I created this blog almost a year ago, to mark my adventures in Seoul, I thought, which is why I called the blog searching my Seoul. However, in those six months, I only managed a handful of entries. I found myself enjoying life and living too much to commit thoughts and impressions to paper, ( or to the computer screen as it were).

Then I saw this quote a few days ago, it said:

                Once a year, go someplace you've never been before. 

My initial reaction was, I would if I could, if I had the resources, the time, the money to do so. But then I realized, traveling someplace I have never been to before does not mean traveling to another country.  My country has so much to offer, so many beautiful places that I can go to, and I have never been to before. I also realized that for the past few years, I have in fact been doing that, traveling someplace I have never been before. I realized, for its drama, and corresponding stress, my work has provided me with various opportunities to travel. I have been to Tokyo, to Geneva, to Helsinki, to D.C., to Seoul, all in the name of work. For the past few years, I have unknowingly been living this quote, and my life has all been the richer for it.  The year 2005 brought me to Tokyo, and I was in Europe in 2006. 2007 and I was in Pangasinan, visiting Manaoag for the first time with my sisters. The first month of 2008 saw me in the US, going for training and a visit to family living there. 2009 and I was exploring Ilocos with friends from work, cramming everything we could go to and see for two days and visiting my dad's province of birth, Cebu, walking around and sightseeing with my sister. My sister's work also meant I got to go to Boracay in 2009, to visit Puerto Princesa in 2010 and Bacolod in 2012. In between, I got to visit Davao, to attend yet another conference in 2011. And although I may not be as extensively well traveled as some, I think my life has been enriched by all of this adventures.

Some days, I think going someplace you've never been before doesn't have to mean traveling physically. And if books and the materials we have read, or the shows we watch were portals, then I have traveled far and wide, off to Narnia, to Hogwarts, to wartime London, to the underworld, to prehistoric Philippines, anywhere and anywhen my imagination could take me as I gobbled up and lost myself in the books I have read.

Perhaps, going someplace we have never been to before simply means we have to reach beyond the boundaries we have set up ourselves, to expand our horizons, and to be open to what the world has to offer.