THREE PERCENT

Somebody in Hong Kong sent me an email inviting me to join an on-line group that would enable you to track down your travel around the globe. You would be basically asked to identify which countries in the different continents have you traveled to so far.

For the past year or so has seen me doing some traveling around the world. But when I answered the questionnaire, the on-line forum said that, I have only visited “three percent” of the world. A paltry amount don’t you think?

Three percent! That’s how I stand in today’s global economy. Does that matter?

To me who relishes the thought of doing business and attending meetings in various part of the world, that matters. So far, all my travels have been on business. There is only visit which I considered personal and that was in the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong where I treated my family to a vacation.

In other countries I have visited, it was all for either work or for advancement of knowledge. My visit to the United States in 1994, a month after my marriage was to attend a workshop in Johns Hopkins University and to visit major sights such as the United Nations office in New York, the halls of Congress and the White House in Washington, D.C. My visit to Europe- London, Amsterdam, and Munich on the other hand were all for work.

My visit to Vietnam in September 2007 was in compliance on the other hand for my requirement in the Masters of Law degree program of the University, where I am currently enrolled in. While in Vietnam, I saw firsthand a socialist country that was proud of its history of struggle and war.

Doing work in a globalized setting is not an easy task. I have journeyed to Hong Kong just to attend an hour’s meeting, and come back to Manila a few hours therafter.

I have also traveled to Europe for a span of 5 days, 2 days of which were spent almost in the air.

If there is one secret I have learned to kick off the jet lag after a long haul flight and with a meeting to attend to in the next hours or so of your arrival is this – a really good hot shower after a flight.

This will ease the tension and freshen you as if nothing happened at all.

The next three percent ?

By next year, I shall be celebrating my 40th birthday. It’s a birthday that I have been anticipating for, as I intend to travel on that date with my family to a land I have long been yearning to visit – China.

China has always fascinated me. Its history is older than Europe, and its mystery has yet to be fully explored. On that day, I hope to be scaling the Great Walls and see for myself this wonder of the world.

Of course, that visit to China will not be the end of it. I also want to visit St.Petersburg in Russia, Switzerland, France, Italy and Greece.

Perhaps when I do get to retire from my work, I look forward to traveling with my family and explore Egypt, Turkey, Norway, Canada, Spain, Portugal and all other countries.


Munich, Germany
22-X-2007