Meet the Nomads: Marky Go

Marky, author of Nomadic Experiences was bitten deeply by the travel bug when he had a back to back trips in Malaysia and Singapore. Afterwards, he started travelling around the Philippines to enjoy the beauty of his homeland.

Marky is also a talented photographer. Get to know him more, visit his blog at Nomadic Experiences.

Here’s Flip’s short interview with Marky.

How did you discover your passion for travelling?

“When I joined the UST Mountaineering Club during my freshman year at UST. I was exposed to the great outdoors. It was a time I will never forget in my life, seeing the world below me, the clouds just rummaging at my eye level. It was a different feeling.”

What’s the most horrible experience that you’ve had on the road?

“Fortunately, none yet that I’d consider bad. However not all things I’ve experienced were good as well, its just I treat everything as part of the experience. The broken bus tire, being stranded on a beach head while there’s a strong rain and my tent isn’t waterproof. Those sort of thing that may look “horrible” to others, for me, it adds up to the experience being memorable.”

What’s the most outstanding travel experience that you’ve ever had?

“My birthday trip to CDO with probably the closest friends I had. We went river rafting at CDO river, zip line in Bukidnon, ate a lot of food then capped it off with a joyous trip to Camiguin Island. The other experience I had comes in very close, as I can’t think of any travel experience I had that i cannot describe as outstanding.”

What’s the biggest realization that you’ve got out of travelling?

“In economical sense, I grew up thinking that traveling is only for the rich people. With the advent of budget airlines, eco-tourism I’ve realized that traveling is cheap as long as you know your way and it’s also an ideal undertaking to bring yourself closer to nature- although I know that plane travel contributes to global warming. It’s a challenge to come up with solutions to offset all our carbon footprint.”

What keeps you going? What keeps you motivated?

“To be able to someday write a whole book detailing my experiences traveling. To others they see traveling as only an opportunity to shop and eat new delicacies, to me its something more, we only see the kinds of people and way of living we tend to ignore at home only when we’re on the road. And that gives me additional wisdom as I mature.”

This is a silly and hypothetical one. If you would be given a chance to travel with a popular person or a celebrity, who would it be and why?

“Jack Kerouac if he were still alive, I’d like to see how he inject me as a character on one of his novels which was usually about his travel experience.”

What could stop you from travelling?

“Being imprisoned for a crime I did not commit haha. Probably nothing can stop me from traveling.”

Among the places that you’ve been to, which one fascinated you the most?

“Coron, Palawan – I feel like I can do more exploration in that place, given the limited time I had when I went there (5 whole days). – Also, Cebu and Bohol for its historical richness, I’ve yet to explore the churches, the historical fort ruins and surrounding islands. Corregidor for obvious reasons, walking through the dark Malinta tunnel gave me goosebumps knowing how hard and brave Filipino WWII vets fought it out in defending our country.”

What’s the best travel advice that you could give for a novice traveler like me?

“Most of the time, the best place are found off the beaten path. Wander and explore. Don’t spend too much time sleeping when you’re in a different place.”

What do you think about yourself?

“I guess, my reason for traveling is also to get to know more about myself. So, the more I travel the more I can answer you.”

“Just plain travel narratives and images of my travel experiences.” – Marky

Next: Gaye Emami of Pinay Travel Junkie. Previously: David Briggs. For more interviews with travel bloggers, check out the archives of Meet the Nomads.