Speaking of childhood dreams, I believe that many people, like the editor, want to travel around the world! After all, the world is so big, and I want to see it (but I have no money!)
But a few years ago, a Filipino beauty began her journey around the world.
Kathrina Umandap comes from Laguna Province in the Philippines. When she was a child, her dream was to travel around the world.
Her first trip outside the Philippines was a month after graduating from college. She worked in Kuwait and Iraq for many years before she realized traveling was what her heart truly wanted. But eventually she gave up her 9-to-5 job and high salary to pursue her dream of traveling.
"I was making a lot of money when I was 24, but I also had a crisis and I didn't know what to do with life, so I decided to take a break," she said.
Catherina started traveling to various countries as a backpacker in 2014, and she plans to be the first Filipino to travel around the world with a Philippine passport.
Later, she met an English woman who became her wife.
The two of them jointly created the website Two Monkeys Travel group.com.
She said: âStarting in 2014, there were not many bloggers at that time, so I started a website to write my travel and adventure stories. Documenting how Filipinos like me can save money on travel and how to apply for visas, Questions like whether you will be rejected."
But the love between the two did not last long, and Katharina decided to continue traveling alone.
"There were a lot of challenges, for example, when I entered North Korea using a Philippine passport, I had to get a multiple-entry visa from China to take the train to Dandong and enter the North Korean border," she said.
According to visa index.com, the Philippine passport ranks 78th in the world and Filipinos can travel to 66 countries without a visa. This means Filipinos still need to apply for visas in 136 other countries.
Oman is the 172nd country Katharina has visited.
"My goal is to travel to 196 countries, but so far, I have been to 172 countries and regions."
As a professional travel blogger, his website and account also have sponsors.
âMy posts on Twitter, Facebook, instagram had 600,000 views and my travel website had 1 million views before COVID,â she said.
Katharinaâs story is a rich and varied experience due to the number of countries visited. She has been to many countries that are rumored to be very confusing, such as Venezuela, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and some African countries.
In 2019, Katharina bought a house in Montenegro, where she runs her own travel and immigration service.
Now that travel restrictions have been lifted, she hopes to start her journey again before the end of the year.
