The Apple and the Tree.

Any sudden change almost always encounter a certain amount of resistance. When I got bitten by a severe strain of the travel bug almost two years ago, that resistance came in the form of my mother. She would demand one week advance notice of any upcoming trips, and would hound me with texts and calls if I didn't come home on the agreed time. And although I would always spend my money and had never bother asking them for help with my 'vice', I would die of guilt with every trip. I would restraint myself with only a trip a month or once in a couple of months. And by the end of the trip, I would empty out my travel budget --- buying them all the pasalubong I could possibly carry.

Strict ang parents ko... dati.

Of course, with time, things got easier. Lately, I can get away with 'notifying' her a friday-weekender the night before the trip itself. I guess she figured, I'm old enough to make my own choices, I earn my own keep and it was way better than blowing my money on drugs or what-have-you. Now, I can travel as if I was running out of time, and would grab any invitation to a new place, to the next adventure. Just as long as she gets a text of my safe arrival and a new ref magnet after every trip, she willingly lets me scratch that travel bug itch.

I understand the initial defiance on Mama's part. I wasn't exactly the healthiest kid growing up. I was the gangly asthmatic kid who spent an obscene amount of my school life in the clinic getting high on the nebulizer. I think for a while I held the record of most number of absences in a given school year. Obviously, I learned to manage my health better now. I'm aware of my limits, and although I keep pushing it, the inhaler is still my BFF. From time to time, I would get asked what has gotten into me, why the sudden urge to travel non-stop. The answer was always "Just because I can.". This morning, an alternative answer came to me.

On the breakfast table...

Me: Grabe, Ma. Tinitingnan namin sa mapa. Nasa Pacific Ocean na pala kami. Daanan nga daw ng bagyo dun. Bawal pumunta pag masama panahon kasi malakas alon.
Mama: Ikaw, kung san san ka nakakarating.

Pa sits on the chair next to mine...

Pa: Ano yun? Ano yun?
Me: Kinukuwento ko kay Mama kung san kami napunta nung weekend.
Pa: Saan ba?
Me: Sa Calaguas. Sa may Daet.
Pa: Aah, Calaguas Island. Nakarating na ako dun.
Ma: Huh? Kailan?
Pa: Nung binata ako. Nagtripping kami.
Me: Ayun naman pala! Sabi ko na, may pinagmanahan talaga ang pagiging gala ko.

So maybe, it wasn't the travel bug at all. It had to be hereditary. It's the travel gene.

Hah! Excuses! :P