Hard fought Journeys to a Satisfied Freedom in the Philippines

Oct 28, 2016

By Mary Anne Penaranda

sky-500x500Hard fought Journeys to a Satisfied Freedom in the Philippines

When I saw the theme of this article writing contest, I remember a quote I have encountered before. The quote says “Learn the rules. Then break some”. It might sound rebellious to some but for me, I think of it as another way of saying you fight for your journeys freedom.

I believe there are different kinds of freedom each and every one of us is looking for. We all wanted to be free, free from the things that we think are holding us back from living the life we desire. We want to move away from what are bothering us, hurting us, our struggles, this is what being free might be for each of us. But where and when do we find our freedom? How do we fight for it? How can we say we feel free?

Speaking for myself, I still find me being stuck from where I am now. I feel like I’m still bounded with all the responsibilities I have for my Family. Still bounded from thinking about the approval of my society on how I should be living my life. But all of these things including self doubt and fear disappear whenever I am travelling alone in an unfamiliar territory.

When I get out there, I always choose to leave the things that are bringing me down. I clear my head from them. Yes, I am trying to run away from them and be free from them even for a while because this is where and when I find my freedom from what I think is a cruel reality.

I used to travel with people I know and used to be closed to me but it made a difference to see how free I can feel when I did a trip alone. During these journeys I learned how to decide everything for myself, which I think is one way of exercising my freedom. I usually make my own itinerary based on the information I get from travel blogs but there are times that I do not follow it and decide to get lost. I feel like I can afford to see the places where some do not go. I am free to explore. I am not bound by any box or circle.

From these travels I learned to be free from judgement and doubts. I started to convince myself to trust people who are very unfamiliar to me, who I just met or encountered at the moment. At these moments I do not have any thoughts to make me run from people I do not know. I invite them to be part of my new circle instead.

The best freedom I get from these experiences is that I am freely me. Everything is me. I am allowed to be myself. I open up myself to new territories, new people and new learning. I do not have to worry about being out of my usual comfort zone. I do not feel any pain. I am releasing my inner bravery and last but not the least I am free to hope without a limit. The hope that will give me strength to face every obstacle and struggles to achieve the life I have always been dreaming. A life where I get to have the freedom to be independent and to be myself whenever, wherever.

Thank you for reading and commenting. Please enter the Independence 2016 Travel Writing Award and tell your story.

About the Author

Mary Anne Penaranda

You can call me Yuki. I am a 29 year old Filipina who dreams of travelling the world one place at a time.

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