​My Greatest Travel Achievement as Filipino Solo Backpacker

Traveling Alone on Budget DIY Itinerary as Philippine passport holder only (2010-2024)

How Challenging to have a Philippine Passport as Pinoy Solo Backpacker

Pinoy Backpacker's shared Experience with Immigration Officers

Visa on Arrival / E-Visa Countries for Philippine Passport Holders

"Live a life to inspire, live a life with a sense of accomplishment, live a life you will remember" - Mang Andoy

​Despite the weakness of the Philippine passport (having only less than 70 countries that provide free visa/visa on arrival privilege) and challenging visa application, immigration, profiling and interrogation all throughout the journey (especially in NAIA Terminals), I managed to accomplish the following successfully and beyond what I anticipated. #livealifeyouwillremember

01. 2013 - First Europe get-away (23 Days Solo Autumn Experience in Central Europe, 9 countries visited) then to the Promised Land of Israel (including Bethlehem of Palestine) coming from the Arab country in the Middle East.

02. 2014 - Hopping to three continents (Asia, Europe and Africa) with hiking to Mt. Kilimanjaro (Africa's highest mountain and one of the 7 Summits) and Self-guided Hike to Mt. Fuji (Japan's highest mountain). 

03. 2015 - Winter Trans-Mongolia Train Ride from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing, experienced the coldest capital city of the World at around -25'C.

04. 2015 - Second Europe get-away (23 Days Solo Summer Adventures in Central, Southern and Northern Europe, 14 countries visited) where I completely visited all the 8 countries of Central Europe.

05. 2015 - Entered and exited Winter Iran via Persian Gulf Ferry cruise as my last trip from working in Kuwait

​My Greatest Travel Achievement as Filipino Solo Backpacker

Continent: Grandeur of South America (all 12 Countries visited)

exploring the world's best tourist spots on a Filipino-style budget backpacking

To achieve greatness, one must first dream of it. - Simon Bolivar, "George Washington" of Latin America.

"Be Brave, Take Risks. Nothing can substitute Experience." - Paulo Coelho

My First Continent with Countries All Visited as a Budget DIY Pinoy Solo Backpacker - Philippine Passport Holder only.

The Quest to visit all 12 Countries of South America is now completed (2018-2024).

My journey to this Beautiful Continent is now signing off. Timog Amerika, pinapalaya na kita.

Muchos Gracias Sur America. #livealifeyouwillremember #southamerica

#brazil #argentina #uruguay #chile #colombia #bolivia #paraguay #peru #ecuador #guyana #suriname #venezuela #philippines #pinoy #travel #backpacker #pilipinas #spanish #latinamerica

Philippine passport holders are VISA FEE WAIVED - VISA ON ARRIVAL:

Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Guyana, Suriname

Philippine passport holders need to APPLY BEFORE ARRIVAL:

Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Ecuador, Venezuela

My Remarks based on my experience traveling to these awesome 12 countries;

I wanna go back - Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela. Chile

Enough of one-time visit - Guyana, Suriname, Paraguay, Uruguay

Hardest visa to apply - Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile

Easy public transport - mostly I think (Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Argentina)

Hardest public transport - Suriname, Guyana

Best food - All Spanish-speaking countries (I think they offer the same sets of menus, cheaper also)

Did I study their language before traveling - NO, just offline Google translate and I learned Spanish Numbers through Bingo game when I was young. 

Scariest Experience - Venezuela Police checkpoint during 17-hour overnight bus trip due to language barrier, lost around $130 for robbery/bribery plus whole body frisking.

Memorable Adventure - traveled to most of these countries during the pandemic for 7 months (PCR tests, travel requirements, cross-border restriction, Philippine passport weakness, flight availability, lockdown, tourist landmark closure, limited public transport, etc).

Any Surprising Observation - Venezuela has better public transportation (Caracas has 7 lines of metro subway and 2 carousel bus lines) than the Philippines and other South American countries. The huge inflation reported by Mainstream Media is not even felt as most of the expenses I made (transportation, food, hotel, basic goods) are the same comparable to other South American countries. Yes, it's safe as a Solo Backpacker like traveling to other South American countries. 

Other remarks - If flying from MNL, flights are very expensive and usually transit to US airports which requires a US visitor visa.

Interesting Facts about the Continent of South America;

1. There are 12 countries in South America. These are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

2. The Andes Mountains is the longest mountain range in the world. It stretches for 4,400 miles along the west coast of South America, from Chile to Venezuela. It passes through Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

3. The Amazon Forest is the largest natural rainforest forest in the world. At 2.7 million square miles, it covers 40% of South America. Its square area can fit about 40 USAs.

4. The Amazon River has the largest water volume of any river in the world. In fact, it has more water than the next seven largest rivers combined.

5. South America was named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci.

Continent: Grandeur of South America  (all 12 Countries visited)

COUNTRIES OF SOUTH AMERICAN CONTINENT(all visited)
1	Argentina	4	Chile	7	Guyana	9	Peru	11	Uruguay
2	Bolivia	5	Colombia	8	Paraguay	10	Suriname	12	Venezuela
3	Brazil	6	Ecuador

Continent: Beauty of North America (visited 18 of 23 Countries)

exploring the world's best tourist spots on a Filipino-style budget backpacking

5 Countries remaining (Antigua, Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Saint Kitts) to complete the 23 countries of North America, traveled as Philippine Passport Holder only Solo Backpacker #livealifeyouwillremember #america #northamerica

Interesting Facts about the Continent of North America;

1. North America is the third largest continent in world, ranking just below Asia and Africa (which are the first and second largest continents, respectively).

2. The word “America” comes from the name of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci. He is the first person to have realized that the West Indies and Brazil are actually not connected to Asia but are part of another separate landmass of their own.

3. The name “America” used to refer to only South America alone. However, when the land mass of present North America were added to maps, most mapmakers opted to retain the original name.

4. North America is contained entirely within the Northern and Western Hemispheres.

5. North and South America are usually considered as subcontinents, while America is the larger continent of which these two are part of.

6. North America is bordered by three of the world’s largest oceans, namely the Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific.

Sightseeing the Continents; the beauty of North America

COUNTRIES OF NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT (18 of 23 = 78%)
1	Antigua&Barbuda	6	Costa Rica	11	Grenada	16	Mexico	21	Saint Vincent
2	Bahamas	7	Cuba	12	Guatemala	17	Nicaragua	22	Trinidad&Tobago
3	Barbados	8	Dominica	13	Haiti	18	Panama	23	United States
4	Belize	9	Dominican Rep	14	Honduras	19	Saint Kitts
5	Canada	10	El Salvador	15	Jamaica	20	Saint Lucia

Completed the Seven Continents of the World

Pinoy Solo Backpacker journey to complete sightseeing the Earth's Seven Continents
2010 to 2019 #lakbaySevenContinents

Completed My Personal Choice of Seven Natural Wonders of the Philippines

Sightseeing the Seven Natural Wonders of the World

Completed the Seven New Wonders (Man-Made) of the World
#lakbay100 Quest Completed (2010-June to 2019-July)

Geologically, the continents largely correspond to areas of continental crust that are found on the continental plates. A continent is defined as a large unbroken land mass completely surrounded by water. The seven continents are North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica. The island groups in the Pacific are often called Oceania, scientists consider them the remains of a continent.

Lakbay Seven Continents of the World beyond #lakbay100

Lakbay Seven Continents of the World beyond #lakbay100

Continent: Marvels of Europe (visited 43 of 44 Countries)

exploring the world's best tourist spots on a Filipino style budget backpacking

"The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries." - James Madison

1 Country remaining (Belarus) to complete the 44 countries of Europe, traveled as Philippine Passport Holder only Solo Backpacker #livealifeyouwillremember #europe

Interesting Facts about the Continent of Europe;
1. Europe is named after the Phoenician princess Europa of Greek myth who was seduced by Zeus disguised as a bull.
2. The whole Europe is only 2 % larger in area than Canada. Europe is the world’s second-smallest continent.
3. Europe is home to both the smallest country in the world, Vatican City State and the largest, Russia.
4. Many of the greatest empires in history were based in Europe. The British Empire was at one time the largest empire in the world.

Sightseeing the Continents; the Marvels of Europe

COUNTRIES OF EUROPEAN CONTINENT (43 of 44 = 97.73%)
CENTRAL		EASTERN		NORTHERN		SOUTHERN		WESTERN
1	Austria	10	Belarus	14	Denmark	24	Albania	37	Andorra
2	Czechia	11	Moldova	15	Estonia	25	Bosnia/Herzeg.	38	Belgium
3	Germany	12	Russia	16	Finland	26	Bulgaria	39	France
4	Hungary	13	Ukraine	17	Iceland	27	Croatia	40	Luxembourg
5	Liechtenstein			18	Ireland	28	Cyprus	41	Monaco
6	Poland			19	Latvia	29	Greece	42	Netherlands
7	Slovenia			20	Lithuania	30	Italy	43	Portugal
8	Slovakia			21	Norway	31	Malta	44	Spain
9	Switzerland			22	Sweden	32	Montenegro
				23	United Kingdom	33	N. Macedonia
						34	Romania
						35	Serbia
						36	San Marino
						XX	XXXXXXX

Continent: Charms of Asia (visited 43 of 46 Countries)

exploring the world's best tourist spots on a Filipino-style budget backpacking

"Coming from an Asian culture, I was always taught to respect my elders, to be a better listener than a talker." - Lisa Ling

3 Countries remaining (Iraq, Syria, Yemen) to complete the 46 countries of Asia, traveled as Philippine Passport Holder only Solo Backpacker #livealifeyouwillremember #asia

Interesting Facts about the Continent of Asia;
1. Asia covers a total land area of 44,579,000 sq. km, the largest continent in the world.
2. Asia has the highest population density in the world where cities are densely populated. 
3. Asia has given birth to some of the oldest human civilizations.
4. Nine out of ten of the world’s tallest buildings are in Asia.
5. Asia houses both the highest (Mount Everest, 8,848m) and the lowest (Dead Sea, -395m) points on Earth.

Sightseeing the Continents; the Charms of Asia

COUNTRIES OF ASIAN CONTINENT (43 of 46 = 93.48%)
CENTRAL		EASTERN		SOUTHEASTERN		SOUTHERN		WESTERN
1	Kazakhstan	6	China	11	Brunei	22	Afghanistan	30	Armenia
2	Kyrgyzstan	7	Japan	12	Cambodia	23	Bangladesh	31	Azerbaijan
3	Tajikistan	8	North Korea	13	Timor Leste	24	Bhutan	32	Bahrain
4	Turkmenistan	9	South Korea	14	Indonesia	25	India	33	Georgia
5	Uzbekistan	10	Mongolia	15	Laos	26	Maldives	34	Iran
				16	Malaysia	27	Nepal	35	Iraq
				17	Myanmar	28	Pakistan	36	Israel
				18	Philippines	29	Sri Lanka	37	Jordan
				19	Singapore			38	Kuwait
				20	Thailand			39	Lebanon
				21	Vietnam			40	Oman
								XX	Palestine
								41	Qatar
								42	Saudi Arabia
								43	Syria
								44	Turkey
								45	UAE
								46	Yemen

Continent: Wonders of Africa (visited 22 of 54 Countries)

exploring the world's best tourist spots on a Filipino style budget backpacking

"For Africa to me... is more than a glamorous fact. It is a historical truth. No man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he arrived at his present place." - Maya Angelou

Interesting Facts about the Continent of Africa;
1. Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most-populous continent. Africa's population is the youngest among all the continents; 50% of Africans are 19 years old or younger.
2. Africa is the hottest continent on earth.
3. Africa is home to the worlds biggest animals. The worlds largest land animal is African elephant. The worlds tallest animal is the giraffe. The world's fastest land animal is the cheetah. Worlds largest reptile, the Nile crocodile. The gorilla, which can be found in the continents jungles, is the worlds largest primate.
4. The longest river in the world, the Nile (4,132 miles), is located in Africa. Africa has the world's largest desert, the Sahara, which is almost the size of the United States. 

Sightseeing the Continents; the Wonders of Africa

COUNTRIES OF AFRICAN CONTINENT (22 of 54 = 40.74%)
CENTRAL		EASTERN		NORTHERN		SOUTHERN		WESTERN
1	Angola	10	Burundi	28	Algeria	34	Botswana	39	Benin
2	Cameroon	11	Comoros	29	Egypt	35	Eswatini	40	Burkina Faso
3	Cntrl Afric Rep	12	Djibouti	30	Libya	36	Lesotho	41	Cape Verde
4	Chad	13	Eritrea	31	Morocco	37	Namibia	42	Cote D'Ivoire
5	D.R. of Congo	14	Ethiopia	32	Sudan	38	South Africa	43	Gambia
6	Rep of Congo	15	Kenya	33	Tunisia			44	Ghana
7	Equa. Guinea	16	Madagascar					45	Guinea
8	Gabon	17	Malawi					46	Guinea-Bissau
9	Sao Tome Prin.	18	Mauritius					47	Liberia
		19	Mozambique					48	Mali
		20	Rwanda					49	Mauritania
		21	Seychelles					50	Niger
		22	Somalia					51	Nigeria
		23	South Sudan					52	Senegal
		24	Tanzania					53	Sierra Leone
		25	Uganda					54	Togo
		26	Zambia
		27	Zimbabwe