Iaccidentally travelled the world. That's the most honest way to say it. There was no grand plan. No savings fund. No itinerary. Just heartbreak, little savings, and a one-way ticket to Japan.
This is the origin story nobody asked for ~ but maybe someone out there needs to hear.
01It Started With Heartbreak
Growing up in the Philippines, we always thought travelling was a luxury. My family never travelled unless our bosses told us to. Our minimum wage was ten dollars a day ~ not per hour, per day. I was lucky to be earning slightly above that as a software engineer.
And then heartbreak happened. I felt lost. Useless. I thought travel would be my escape. Something to fill the space that had opened up inside me.
I had very little savings left in my account. And I made a choice.
Not doing something about my life was more painful than embracing the unknown. So I booked a one-way ticket. Japan, with the little I had. A $120 flight from the Philippines. Yes ~ it's possible, if you know where to find them.
And then I just ~ went from there.
“Not doing something about my life was more painful than embracing the unknown.”
02The Weight of a Philippine Passport
Here's what nobody tells you about travelling with a Philippine passport: getting a visa is one thing. Proving to a border officer that you deserve to be there? That's another.
The moment they see I'm from the Philippines, I become a flight risk. Some assumed the worst about why I was travelling alone. Assumptions I won't even dignify by repeating here.
Not because of anything I did. Just because of where I was born. And what I looked like.
That's the weight we carry every time we cross a border.
Every fear I had before I left. Check the ones you recognise.
03The Hustle & the Visa Game
I jumped from one hostel to another. Hunting the cheapest deals. Finding a $267 flight to America. Figuring out what I could negotiate, what I could trade, what value I could offer in exchange for a place to stay or work.
Slowly, I stopped surviving. I started building. And reality adjusted to me.
But the visa game ~ that's a whole different level. When you have a weak passport, you don't just apply for visas. You work your way up. Start with cheaper countries. Then nearby ones that will most likely say yes. Then slowly ~ the bigger leagues. US. Canada. UK. European Union.
Each one: 30 to 60 days of waiting. Per country. In foreign embassies. Not knowing if they'd say yes or no.
But that waiting gave me something. Time to actually know each country ~ not as a tourist, but as someone who tried to live like a local.
What leaving actually looked like ~ not the highlight reel.
Before
Software engineer, earning above minimum wage
After
Have businesses now, earning multiple income streams
Before
9-5 job
After
Post content for 15 mins and I'm done for the day
Before
Seen as a flight risk at every border
After
Spanish resident with a path to EU citizenship
Before
30–60 days waiting per visa, one at a time
After
One residency. No more begging.
Before
Lost my job mid-visa application
After
Didn't go home. Kept going.
04The Decision That Changed Everything
After every rejection. Every queue. Every prayer.
I made a decision: I am not going to keep playing this game one visa at a time. I am going to upgrade my passport permanently. Because for us, it's 40 extra steps. 40 extra layers of scrutiny. And I was done.
Then I lost my job. Mid-visa application. In a foreign country.
Most people would have gone home. I didn't.
I kept researching. Kept strategising. Months of it ~ no lawyer, no agency. Just me and everything I'd learned.
Spain Digital Nomad Visa. Approved. 🇪🇸
This wasn't just about me.
There are millions of people from the Global South who have the skills, the talent, the drive ~ but nobody built the roadmap for them.
That's what I'm building here. Not just a life. A blueprint. So the next person doesn't have to figure it out alone.
From Madrid ~ Vámonos. ~ Abie
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