. In fact, we do know now based on recent dated archaeological evidence, in the form of a human foot bone fragment found in Cagayan Province in the Philippines, that this migration even reached our shores 67,000 years ago. Even today we still have a continuous flow of Filipinos moving abroad for a better life. A 2020 Philippine Statistics Authority report pegged the number of Filipino Overseas Contract Workers at 1.77 million—and that’s just counting documented workers.
I started traveling because my parents took me and my siblings on vacations abroad. For me everything was new, so it was like an exploration of sorts, but since I was with my family on vacation, it was all mostly leisurely. I am sure the conditions under which the explorers of old sailed to unknown parts of the world would be anything but leisurely. No doubt stronger motivation than just fun drove explorers to the “ends of the earth.” Sure enough, most traveled for “God, gold, and glory.
But for me, I am just so curious. I want to know how the world has changed. What has remained? Are all my old haunts still around? Have these establishments managed to survive with countries closing borders and all the restrictions on travel these past years? And how have people changed? Most of all, how has my outlook in life changed after the pandemic? Has my view of the world changed? As I grew older, traveling was about experiencing and learning.