My Inclination to Geography

I have been a geography buff as early as I could remember. Always fascinated by places, races, people and cultures once I got hold of an old book called 'A World View' from our old barangay library in my fourth grade, I easily immersed myself inside the book and wander across the grasslands, tundra, taiga, desert and snowcaps. Maps also took a special interest in me. Looking at Midwestern United States map on a scale of 1 cm to 10 miles I would bet with my childhood friends Michael, Dante and Bimbo during subject breaks and recess time. I am not a nerd. I also play rubber bands, marbles, "siatong", a game played individually or by teams with a pair of sticks one 4 times longer than the other and aim to reach a pre agreed score to win the game; and "labo labo" as an individual dodgeball game using old tennis ball.

Long before I graduated elementary school I know the capital cities of many countries and describe what language Mongols or Kazakhs speak. Not because we were required in school but because of my interest. I am not only interested in international geography, I am into local as well. When my grade two teacher Ma'am Papin asked the class "Sino ang nakapunta sa Lallo, Cagayan?" I did not hesitate to raise my hand. Surely I can remember about three years before I went to a place called Cagayan to visit my uncles and aunts. I found out later that Lallo is in Cagayan Valley and not in Cagayan de Oro that I have been to. I tried to find out if there was a demarcation boundary between Mintal and Catalunan Pequeno just like massive border patrol across countries such as Thailand and Malaysia or India and Pakistan. And the only way to find out for me is to go to such places.

There have been no Geography subjects in high school; we have History with special Geography flavors but sad to say I could hardly correct my teacher even if there is a glaring mistake in the lesson taught.

In college, I shied away from Geography and stuck to Engineering feeling that Geography is a limited career and I would prefer to have it as a hobby during my spare time to learn more about it than to devote a lifetime building my future around it. Given the decision I made, I did not turn away from this childhood interest. While I have gained curiousity in other subjects such as astronomy and space exploration, geography is something I am still comfortable at dealing with.

Now that I am somewhere far from home, I still think about those days when I read books; now I try to reach places. I was able to travel with fascination across Asia, spanning Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Chinese territories Hong Kong, Beijing and Macau.

I am trying to go to interesting places such as the remote villages of Tajikistan; Italy's Tuscany provinces; travel to Moscow from Hong Kong via the Trans-Siberian Railway passing through China's interior, the steppes of Mongolia and the desolate areas of Eastern Russia; or the inner jungles of African interior. Sounds ridiculous if not outright ambitious. It's very difficult if not impossible. But dreaming is free and boundless.