Travel makes you an empowered woman. It expands you. It gives you the opportunity to go beyond the bounds of what you are used to. Travel empowers you to explore what is possible.
I had not fully embraced this truth until this backpacking trip – when I was confronted by my own fears, when I was forced to face my own vulnerabilities. No, it was not easy. But, experiencing #womensupportingwomen first-hand was empowering, liberating. Here’s my story.
What's next for us
Oh, here we go again. But, different.

How to be an empowered woman on the road lesson #1: Commit to just doing it.

How to be an empowered woman on the road lesson #2: Be open to possibilities.
That was a hitch. But, as I would, later on, learn – in travel, not everything will go according to plan. We have to learn to be flexible and go with the flow. I believe in this: Everything happens for a reason. We just have to be open to what the universe has in store for us.
So, what happened?
How to be an empowered woman on the road lesson #3: Be present, breathe.


And, we're off to Mountain Province

How to be an empowered woman on the road lesson #4: Stand up to creeps.
When we got to Bontoc, we decided to first have breakfast in a restaurant and to also see if we could charge our camera batteries and phones. So, we found the restaurant that Manong Francis recommended to us. We went up and took our seats on the balcony.
The skin that Tara saw was from the upper part of his stomach, down to below his pelvic bone. He was standing and had his back on us. Tara was ready to throw the bowl to his thing if the guy would make the wrong move of showing even just a bit of it to Tara.

How to be an empowered woman on the road lesson #5: Travel with empowered women.
I did not realize that this was not an isolated event until Tara shared with me her experiences in traveling around. It dawned on me that there are dangers of being a woman on the road. And, yes, our experience was just low-key manifestations of these dangers; some women have had it so much worse.
And, despite these horrific occurrences, I am so proud and very much in awe of the strength and power that women travelers show every day. They do know that there are dangers, that things could probably go wrong. But, they power through. They know that they can handle it. They know that they are capable.

On my end, I just genuinely hope that I would always be safe and that if and when I face dangers, I would be able to handle them with grace, strength, and empowerment as the women before me. I would be eternally grateful to these women, like my friend Tara, for giving me that extra push to go for my dreams, embrace what I am capable of.
Sending you love and good vibes,
Monica
P.S. Thank YOU! And, in whatever space you are in now, I hope that you got something from reading this post. Talk to you soon!
Updated on March 31, 2021. Originally published on January 2, 2013.