The beautiful skies of Paris, the Philippines, London, Spain and plenty more have been seen by senior Csarene Laguardia and her mother over the years. Her pictures of her recent travels on Facebook and Instagram are liked by hundreds of students on their phones sitting at home.
“My mom and I travel to different continents every year because we do everything that we love together. As best friends we love to experience new cultures, try new things, and go to different places. We love an adventure. It also gives my mom more valuable time to really get to know me as a person. Yes, she’s my mom so she knows everything about me but I’m talking about the little things like my favorite songs, colors, and all that. It also gives me more time to get to know my mom more as a person,” Laguardia says.
Since her sophomore year, Laguardia’s mother has planned and payed for the trips that take up most of her daughters summer and some of her school time. She’s learned a thing or two over the years from her mother and her travels.
“My mom wanted me to be more well traveled because it would open my eyes to a lot of things. She wanted me to experience new things in life that not a lot of kids get to do at my age. She tells me that people learn from their own experiences and traveling is just one of them. It teaches someone how to be responsible of their self when they’re somewhere else and not within the comfort of their means; it teachers someone to adapt to new cultures and interact with people,”
Their mother daughter bonding time isn’t the only thing Laguardia gets out of her travels. Laguardia is constantly taking part in new cultures and experiencing new things and appreciating her mother.
“When we travel it really shocks me how open minded people are with other cultures and people. That really makes me happy because it shows me how accepting everyone is of other people. The world is very big. When we travel, I’m still shocked at the fact that there’s so much people in the world, like I could be awake but in the back of my mind I would still have that thought that everyone on the other side is sleeping,” Laguardia goes on.
Laguardia’s optimism is infectious as she contemplates what she’s really learned from three years of constant flying from country to country.
“If the world is this big that gives us people more chances and opportunities to make the world a better place or make our community that we live in a better place to raise our kids in. The world gives us endless chances to make things better. However, that’s not what some are doing and what they should remember.”
Laguardia isn’t just visiting countries, though, she’ll be staying in the Philippines for college, too.
“I’m going away for college because I was born in the Philippines but when we migrated here I felt like my sense of home had disappeared so I wanted to study somewhere where I was comfortable in. I wanted to study somewhere abroad because I also love to travel and it gives me more time to find myself as an individual. I also wanted to broaden my circle of friendship and family to a different part of the world.”
