Meet the Nomads: Claire Raborar of Lakwatsera de Primera

Claire is one of the few bloggers that I’ve personally met. We met in Penang and she shared her insights about a variety of stuff about her adventures, family, personal life, dreams and future plans.

Claire is also one of the most popular bloggers back home in the Philippines, she has been featured in a tv show and in a variety of magazines. She frequently blogs about her trips in Southeast Asia and Australia. You’ll find a lot of information about places that most of us have not heard a thing or two yet. She like visiting unspoilt island paradises around Southeast Asia.

Get to know her more and visit her at .

Here’s my short interview with Claire:

How did you discover your passion for travelling?

“I was always curious and adventurous as a child. I guess the desire to experience and see new things has always been there. I remember joining my brothers traversing the rice paddies in my hometown to reach this river, which we weren’t allowed to visit. (Well, more like blackmailing them into letting me tag along or else “someone” would tell tales). I also climbed a hill alone that looked kind of formidable when I was still a kid. These were just some of my first steps as a kid into the world of travel and adventure but it was my first solo trips that really fuelled my desire to make traveling a regular part of my life.”

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

“Fortunately, I never had horrible travel experiences yet like getting detained, losing a passport, getting robbed, and getting sick while on the road, (knock on wood). The closest thing I can think of was running out of water while trekking on one of the most difficult mountains in the Philippines. It was a slow arduous descent while battling dehydration and fatigue.”

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

“This is probably the hardest question to answer. Looking back at all my adventures, it seems that the trips that involved meeting interesting people and seeing wild animals in their natural habitats were the ones that have left a lasting impression on me.
Seeing wild pygmy elephants in Borneo was probably the highlight of our three-week trip in Malaysia. Meeting this couple who had traversed Australia on foot for 9 months while we were driving in Queensland’s Outback was another one, as well as seeing humpback whales, cassowaries, platypuses and emus in the wild during our six-week road trip in Australia.

I also enjoyed all our spontaneous trips in the Philippines that involved exploring places we randomly picked on the map. These places were mostly not found on guidebooks and there was limited information available online, which made us more reliant on the goodness of the locals.”

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

“Travelling opens the mind, develops tolerance and lessens pride and prejudices.”

What keeps you going? What keeps you motivated?

“It’s just something I love to do and the best thing that I could think of to satisfy my curiosity and desire to experience new things. I see the world through the eyes of a child when I travel. Culture, arts, food, language, people and nature all fascinate me equally.”

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?

“Hmm, perhaps it would be Les Stroud of Survivor Man or Bear Grylls of Man vs. Wild. I think their survival skills and knowledge will come in handy when I explore the Amazon or Antarctica someday.”

Where’s your favourite place in this planet and why?

“I would say anywhere with beautiful nature as a backdrop, great food and a friendly community. I wouldn’t even mind spending the rest of my life farming on a tiny island or making cheese for a living if only I could have all of these in one place.”

What’s your best tip for newbie traveller?

“Just do it. Pack your bag and go wherever you desire to go. You might make mistakes along the way but then you learn and become a wiser traveller.

Researching about the place, asking other travellers, and having common sense with you at all times are all given things that will become natural eventually. Just go and take that first plunge.”

What’s the funniest and silliest thing you’ve ever done while travelling?

“It would probably be sunbathing on a nudist beach at Magnetic Island in Queensland, Australia. I have always been curious on why some people would do such a thing and have this misguided impression of the kind of folks who parade themselves around leaving nothing to the imagination.

Little did I know, they could also be just some average middle-aged women who wanted to get an even tan and a bunch of gray nomads who further want to wrinkle their skin. Bucket list checked and curiosity satisfied.”

What do you think about yourself?

“As a traveller, I would describe myself as someone with multiple personalities. I could bungee jump from the highest building, skydive, raft the wildest rapids or roam a desert for months without hesitation but I would scream at the sight of a single leech on a trail.

I enjoy staying in the most fancy resorts and hotels but at the same time have a blast living in a van for weeks or staying in an accommodation with a mattress and light-switch as the only “facilities”.

I guess I’m an easy-going, free-spirited and adventurous traveller who would try anything once.”

“I prefer not to label my blog (or myself) as being in any particular style. I travel in the way that will let me experience new places best. That could mean availing of tours, hitchhiking, couchsurfing, camping or checking-in to a fancy resort once in a while. My blog is simply a chronicle of my love and passion for travelling; a mixture of both personal narrative and practical information; about both popular destinations and off-the-beaten-track adventures. I guess it’s a blog with a multiple personalities :)” – Claire Raborar”

Editor’s Note: All pics are provided by Claire.

Next: Jeff Jung of Career Break Secrets. Previously: Talon Windwalker of 1 Dad 1 Kid. For more interviews with travel bloggers, check out the archives of Meet the Nomads.