Thus ended my 20-year old cousin Valerie Cuyegkeng’s poignant application essay to pre-med. As expected and rightly so, Valerie got into all her top choices for biochemistry, and has been faced with the rewarding but no less challenging decision of choosing among scholarships (prestigious UCLA Regent Scholarship given to top 1.5% of applicants, among others) offered by UCLA, UC Berkeley, and NYU. No person deserves the fulfillment of a dream more than this "no-unkind-word-can-ever-be-said-about" cousin of mine who crazily, amazingly, has always opted to "do it the hard way." She is on her way to becoming a world-class doctor. And oh, what a doctor she will be. Look out, McDreamys and McSteamys of the world. No pun intended.

It’s not just Valerie. Even oceans away, I can picture her saying with a wise grin, "It’s all of us who are travelers, always in search of a better life." And truly, isn’t this what we Filipinos, the youth most especially, are all about? Traveling can take on many forms. In Val’s case it is a long, uphill struggle in a foreign country consisting of backbreaking schoolwork and sleepless nights interning with the bossiest of doctors who’ve made it to the top. For some, it may mean traveling for self-enrichment and personal growth, while at the same time striving to leave one’s mark in society. For many, it may simply mean the daily travel to work, the challenge against a monotonous existence while seeking to provide as well as one can for his or her loved ones.

Yes, we are all travelers. Some dream of travels of a simpler, peaceful nature. Travels close to home, close to family. Some seek adventure, and envision unchartered waters and distant lands. Physically, mentally and spiritually, we seek to reach paths yet untrodden and roads where others have gone before us – history’s glories and successes. And for every person who leaves, there are always those who are left behind. Spouses, children, parents – even countries. The unsung heroes who inspire light but hide beneath the shadows.

Such pattern of traveling, of coming and going, is described in the lovely novel, The Time Traveler’s Wife. Of waiting: "I wait for him. Each moment that I wait feels like a year, an eternity. Each moment is as slow and transparent as glass. Through each moment I can see infinite moments lined up, waiting." Of leaving: "I hate to be where she is not, when she is not. And yet, I am always going, and she cannot follow."

As repeated throughout history, it’s the reunions and welcome-homes that are cause for celebration. Goodbyes are always hard. For my cousin Valerie who gave her family so much joy and pride with her achievements, there’s no avoiding the sorrow her mom will no doubt feel when parting ways with her-child-now-a-woman, at the airport send-off.

When I was in Greece late last year, a visitor described her travel afterthoughts, echoing our sentiments. Traveling really is funny. I used to think it was the plane and the actual flying that scared me the most, but it’s not. It’s like I said before I left: it can truly be your heart, being pulled in two completely different directions. It can make you sick - trying to deal with the loss of leaving and the exuberant joy of returning home to a family/place you've missed so dearly. Since I left I’ve been longing to see all those familiar faces and recapture them securely in my mind - so I’ll never forget. But, the mind is a funny thing - and pictures can become fuzzy - the things that remain crystal clear are the sounds of laughter and music, the smell of the food and the air, the feeling of being carefree; accepted; playful; loved; curious. All good things. Many things seemed very childlike within you all when I was there - in the innocent way that a child is introduced to something new and is gleeful to discover all the things that it is capable of.

Reading this is heartbreaking, making me miss my last-year’s home all over again. But if it’s all good things that the traveling has bequeathed the mind, then I say the entire journey’s been worth it.

We are all travelers, always in search of a better life. But this whole business of traveling is not easy. For as it is with all things relating to change, it is easier to keep the status quo, go with the flow, rather than risk the unknown. And after all, what exactly constitutes proper travel? Does the prospect of career glory trump the prospect of homesickness and leaving the old and familiar behind? Does traveling entail leaving one’s own country – she who has sacrificed so much for us – behind in search for personal gratification?

For the young and fortunate, who have so many options laid out in front of them, the choice is hard but underlying the decision process is a sense of gratification for being blessed with the freedom of choosing. As to which path one eventually takes, whether the road less traveled or not, as a dear friend and mentor Dr. Biboy Calanog once told me, so it applies to all of you.

"I am sure you will make a good decision – whether it is "right" or not is always in retrospect, because you will often only be able to determine whether you made the "right" choice looking back at all the other things that happened afterwards. But those things that happened after you make your choice is also a function of whether you make the most of the opportunities afforded to you by the path you chose. So it’s still very much up to you, the kind of attitude and energy you bring to living each hour of your life, and how you relate to the people you live and work with. Somehow I can’t help but believe you’re on the right side of the curve when it comes to having the right attitude about life."

Once again, congratulations to Valerie, my cousin the traveler.

- Rainer Maria Rilke