Meet the Nomads: Monette Fernandez

Monette is one of those few brave Filipinas who dared to travel, to learn and to live her passion. Together with her travel buddy Ron, they travel the world one country at a time.

They've been to Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia and they're planning to explore Shanghai, Beijing, Borneo, South Korea, Nepal and Europe in the near future.

Get to know Monette more and visit her blog at www.fliptravels.com.

Here's Flip's short interview with Monette.

How did you discover your passion for travelling? 

"I've always wanted to travel but never had the chance to do it. When Ron and I started hanging out with each other and booked our first flight, the first out of country travel I was not with my family, I thought I can do this thing on a regular basis. In short, it was about two years ago."

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

"I think my travels, including travels with Ron, are quite uneventful except for a few drawbacks in running out of foreign currency, encountering opportunists and my favorite... cramming."

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

"The trip to Cambodia. it was an out of the body experience being immersed in a majestic culture."

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

"One, that I am a free soul, that I am capable of flight. and two, that anybody, if they just put their hearts into it, can travel."

Travelling is too tiring sometimes and a lot of our friends and relatives sometimes don’t understand the point of it aside from the fact that it’s a leisure activity. What keeps you going? What keeps you motivated? 

"I say true to this statement! my mom understands me but she always tells me to go slow on traveling and start saving. I always tell her that one cannot put out a passion. and that what I am today, a strong, independent, and understanding person, is a product of all my travel experience."

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

"Haha! This is a tough question. I'm a newbie and don't watch a lot of TV. Maybe the people who work for lonely planet or National Geographic. I like people who are boundless."

What could stop you from travelling? 

"I never thought of stopping yet. Settling down are two words I never thought of putting together as of the moment. I guess the only thing, or person, who can stop me from traveling is myself."

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

"I love religious art, so it's still Cambodia. the temples exude this kind of energy and culture and history. It's the toughest act to beat."

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

"Like what I said, I'm also a newbie. But something I learned from the travels I made, it's always to enjoy every second you are in it. Be child at heart so you experience everything for the first time and be spontaneous so you always follow your soul."

What do you think about yourself?  

"I think of myself as a brave person. As an Asian woman traveler, there are many things out there that are considered unsafe. but I hold no bars. I'm in a quest to see the world."

"I consider fliptravels as an outlet for Ron and I. I would like to think that we help a lot of Filipinos who want to travel but think that it's impossible given our economic state. We are corporate slaves who just want to escape the routinary life." - Monette