Text and Photos by Prime Sarmiento

 

Sometimes I can’t believe that despite my busy schedule, I still manage to have the time, money and energy to go on working/leisure trips all over the world. I always consider my travels my biggest blessing and my travels in 2012 were full of many things that made me happy, shiny and grateful.  

Thanks to my travels, I was able to indulge in two of my life’s biggest passions- traveling and writing. But more than that, I’m thankful of having the privilege to travel as a journalist, as a travel writer – to cover some of the most important environmental news events . By reporting on things that matter, I get to contribute – even if it’s just a small thing – to making this world a better place for everyone.

So here’s   a roundup of my travels in 2012 – it’s a sort of photo-essay.  Heavy on the images, limited text, and full of heart, soul and laughter:

 

I spent New Year’s Eve, drinking cheap wine and watching fiereworks with my friend Bee. 

 

 

 

This is how Bee and I spent New Year’s Day:  Watching an elephant show in Mae Sa, and then rushed to the bus station to catch the 13-hour trip back to Bangkok.

 

 

 

 

In Bangkok, I went shopping, ate a lot, visited temples and hanged out with my  friends Bee and Kate.

 

 

Bangkok food tours are very popular and in fact many go to Thailand just to explore its savory cuisine. There are in fact many Bangkok hotels that offer culinary tours to fit your interest, schedule and budget.

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I absolutely love Amorosa bar which overlooks the magnificent Wat Arun and Chao Phraya river.

 

 

And I celebrated my birthday on top of the world literally – on a plane from Bangkok enroute to Manila. I was soo happy because I was reading an inflight mag which featured moi as a solo female traveler!!! Fun times!

 

In Cagayan De Oro, I joined my fellow PNEJ journos to report about the survivors of typhoon Sendong.

 

Thankfully, we get some fun too.- by going on my first Zip lining adventure! It was fun and thrilling but not for me!

 

 

And after heming and hawing for years, I finally did it  –  I joined my lil sis and went to Beijing!  Here we are at the Great Wall of China.  

 

Beijing is not an easy city to like – it’s crowded, polluted, gray skies,  language barrier and the people can be quite rude. Bur after exploring the Chinese capital for several days,,  I fell in love with it. Hard.  That’s when I started to get private Mandarin lessons.

 

 

Ohhh,  this one of the very few shots that I got while strolling Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro. It was a busy week for me as I was covering the Earth Summit for an international news agency.

  

 

 

For our annual family tour, we  went on a day trip to Corregidor and  got some historical lessons about the Philippine experience in the Second World War.

 

 

 I saved the best for last – my last trip for 2012 was in Hanoi. It was a working trip combined with a girl’s weekend getaway  trip with my journo friend Bee. We interviewed some survivors of Agent Orange bombing.  Hanoi is a city that I def would love to visit again if only for the delicious food, the artsy culture vibe and the fact that I wasn’t able to go to Halong Bay.

 

 

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 For this year, I’m quietly spending New Year’s Eve with my parents in Manila. Which is actually good for me as I caught the flu bug right after X-mas (and while writing this, I’m still dealing with dry cough). I’m also not on vacation mode as   I’m very very busy with several writing assignments , but I plan to take a few days off late Jan and head to one of my favorite places for retreat – Baguio City!!  With the help of my absolutely gorgeous planner/workbook, I have big plans for 2013 (one of those big plans is to move somewhere…. )

I’m also looking forward to my first quarter trips to Cambodia (to meet up with my business mentors) and to Thailand for another of my crazy working trips.

 

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Happy New Year! May you enjoy your journeys in 2013!!