Interview With Paul Cayanes of PauTravels
Paul, please give my readers a background about yourself. What made you want to start pautravels.blogspot.com?
I'm from Manila in the Philippines but right now I have just moved here in Singapore. My day job is as a software test engineer for an online gaming company. I have a daughter, 3 years of age. My wife and I both share the interest of travelling though I had travelled more extensively than she had. My travels abroad were mixed with personal trips and side trips from business trips. We also both agreed that we would try to have at 2 trips in a year, one domestic and one international, so that we get to see a new place.
I have started writing my PauTravels blog mainly to share with other people my experiences in each of the places that I have been to around the Philippines and abroad. Also, as I get older, I've wanted to have an online journal where I log these memories and pictures where I can have my kid read through to inspire her in seeing the world as well.
In all of your travels, in your opinion what country has the best food? and the worst food?
It’s hard to pin-point which is best and which is worst as each country has its own characteristic. In my opinion, other than Filipino food, American would be the top of my list. In each country that I’ve been I had favorites, like Fuddruckers burgers in the US, satay in Malaysia, adobo and sinigang in the Philippines.
When you first started traveling, did your family support your decision?
Yes, my family supported my interest in travelling. Though I’ve used my own finances in my travels.
Did you always have a love of travel or did you develop your passion for traveling as you got older?
Ever since I was a young boy, my family would have summer outings to different provinces around Manila. But when I’ve become more independent financially I was able to grow my passion into travelling. I’ve made up a list of places I want see. I’ve read and used the 1000 Places to See Before You Die book as one of my guides. Before I only plan for trips around the Philippines but with all other information in the internet, this has fuelled my passion and interest in seeing more places around the world.
What impact has pautravels.blogspot.com had on your life?
My PauTravels blog has become a website for me and my friends to review a place that I want to revisit or my friend’s target destination. It has become like a journal to store my memories. As I grow older, I know I will forget stuff and my blog has been able to store all those information. Another is, it has become an additional source of income through advertisements people request to put in my site.
What has been the least exciting destination you've traveled to?
I would say the least exciting destination that I have been to was Hong Kong Ocean Park. For me, that park was very tiresome to visit and it looked very much like a big carnival. I guess after seeing and enjoying Hong Kong Disneyland, it made our stay there least appealing.
What has been the most surprising destination you've been to? Meaning, you had a specific mindset about a certain destination but it was totally a different experience than you had imagined.
I would say it’s Bintan Island in Indonesia. In my mind, Bintan would be very much like any island in Indonesia, but when I got there, the place was well kept and very beautiful. The island looked like an extension of Singapore and people accept Singapore dollars. And so, instead of experiencing Indonesia, it’s basically experiencing Singapore in Indonesia. That’s why I intend to visit Indonesia soon.
If you had to decide which destination has been the most influential in your life, which destination would you chose?
I would say my trip to Hanoi, Vietnam was the most influential. It was my very first international trip and it definitely opened my eyes on another culture and had made me realize the things that I used to ignore. And during this trip, I’ve experienced my very first tour group with other tourists. This gave me the burning passion of travelling more and seeing more different cultures and places. As they say, you don’t learn everything inside the four corners of the classroom, but by experiencing things beyond your borders.
Paul, if you could travel with any celebrity for one week, who would you chose and why?
I think I would choose none. I think being with a celebrity would not allow me to actually experience the real culture or the normal things in a destination. Having a celebrity with me in a travel would possibly be spent in trying to evade some fans or paparazzi. Plus budget wise it would be hard to select cheap hotels or cheap restaurants.
What advice would you give to a newbie traveler?
For a new traveler, I’d recommend to always plan ahead. Airline tickets may be a lot cheaper when purchased at least 3 months away from you’re intended travel date. With this you will have a lot of time to arrange things in your work and review and gather enough information to your destination. Look for budget hotels instead of posh ones as you would only sleep in hotels and spend most of your time outside. Another is to always keep an open mind and enjoy.
In 10 years, do you see yourself still traveling or slowing down?
Yes I do see myself travelling in the next 10 years or more. I have always told myself that I will try to see the most places in the world that I can as long as my knees could carry me. I’ve still got 3 more continents to visit and a lot of countries that I still want to see and experience.
Thanks Paul for the interview. Visit his blog @ PauTravels
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