To The Year That Was 2015

2015 had been a challenging year.

I decided to travel less for pleasure this year because I was saving up for my upcoming migration to Canada. I also decided to be more responsible about what I earned and decided to make some investments. Travel is great. It is a way to learn more about people, culture, and about myself. But, at 25, I am not getting any younger, and I need to save up for retirement and for my future.

Although, it sounded "dark," God still blessed me with opportunities to visit places. Below is a summary of where I've been this 2015.

January - Michelle, Jomar and I, Mama Chelle and her family, and Wayne with his family decided to visit the historic town of Taal, Batangas.

Minor Basilica of Saint Martin of Tours (Taal Basilica)

February - Most of the love month until April, I've been travelling to Calamba and Canlubang, Laguna for a project. I enjoyed it a lot because I was getting to know my teammates (Carla, Vanie, Patrick, and Wei) really well and was learning about our client in a different industry.

March - I went to Subic, Zambales with the Google Apps Sales team (Alfonso, Jenny, Peachy, and Glenn) and Ryan, and Shaine. We had a 2-day Google Apps for Work training. Subic is always a nice place to visit.


April - For the Day of Valor (Holiday in the Philippines), we went to Pangasinan. It was Jomar's first time meeting the whole Barrozo clan and his first time to visit Our Lady of Manaoag Church. Also in April, Jomar and I joined a Hackathon for the first time. We won 2nd place at the Accenture Hackathon with our Help Me app.


May - The month I've travelled the most because of the Google for Education Innovation Tour Roadshow. I went to Iloilo City, Cebu City (with Jomar), Davao City, and Cagayan de Oro City. I was one of the emcees for the series of events. It was a lot of fun travelling and well, eating. (Hehe) It was also the month I started my investment in the Philippine Stock Market (I feel like I am an adult!) with guidance from Truly Rich Club.

BE Resort at Mactan, Cebu

June - Gerardo, Jomar and I, Mama Chelle with her family went to Baguio City for the Post Google I/O Extended Meetup of GDG Baguio. It's great to be in Baguio again.

Strawberry Farm

July - I went to Angeles, Pampanga with Jomar, Wayne, Adam, Toff, and Benj for the Google I/O Extended 2015 Pampanga Roadshow. Before the month ended, Mitch and I went to Binondo to have a food trip. We ate so many dumplings that day I was so happy.

Binondo Dumplings
August - I stayed in Manila all month and had terrific food trip.

September - We (Ms. Myna, Boss, Ms. Aileen, Iosif, and Gab) went to Sapang Bato Elementary School in Angeles, Pampanga for a project.

October- Ms. Myna, Boss, and I went to Batangas City for a project. We visited the Basilica of Immaculate Conception located at the heart of the city. This is also the month I migrated to Canada. Jomar and I took the Manila - Tokyo - Vancouver route which means 2 hours in Japan more than enough time to try Japanese Curry in Japan.

Basilica of Immaculate Conception at Batangas City

November - Since Jomar will be in town most of the month we visited a lot of places in Metro Vancouver. We went to Steveston, explored a section of Downtown Vancouver, celebrated my birthday in Queen Elizabeth Park, went back to Steveston (Storybrooke), and visited the Vancouver Museum and Vancouver Maritime Museum.

December - For the last month of the year, I enjoyed shopping for gifts for my siblings. I used most of my time attending seminars about preparing to enter the Canadian workforce. I now am a Permanent Resident of Canada, and I spend most of my time applying for work (hopefully I find one real soon).

That's a summary of my travels in 2015. My previous travel goal was to visit one country per year. I am changing this because I think each state/province in Northern America is a country in itself, so my new goal is either to visit a new country per year or to visit two state/province in Canada or US.

Cheers to more travel! Oh, and before I forget, I highly recommend the app FlightDiary.net. It shows a beautiful visualization and analysis of all your flights.

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