LOVE AND SACRIFICE IN TRAVEL
The Philippines has such a rich history and dramatic one that if someone were to study and read about it, they wouldn't fail to realize that the country has been that of many sacrifices and struggles. However, a lot of these points echoes love for this country. From early peoples to its former colonizers, the Philippines had gained life just by the sacrifices of others.
This love and sacrifice is now implemented in travel to the Philippines. The Philippines has many tourists coming from both Canada and the United States, especially those of Filipino origin (balikbayans), and when I fly to the Philippines, I can't help but think that we continue to show love and sacrifice for the country by taking these tiring flights to the country. It's time and cost.
Sometimes I admit that I feel green with envy because if I think about our Latin American friends, Mexicans for example, their country is only hours away, thus Canadians and Americans of Mexican descent are able to save a bit more on flight costs and are able to buy a lot of time and find themselves arriving in their beloved land within a few hours. I have an American friend of Mexican descent, and with her family she is able to visit Mexico and her relatives many times a year.
There are those who even say that it would be so much easier to be a loyal balikbayan had the Philippines been located near Hawaii or Central America. True, but then it wouldn't be the Philippines anymore. It may still be our Pilipinas, but history would be re-written and though we can't say the country would be better or worse, it wouldn't be the country we come home to. And even worse, we wouldn't be the people that we are today. Who knows what the country would be like? We can't change what isn't possible.
There is something to learn from this issue, and the sentiments that comes out of it is that sometimes love and interest for the country is more powerful than distance. The Spaniards who travelled to the Philippines didn't have airplanes to make their way to what they called, "Las Islas Filipinas," and if you look at the world map, it brings about a sick feeling just to see the distance and routes that they braved. All this just to reach the Philippines. We could all learn from this before complaining about anything. And besides, the long trip to the Philippines is definitely worth it. Once you land in the islands, the past hours have already turned into history.
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