The Art of Changemaking

*This forms PART 2 of my summary of my guesting at DJ Vince Golangco’s show on Mellow 94.7 (Sunday, June 6, 2010.)

In the June 6 edition of the radio segment “Edumacate Me”, DJ Vince Golangco and I talked about freelance writing and also touched on travel writing. While I don’t claim to be a travel writing expert, I have to admit: I’ve been bitten by the travel bug, and I don’t want to be cured.

Photo by NTZ

But let me be the first to admit: I have always taken traveling for granted. I grew up in a family of airliners, and I had always seen travel as one of those requisite perks of life that were more usually inconvenient and unwanted than coveted and exciting. Although I came to enjoy the trips that my mom brought us to when my siblings and I were growing up, I never particularly looked forward to taking a road trip or boarding a plane. Until now I find myself averse to the thought of having to make year-long plans for one-week holidays.

All that changed when I discovered the world of travel writing, and when I realized how enriching, fulfilling, and THRILLING it could be to travel the world–sometimes for FREE–and then have the enviable job of immortalizing those experiences on print.

It all started with music

Paul Zialcita in the Rainforest World Music Festival 2008 | Photo by Suchens SK

My first assignment as a foreign journalist came when I  covered the 2008 Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak, Malaysia. My then-boyfriend, Paul, (who is now my husband!) was performing at the festival with his band, and it turned out that applications were also open for foreign media to cover the event.

By then, I already had been covering the arts & culture beat for an upscale lifestyle magazine, so I pitched the story to my editor–who liked the Filipino angle taken in an international context. I sent in an application to the Festival’s organizers, passed the screening process, and later on found myself on an all-expenses-paid trip as one of 400 foreign journalists in that event. That marked my entry into covering international stories and began my relationship with my Malaysia media family.

Tip #1: Use your passions to fuel your adventure!

Advocacy helps, too

Photo by NTZ

My next big break came through the 2009 Milan Homeless World Cup, an international sporting event that brought together dignitaries, sporting celebrities, and teams of homeless footballers from around the world. Paul was once again invited to perform at that event (yes, it helps to be married to a one-of-a-kind performance artist!), and I made the most of the event by volunteering for the media corps and adding my social networking skills to the event’s media operations. We had to find a sponsor to fund our trip to Milan, but the rewarding part of it was meeting other journalists and volunteers from around the world… and witnessing the best of humanity shine through at a changemaking (and life-changing!) sporting event.

Another unforgettable moment: The Homeless World Cup coincided with the date that Paul and I had planned to get married (9/9/9) so we also decided to “marry our advocacy” by getting married in civil ceremonies while in the midst of our volunteer work in Milan.

Tip #2:Never underestimate the power of changemaking. It could end up changing YOU and YOUR life.

The power of a great essay

Here’s another (open) secret: I’m a nerd, and I love the idea of applying and competing for scholarships. I spend weekend mornings scouring the Web for competitive applications to which I can apply my passion for advocacy work, politics, cultural discourse, journalism and anything else that might be relevant to international decision-makers. I then go through application after application, filling out forms and composing gut-wrenching essays on the state of freedom of speech in the developing world, the challenges of journalism amid war, the role of culture and the arts in an increasingly complex world, and other non-weekend, non-lifestyle topics.

It must be paying off because I will soon be off to Prague, Czech Republic, for a one-week journalism scholarship program, where I will have the opportunity to hone my craft, network with other budding journalists from around the world, and have more ammunition and more fodder for good, thoughtful writing.

The good news for YOU is that there are dozens–if not hundreds–of these competitions going on each year. As long as you’re open to the idea of competing for a rewarding intellectual adventure, then you could be one step closer toward discovering the world almost for free.

Tip #3: Don’t be afraid to put your brains to the test. Compete for fellowships and short-term (if not full-blown) scholarship programs, and make the most of your international experience by soaking up the knowledge and networking that will be available to you. Use writing as a way to document your adventures, release your tension from too much studying, and earn some extra cash on the side.

Go back to basics

Of course, traveling doesn’t just mean going outside one’s own country. The Philippines is blessed with an abundance of natural and human resources that make it a paradise for local and foreign travelers alike. You don’t even have to hop on a plane or take a long road trip just to discover gems from our very own history and culture.

With this in mind, we at Writer’s Block Philippines decided to develop a writing tour that will give Filipinos and foreigners alike a taste of the travel writing lifestyle–right in our own backyard. On June 19, we will be joining the irreverent and irrepressible Carlos Celdran for a walking tour of Intramuros, and then we’ll frame that “mini-travel” experience with writing and photography lectures that will encourage participants to explore, shoot, discover, and then WRITE.

If you’re free on the 19th, do join us for the tour and see what else you will discover about your country (and, perhaps, yourself) as you walk the cobblestone streets and admire the stone walls that have held centuries worth of secrets. Use the experience as your stepping stone to more travel adventures and feed your passion for discovery because, indeed, INSPIRATION IS EVERYWHERE.  You just need to open your eyes, free the questions in your mind, take your feet out for a walk, and use your fingers as your passport to a world of exciting discoveries… and truly unforgettable travel stories.

*Can you guess what Tip#4 is?