When Traveler Met Blogger

Travel and blogging came to me at different times.  I was a writer. I was a blogger. I was a traveler. This were different versions of me and yet there came a time when the traveler in me met the blogger in me and I became a travel blogger.  This one is a long journey and through this I learned that there will be a time for everything.  Old passion will always manage to find its way to your life and once the opportunity presents itself be bold enough to grab it.

First Love

For the longest time in high school I was undecided on what course to take once I step into college until the day, I suddenly decided to try out for our school paper.  It came as a surprise I made the cut and there it was, writing was my first love.  I could do this as a career but when it came down to making a decision, I decided to take up Accountancy with the idea that if I really wanted to write, I could still write anytime I want to whatever course I finished.  With this in mind I joined our college paper and even was Editor-in-Chief.  I was also able to tuck-in several essay writing contest under the belt.  My first love ended when after I graduated and earned my professional certification.  It was now time to join the workforce as an auditor in the top audit firm in the country.

Second Love

While auditors / accountants / finance professionals would be categorized as workaholic and serious individuals.  Oh wait, I was really workaholic back then yet somehow, I was seeing a new window opening.  I was getting travel perks.  I was able to go to Cebu, Tacloban, Leyte, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Batangas, Laguna and even my hometown Baguio for work.   I was going places, experiencing different cultures, enjoying local delicacies and being able to see some key attractions.  Travel was fast becoming my new love. The best part about it was that I was sent to Paris for 17 days and a side trip to Amsterdam in 2003.  This was my first out of the country adventure and it somehow broke my jinx when it comes to foreign travel.   I was able to travel to Hong Kong for a week’s worth of vacation before transferring to my next job.

When I switched worked, I never saw it as a chance to travel but since I was able to impress the higher ups in my second job, I was then again given the chance to travel.  I had my recurring trips to Taiwan for the Annual Report and board meetings.  I had an annual trip in Singapore for the Annual General Meetings.  I had trips in China (Shanghai, Hangzhou and Shandong) for site visits and board meetings.  I had my trips to Cambodia and Angkor Wat for site visits.  This time I was able to mix work and play by extending a few days to have a better appreciation of the area.  People do appreciate it when you take initiative to explore their areas.  It was a hectic travel schedule which would have me 6-10 trips in a year.  I was also able to visit Macau, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Sydney either on side trips or on vacation.

While the jinx on out of the country travel was broken, I had a new jinx to deal with.  I was not able to take a domestic flight for the next 5 years. As I went on traveling out of the country, I would be shy whenever I hear my counterparts stories on places they have visited in the Philippines.  It was then that I decided to take more domestic trips which starts in Puerto Princesa, Palawan appreciating the city, Dos Palmas and the Underground River.  I tried covering as much local destinations as I can and I was able to visit the historic Corregidor, the scenic Anawangin in Zambales, the hot springs of Laguna, the cool and scenic Tagaytay, the beach and falls of Puerto Galera, the various attractions in Subic the perfect cone of Mayon in Bicol, the breathtaking chocolate hills and cute tarsier in Bohol, the fine white sands of Boracay, the massive Davao City, the various adventures of Cebu and the underwater fun in Bicol.

When Traveler Met Blogger

I’ve been to so many places and the only thing I had from this was photographs (except for my travels pre digital camera age) and memories.  It was then that I decided to summarize everything in Franckentein’s Travel Tales.  It was just a simple summary of the places I’ve been to.  At this point, I never really shared much of my blog except probably for those who follow my blogs before.  There was one travel that changed it all and somehow I saw that my blogs could be a lot bigger and this was the seed of Francramon.com, My thoughts, My travel and My runs.

The travel was during the trip to Bellarocca mid 2011.  I had such a good time and I went into detail in describing the experience (Read Here) and I know that this was one great story to write about while I was experiencing the adventure.   It got featured in Bellarocca’s group site and for the first time I had hundreds of hits and a lot of people appreciated what I wrote.  I also submitted it to a travel magazine and was the featured article for November 2011 of Yapak Travel and Leisure Magazine. Just like that, I was back to what I was doing years back.  Traveler in me has met the blogger/writer in me.  The time has come for me to write again.  I’m back to my first love which is writing and it’s great that it complements my second love which is travel. Though I had been blogging since 2004, this was the one that set the tone for my next blogs.  Months later, I migrated all my blogs to https://francramon.com and now caters to a wider audience.  It has now become a compilation of my thoughts, my travel and my runs and as much as possible even if it’s from a me-point of view, I try to impart as much as I can for the reader to also have first hand view of the places and the experiences.

I always have half my foot onward to a new adventure and through the years, I’ve been able to explore places and have a better appreciation of the varying landscapes, cultures and attractions.  I love to Travel!!! Each place is a new experience and a new story waiting to be told and a new adventure waiting to unfold.

I am a traveler and a blogger.  I am a travel blogger.

When Travel Met Blogger is my  entry to Pinoy Travel Bloggers’ Blog Carnival for July 2012, “The Journey That Made Us a Travel Blogger hosted by Edmar Gu-Quibb of Edmaration etc. Click the image to see previous editions of the blog carnival.