I started Solitary Wanderer in 2009 primarily just to chronicle my travels – mostly solo, but occasionally with friends or travel buddies. The first entry was written in El Nido, Palawan in the Philippines, about a Danish movie that talked about the protagonist’s regrets of not traveling the world while he still could.
After a year or two, however, I realized that I had readers! These readers started commenting on my posts and sending me emails about how my posts inspired them to travel more, or to travel solo. While most of my posts are about the destinations I visited, quite a few are also inspirational, tips on traveling solo, or thoughts about solo travel.
I have had a couple of viral posts on my blog, the most popular, of course, is Date a Girl Who Travels, which had been translated to Mandarin, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Polish, and who knows what other languages. It has spawned countless variations as well! Because of it, I was also interviewed by Peter Greenberg, CBS News Travel Editor (USA), and The Stateless Man (USA).
In 2015, I decided to travel around the world, starting in South America. I sold my things and looked for and found a long-term house and catsitter for my 2 cats, Jumper and Kabs. I made it 6 months — 1.5 months in Brazil, 2 months in Bolivia, a month in Peru, and almost 2 months in the USA — before family obligations called me home. I didn’t return to my house; the family who was taking care of my cats were settled there nicely. Instead, I stayed in hostels and worked.
A year later, I took my mother to the Holy Land on a Thanksgiving trip (I went home because she was diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer, which, after a Whipple procedure, turned out to be a benign tumor). She left after 2 weeks and I stayed in Israel for almost 6 months. From there, I traveled to Nepal, Armenia, the Maldives, Georgia, and back to the USA where I stayed almost 6 months before I was invited on a week-long luxury train trip in India.
In February 2020, I came to Belgium to visit my partner for 2 months, intending to go to Albania afterwards and stay there for 3 months, then to Montenegro, Turkey, Morocco, and other countries besides. (My list of countries to visit was restricted by how many I can go to with my Philippine passport coupled with a valid US/OECD visa. Thus 67 countries as a Filipino + 30 countries using my US visa.)
But then you know what happened. 😊 Because of the pandemic, I couldn’t leave Belgium. I’m still here, and am now a resident with a 9-to-5 job. My digital nomad life is behind me and I have settled in a small, sleepy town by the river just 30 minutes from Brussels. It’s a different life from what I had; some days I love it — the routine, the stability, the feeling of belongingness. But there are also times when I yearn to be on the road again. C’est la vie. Que sera sera.
For those of you who are still on the road, as the traditional Irish blessing goes,
“May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
May Angels fly with you wherever you roam and guide you back safely to family and home.”
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