have talked more about how beautiful the Philippines is but I was just glad he mentioned it first.
@ Eddie: If only it brought me riches…hahaha At least I’m rich in experience
Aleah recently posted..My Interview with Peter Greenberg, CBS News Travel Editor
kakatuwa naman cia maginterview…. hehe… na picture ko tuloy na tawanan kayo ng tawanan hahhaha
Ian l brownmantrips.com recently posted..Taiwan: Millenium Hot Springs 千禧汤
Big time! Congrats Aleah. Truly, you deserve this ang ganda pagkasulat ng Date a Girl Who Travels.
@ Ian: Super daming tawanan moments. I removed most of it sa transcript kasi puro na lang nilagay ng transcriber ko: (Laughing) (Laughing) (Laughing). hehe
@ Elal: Thanks thanks. At least naka-isang viral post ako in my life!
Aleah recently posted..My Interview with Peter Greenberg, CBS News Travel Editor
You did well! Congratulations!!
Date A Girl Who Travels is such a tearjerker for someone like me who gets teary when what I read strike a chord and make plenty of sense. :’)
apola recently posted..TRAVEL ESSENTIALS: Tribu Sandals
Job well done! Congratulation to you. keep up the good work!
So proud of you Aleah.. Hot another new tip here. That string thingy….!
@ Apola: Thanks for the nice words. Was it really a tearjerker? hehe
@ Carol: Thank you. Do come back to my blog!
@ Olan: Blush pud ko oi hehe Thanks, I really appreciate it.
Aleah recently posted..Guest Post: Adventure for One, Please
Congrats girl ! Loved your interview.
dewdrop recently posted..One with Aishwarya Rai, Weight Issues and Me
Hello Aleah!
I am not really a person who loves travelling. But, with your blog, i can experience the joy of travelling just by reading it. It feels like I have already been there. Thank you for sharing your travelling experience.
Great piece! Congratulations, Aleah! I’m inspired by you.
@ Dewdrop: Thanks:)
@ Tintin: Thanks for sharing that. I really appreciate you dropping by my blog. Hope to see you again here:)
@ Jing: Thanks thanks! Kaka-touch naman
Aleah recently posted..Guest Post: Adventure for One, Please
Congrats Aleah. Great interview!
I remember when your post about “Date a Girl who Travels” came out. Even non-blogger friends were sharing the link with me and posting it on my wall. It really resonated with a lot of people 
Kara / Travel Up recently posted..Real Life Counterstriking in Baguio
@ Kara: Thanks. I wish I could have more posts like that
Aleah recently posted..Snapshot Sunday—The Leaning Tower of Pisa
Nice interview and what a great opportunity for you to be part of his show
@ Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler: Thanks, Alex. Too bad I didn’t get to meet you when you were here in the Philippines
Aleah recently posted..Snapshot Sunday—The Leaning Tower of Pisa
bigtime ka na talaga ley!!!congrats and keep it up!!! love your writing:))
@ Marisol: Thanks, Sol
Aleah recently posted..Snapshot Sunday—The Leaning Tower of Pisa
Congratulations, great interview you’ve got.Your travels are inspiring:).
Sam @ Davao City recently posted..Buffet at Casino Español de Cebu
[...] and without an umbrella, I couldn’t go on walking around. I was also anxious about my interview with CBS News Travel editor Peter Greenberg that night, so I soon went back to my bed-and-breakfast, wishing as I passed by Juliet’s [...]
Is it still ok if I’m late to lodge my comment here, Aleah? Anyway, the old sayings, better late than never, really old, but still it applies today. Congrats and congrats to you Aleah. I am proud of you. Good luck for more interviews in the future.
.
@ Sam: Thanks. Do drop by my blog again!
@ Kuya Bon: Better late than never talaga Kuya Bon. I really appreciate you checking out my posts. Thanks ha!
Aleah recently posted..Where to Have a Massage in Quezon City
Interesting interview
Wow! Congrats Aleah. Would you believe I read your post from its title down to the last word. lol! I could feel the excitement and I’m sure it was really a great experience! I’ll be looking forward for the kindle and string. Have a safe and happy trip always!
All Things Juliet recently posted..Good Life Fitness – Working Out at Home
Ha ha… congrats to you and your string! Fun interview & looking forward to more great things from you Aleah! Way to go! =-)
Christine | Grrrl Traveler recently posted..Love Letter #27: Korea nostalgia and a different type of solo traveler
Woot!
Tagal na pala ng article na ‘to, ngayon ko lang nabasa.
Wala bang link sa audiocast/podcast?
Re: string, I suppose most people think of it as rope and not string?
Aleah,
Congrats! More interviews in the future. And I hope whoever’s working for the Department of Tourism will take notice of your blog and feature Filipino travel bloggers like you on their website. It’ll help increase your site’s Google rankings because of the .gov.ph extension link to your site.
And to quote John Lloyd Cruz (magpapakamasa na ko day): “Ingat!”
[...] of all, I was also in Italy when I received a call that CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg wanted to interview me. It’s certainly an honor for such an established person like him to [...]
Fascinating interview, Aleah!
Andrew Graeme Gould recently posted..Sunday afternoon in Santiago
[...] I Was Interviewed by Peter Greenberg, CBS News Travel Editor. Peter Greenberg is a very well known and well established persona in the travel industry. Just to learn that he has read (and liked!) my blog is already an honor, much less to be interviewed by him live over the radio! This post is the transcript of that interview. [...]
I love your story. I felt like I was reading MY story.
I’ve never been to Asia though.
Thanks!
Penny Sadler recently posted..Postcard: Juxtaposition of Art and Religion
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