meant to travel

I was at National Bookstore checking the travel section when the guy next to me caught my attention.

"You love to travel, too?" he asked. I smiled brightly and said yes.

"I'm planning to go to Australia," he continued, as he reached out to the Lonely Planet guide to Australia.

"Australia. Wow. Is this for work or vacation?" It was my turn to ask.

"Oh, I don't work."

And with that I was hooked.

Here was a very confident 25-year old businessman who was also an avid traveler. He talked about studying in Europe, ordering a gelato in Milan, the cold weather in Beijing and feeding needy children in South Africa.

All I could do was smile and ham it up. He was talking about previous travels while all I had to share was future travel plans - going to China with friends in a couple of years and plans to apply to Australia for further training. My recent islandhopping escapades and travel to HK and Macau certainly was not up to par. Nevertheless, we still had an enjoyable chat and we ended up exchanging contact information for possible "collaborations" in the future. (As a physician he thought I would be interested in his new anti-aging business venture, while his feeding the needy crusade was what piqued my interest).

We discussed the merits of the different travel guides (Let's Go, LP, Rough Guide, etc) - the no-ads stand of LP, the very specific travel info in Let's Go (how to order a gelato, recent political/economic development). I suggested he read Bill Bryson's In A Sunburned Country before he left for Australia although it wasn't available in the bookstore at the moment. In the end he chose to get a Let's Go guide to Australia.

More small talk then goodbye, with a "maybe we'll see each other in Australia", a handshake and a smile.


A conversation with a fellow traveler always leaves me buoyant. It's almost like I've actually done some traveling when all I've had was an eye-opening chat. And to put icing on this travel bug's cake the new edition (May 2009) of Lonely Planet Philippines is out now. I was fortunate enough to purchase it at it's initial price of Php 809 on the same day they increased it to Php 1,009.

What do you know, I am blessed.

I was meant to travel.