travelling alone

being a travelling host or a part of a travelling show has always been the top of my list when it comes to my career path. thus, when someone offered me a job as a field researcher, i no longer considered how small the salary was. for me, as long as it will drive me away from being an almost four month old pataBUM (patabaing bum), its fine. besides, travelling all expense free (food, transpo and hotel accomodation included), its not that bad, right?

i was assigned in north-westerm luzon (the intersection of edsa and pasig river as the central and reference point), which is composed of pampanga, tarlac, pangasinan, zambales, bataan, la union, ilocos provinces and baguio. basically, the job only requires a minute of interviewing and mapping; and almost a day of travelling and i mean lots of TRAVELLING, to a point where your feet and butt will just literally go numb.

almost the perfect job for anyone. but then i've realized its not always about the perks nor having fun that matters in this kind of profession. everything you think of becomes different when you realized you are actually travelling alone.

nonetheless, its exciting! travelling in unfamiliar places is a very humbling experience. it makes you a very polite, independent and simple person. it makes your status, advantages and priviledges that you carry out from being a city person disappear because you know for a fact that these people you encounter in provinces have something you don't and you need.

you learn how to approach and socialize with strangers. how to ask in the politest way possible. how to ride old and rattling PUVS, that are way scarier than taking a MRT ride during rush hour. how to deal with them based from their own culture and traditions, that you can barely do in the city. it makes you realize how the simplicity of life is not all about having the biggest number of options that you usually get in living in the metro. rather its the other way around: the lesser your options are, the lesser complications in life you will have.

tonight, as im writing this entry, i am on my way to san carlos city, pangasinan to continue the other half of my research. though, i don't have someone to tag along with me, i am still grateful for i've realized travelling alone makes you appreciate these simple things that can help you in determining where you are actually heading.

*but seriously, im still open to the idea of someone tagging along. hehehe!