Travel Hard, Hannah! Map

This is a map of the countries I've been to. It's not much as of now, but I promise it'll keep growing. Please see below for a brief personal narrative of my trips to these countries. Thank you.

Places:

Belgium was a dream come true! I travelled to Bruges in the country of chocolates and fried potatoes on June 13-15, 2019. Stepping into Bruges is almost synonymous with stepping inside a postcard or a fairytale book! I went back to Belgium to visit Brussels in September 2019 with my girlfriends.

I travelled to Canada alone in June-September 2014 for personal reasons. It was a very beautiful place! I especially loved it there that I even thought I could live and work there!

Cyprus is such a lovely country! The sun, the sand, and the food-- I loved them all! And the people are so fun and hospitable. This place is close to my boyfriend's heart as he is an aficionado of all things Greek.

On a whim, to reenergize and find peace within me as I battled a chronic disease that nearly left me for dead, I travelled solo to France for three days in March 2019. After a month of being locked up in my room and hopelessly facing the prospect of battling said illness for five (or so) more months, it was on an island called Nantes that I gained a newfound power to take back control of my life.

Hong Kong was actually the very first country I traveled to with my family. I was too young then (I think I was 16) to think about properly documenting the trip. We went back as a family for the second time in February 2017 to celebrate my baby niece's birthday in Disneyland!

Before the coronavirus ravaged the entire country of Italy, my girlfriends and I had the pleasure of visiting Rome and Venice which are very beautiful indeed! I will definitely come to visit again when the pandemic has ebbed.

Our trip to Tokyo, Japan was a dream come true for my entire family. My mom, sister, brother, baby niece, and I stayed there for twelve solid days from April 2 to 14, 2017 just to take in the sights. We were very impressed with the country's beauty, peace and order, and culture! We think that the Japanese people are the most agreeable people on the whole planet-- they're very cultured, disciplined, respectful, and helpful to gaijins like us! We said we will definitely come back-- and we did in February 2023! This time, we took time to visit Osaka and Sapporo, too!

In September 2019, my girlfriends and I travelled by bus from Brussels to spend two days in picturesque Luxembourg, the eighth smallest European country! Luxembourg should be on the bucket list of nature lovers, ruins maniacs, and urban explorers! It is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever had the pleasure to visit!

We travelled to Macau for a family vacation in the summer of 2016 (April-May). Macau taught me that prejudices about a certain country should never get in the way of wanderlust. Sure, the country may be small and casino-laden, but the fact is that I have never gotten over my hangover from my visit there because it was one of the best countries that I have ever been to so far. 

We went to Malaysia in May 2014. I thought this country looked and felt a lot like the Philippines even though they're so much different.

Morocco is the first African country that I've travelled to. I went in November 2018 with a very close friend to take a break from the stresses that come with being an adult. Marrakesh, the capital city, is a relatively peaceful place that is also tourist-friendly! 

I visited The Netherlands in 2022 with my boyfriend in April. The tulips were gorgeous! Giethoorn was a dream! And Amsterdam? It was amazing. 

Singapore is one of the countries I couldn't get over with. I visited this very charming place in July 2013. It was so charming that I went back in August 2013 alone just to go to the places I couldn't get to on my first trip.

There was a grievous reason behind my trip to South Africa in November-December 2018. My father who works on a cargo ship had to be med-evacuated and admitted into one of the hospitals in Port Elizabeth when he was found unconscious in his cabin due to a stroke. He's relatively stable as of the time of writing, but the stroke has left him really weak and helpless. South Africa, though beautiful, will always remind me of the time when I had shed a thousand tears for a man whose love for me will always be irreplaceable.

When eight of my friends and I visited Barcelona, Spain in August 2019, we realized how formidable of an enemy the sun really is. The part of the trip that I really enjoyed the most is our visit to the mountaintop retreat of Montserrat. Overall, Barcelona is such an exciting tourist destination-- just make sure to always keep an eye on your personal belongings!

I visited Thailand in February 2020 with my family. I finally saw why the country is called the Land of Smiles. Thailand's dynamic capital city, Bangkok, is an odd myriad of conservative relics interspersed with urban modernities.

Included in our trip to Italy was a quick stopover in Vatican City which is a small country filled with so much culture and history. However, we did not see the Pope. That'll be for another time!

More than just a beautiful country rich in scenery and a lively old-meets-new culture, the United Kingdom has served as my home from February 2018 to the present. I came here with nine other colleagues-turned-friends with the prospect of working as a registered nurse fresh from the euphoric experience of passing my IELTS and Computer-based Test. One last hurdle-- the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), a practical examination-- stood between me and my PIN. With one big leap of faith, I managed to pass the OSCE on my first take in April 2018. I've been grinding blood and bone as a Registered Nurse in a privately-owned nursing home in Hounslow since then.

All the countries that I've visited have overwhelmed me and led me to believe that the world is indeed big and beautiful and that it would be a crying shame to not explore even further. However, one country, in particular, has taught me to look back on my roots and never forget who I really am deep inside. The Philippines is another overly-beautiful country that has about 7,100 islands each filled with its unique charms and offerings-- and no matter where I go, I will always look back to its pristine beaches and swaying palm trees and remember how beautiful our world truly is.