Hi, I’m Carmelito, born in February 1994, originally from Germany and on the road since August 2015.
I do not want this to be just another travel blog. Over the course of the years, I have started to develop my own style of travelling or nomading, which I like to call Slow Nomading. In a nutshell, this means that I like to stay in a place for a more extended period and try to connect with the locals and their culture, most notably by learning their language and hanging out where they hang out. I feel like you need a minimum of three months to accomplish this, preferably even longer.
How has this style of travel started for me? I wasn’t a massive traveller until 2015 when I decided that it was time to visit my mother’s homeland for the first time, the Philippines. Naturally, because I was visiting my family in rural areas of the Southern island Mindanao, I came to places that rarely saw any foreign visitors. I was staying with local friends and family and was fascinated by the many languages and dialects of the Philippines and its turbulent history. Volunteering for the PREDA foundation and seeing the reality of street children and sex trafficking in the Philippines added further deep and lasting impressions.
This was how I discovered travelling for myself, and I knew I would continue in this style: Staying somewhere longer, trying to make connections and gaining an understanding that goes beyond the superficial. I have since been blessed to have had extended stays in Thailand, India, China and Mexico, learning fluent Spanish and Chinese and exploring many corners of these vast countries. I have also trained Muay Thai in Thailand for three months, boxing in different gyms throughout Mexico and Tennis in Serbia, home of one of my great heroes Novak “Nole” Djokovic.
What’s next? As I have already learnt many of the more commonly known languages, my next goal is to learn a Slavic language as well as Turkish. Both of these places have shown me their best side from 2020-2022, and I would like to show some respect and become at least conversational in their languages.
I firmly believe that by taking it slowly and trying to understand a place and its culture, you enhance your experience and give something back to the locals, most of which are already very acquainted with tourism. You will soon be able to take selfies in the so-called Metaverse, there are probably a bunch of international restaurants in your hometown, and you might even have a beach nearby. There is a way to make magnificent moments that you will not forget. That is what I’m about.