In the tradition of our year-ender rides, it rained. One moment, it was bright and sunny and the next, it was drizzling. It wasn’t even strong rain. But it was enough to make us stop on the side of the road and wait it out. The gray clouds hanging heavy on the horizon didn’t look too promising.
It seems like everyone is on vacation and traveling this time of the year. My newsfeed has been flooded with photos of people relaxing on the beach or in snowy destinations, traveling internationally with their whole family in tow and going on epic motorcycle road trips across the country. It made me want to go somewhere new just for the heck of it.
Since Art had to work during the Christmas break, we were stuck in Manila. It seemed like an anti-climactic way to end an amazing year, not to mention a decade of travel.
But we decided to just head back and eat lunch at a new restaurant with a great view before calling it a day.
That pretty much sums up the whole of December. Instead of traveling and rushing to tick more places and things off my bucket list, I spent the last month of the year catching up with friends and actually attending different gatherings and family Christmas parties, which I usually skipped in previous years because I was busy traveling.
We watched Culion, one of the movies being screened for this year’s MMFF, went on a night ride around Intramuros and Manila and had dinner and craft beer at a great brewery in QC. Not exactly the most adrenaline-packed way to end the year, but quite pleasant.
At any rate, 2019 has been a great year for travel. I’ve had the opportunity to travel to amazing destinations for free because of this blog. When I started this blog in 2011, I never thought that I’d be able to make a living just traveling and writing about my adventures. While some trips have started to feel like work, I’m still very grateful for every opportunity, especially when I get to share the trips with like-minded friends or travel to places I’ve really been wanting to visit.
When you travel on sponsored trips, there are certain expectations and there’s a tendency to get jaded and exhausted. For media trips, I’m making an effort to go beyond what is prepared for us in package tours and itineraries and explore or seek out adventures on my own if we have free time. Those are the moments that usually stand out the most in those jam-packed whirlwind trips.
I’ve been balancing work trips with more personal trips with friends and family this year. Traveling with the family has been really fun. I went on a week-long trip to Tokyo, Japan with my nephew, and enjoyed the train rides, cablebars, amusement park rides and seeing Mt. Fuji for the first time as much as he did. On a two-week long trip around Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, and Brisbane in Australia with parents, it was great to be able to revert again to kid status, enjoy the laid-back pace and benefits of traveling with seniors and drink some pretty amazing craft beers.
But this year’s travels have really been dominated by motorycling, thanks to Zym, my third bike. I was assigned the Kymco Like 150i unit at the start of 2019 for a magazine review, and I ended up buying it soon after.
Since I got it in January 2019, I’ve traveled over 10,000 kilometers on the bike. It’s taken me on epic rides I used to only dream of doing, but couldn’t with my previous bikes. I’ve been able to ride all the way to Baguio, La Union, Sagada, done the Laguna Lake x Taal Lake Loop, driven to Baler, Dingalan and Dipaculao and more. Completing the Mindoro Loop meant I was finally able to tick off visiting the last of the 81 provinces of the Philippines.
I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m not really a custom bike person. Fenrir, my custom bike was the product of me getting caught up in the whole custom bike scene and disappointment of not winning Wrangler True Wanderer in 2016. I think I just wanted to look and feel cool, have a bike uniquely my own, and be taken seriously as a “legit” rider. And looks play a part in that.
I really have this chip on my shoulder when I compare myself to those who ride big bikes. You can’t help but feel inferior next to people riding these expensive, brand name big bikes like Ducati Scramblers or Harleys. Well, I can’t afford those bikes or their maintenance costs. The custom bike seemed to be a way that I could get the look and feel of a bigger bike, in a size that I could physically drive.
But I’ve had more amazing adventures with the Like in one year than I’ve had 3 years struggling with the custom bike which I couldn’t even ride to a cafe in the city without some random part falling off. I know it looks so much more bad-ass in photos, but looks and IG likes alone are really not worth all those headaches, tears and failed rides. It was supposed to be an upgrade for my decade-old secondhand scooter Chocobo, which has outlasted him in terms of usability. Having the Like has renewed a sense of wonder in travel I thought I’d lost. I’m much more content now.
In this constant search of the magic of first travel moments and bucketlist-worthy trips, there’s also something to be said for familiar comforts. Not every trip has to be multi-day rides with perfect weather or out-of-the-country expeditions to exotic destinations to be worthwhile. There’s nothing wrong with quick getaways, rediscovering the city, and returning to the same spots. I don’t mind revisiting the same places, as long as I can ride going there. I get the most satisfaction from exploring and hunting for interesting places on my own.
Whether it’s just catching up with friends to try a new restaurant or quick weekend rides to mountains and coastal destinations near Manila, the Like has proven to be a reliable travel buddy. At the end of the day, it’s the sense of adventure and how comfortable I am with a bike that matters over brand names, aesthetics, displacement, and other people’s opinions.
I’m thankful for every trip, every ride, for all the small and big experiences and all the people who’ve been part of the journey throughout the year. But I’m also thankful that the end of the road always leads me back home.
Cheers to new adventures and finding contentment in 2020! Happy New Year!
— Kara / Travel Up