33 countries under her teeny crocheted belt.

Some people think that, for her age, it ain’t nothing but a number.

Sure, she can’t remember all the country names (and never correctly pronounced most of them). She can’t remember the tens of airports she passed through (though the memory lingers briefly for she’s got a photographic memory for carpet patterns — seriously, she’s got an unhealthy obsession with carpets). She can’t remember the people she’s crossed paths with, played with, laughed with, cried with.

But she’s aware that foreign lands exist. That each country bears a different flag (some of which are part of her patch collection). That other people speak a different language and may have a different food diet. And that a person’s physical characteristics could define his/her race (she pointed out how East Africa’s got dark brown people, and how Koreans got epicanthic folds — no, she doesn’t know that term).

33. Maybe it’s just a number. For now. In the distant future, hopefully, this number will tell her the story of our attempt in “giving her the world”. A number that will inspire her to live as a global citizen, like how we are living now.

Exactly two weeks ago her kindergarten classes began. She bade farewell to long-term travel the minute she entered her classroom with new found friends. And this post officiates her graduation from pre-school nomadism.

Hereunder’s all them 33, with a dash of random incoherent facts, sprinkled with me salty tears.

1. Philippines and 2. Macau

Philippines

Luna’s favorite country in the world. She said so herself. She lived her early months in Baguio where our small tribe lived off a $3-daily food budget. Her favorite Filipino food is tocino which she pronounces as “pasino”, which she tried to order in Central America but what she received was bacon. She has visited Luna, La Union. She has met Fang/Whang Od. She knows how to count 1-10 in Tagalog. Other Tagalog words she knows: banyo, pwet and pe…

I lost her once in Harrison Plaza. Apparently, she was playing hide and seek. I was about to report to customer service/police/FBI when she jumped out of a rack of clothes and screamed “peekaboo!”.

Macau

Her first (and the grannies’!) out-of-the Philippines trip. Where she was a subject of countless Chinese tourists’ photos. Where she rocked a pair of “Chavaianas” (if you’ve been to Batanes, you’d know what that is).

3. United States of America and 4. Australia

USA

Strolled in and around Alcatraz’s prison cells. Walked amongst some of the oldest living trees (Great Basin bristlecone pine) in the world. Crawled in trunks of some of the biggest trees (coast redwood) in the world. Attended a Persian thanksgiving celeb and did what Persians do best: Dance!

Australia

Did a shoot for an official Couchsurfing video when she was one. Endured a roadtrip from Cairns (she’s been to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park) to Sydney when she was three. Aside from kindy, she’s currently enrolled in a creative dance class. She loves doing bush treks on weekends. She’s obsessed with beetroot (cause yah know, it’s an Aussie thing).

5. Mexico and 6. Peru

Mexico

Climbed (more like, carried) up Teotihuacan’s Pirámide de la Luna. Spent Christmas and New Year’s in Oaxaca when she was one.

Peru

Said her first word “baile” in a hostel in Lima. Walked (ran) her first steps by herself while we were stuck in Machu Picchu town because of a landslide. Saw penguins in the wild.

7. Brazil and 8. Morocco

Brazil

Survived a wild Carnival street party, which was the only route to get to one of our destinations. Survived a wild train ride full of drunk Carnival-ers. Survived Sambadrome (which in itself ain’t wild but the kilometers of walk heading there was insane). Had a really bad case of mucus build up one night in Cabo Frio (she could barely breathe) and rushed her to the hospital the morning after. The hospital only had one nurse who could speak fluent English and she looked like a telenovela actress. She was wearing her scrubs with stilettos.

Morocco

Was kissed by so many Moroccan men and kids because everyone thought she was cute (creepy, I know). Ate sand in the Sahara Desert. Grew an obsession with olives, she ate them every meal. She also loved anything tagine. Has been to Ait-Ben-Haddou, once a filming site of Game of Thrones.

9. Singapore and 10. Vietnam

Singapore

She loved kaya toast. Changi is her favorite airport because of its carpet. She also loves Singapore because her Aunt Gabe lives there. She’s been to Universal Studios but cared more about the bubble machines than the rides.

Vietnam

Flew to Ho Chi Minh straight from webisode PHL 360’s launch in Philippines. Mainly ate when she was there. She loves pho, she still eats it here in Australia.

11. Myanmar and 12. East Timor

Myanmar

Traveled overseas for the first time (except that instance when the hubby left us in Lima, Peru for a week for a conference in USA) without daddy but with her mum’s fellow travel bloggers. Climbed up a pagoda without being carried for sunrise. She also made her way back down herself. Loved Burmese palm-oily food.

East Timor

Hubby and I celebrated our anniv volunteering for a swimming school even if we’re not good swimmers ourselves. Luna encouraged two local girls who were afraid of the water to get in.

13. Mongolia and 14. Indonesia

Mongolia

Traveled eight days in the Gobi Desert, three days of which she threw up many times during the drive. Once, our driver placed a duct tape on (I know what you’re thinking, not on her mouth!) her belly button to stop it. It worked. Also during our Gobi Desert trip, Luna fell ill and we detoured to a small town (prolly population: 15) to take her to a big hospital that only had one staff. One!

Indonesia

An Indonesian immigration officer thought she was so cute that he stamped her hand with the official departure stamp.

15. Nepal and 16. Thailand

Nepal

Joined a line of kids on the way to their school in UNESCO World Heritage site Bhaktapur. Teachers allowed her to sit in for the afternoon. She came back the next day.

Thailand

Like anyone who has trudged on the banana-pancake-trail, she loved Thai “pancakes”. In the jungle, during one of our tours, she saw a distressed and chained-up baby elephant. It made her sad and confused. She remembered Dumbo.

17. Russia and 18. Malaysia

Russia

Five days aboard the Trans-Siberian train! No complaints of being bored!

Malaysia

Countless Air Asia transfers. Countless. Also, Legoland.

19. Maldives and 20. Turkey

Maldives

Just. Beach. Everyday.

Turkey

Highlight would be visiting the oldest religious site (yet discovered anywhere), Gobekli Tepe. She remembered “White Mountain” (Pamukkale’s calcite mountain) for some month. When asked about it now though, she simply pretends to remember.

21. Georgia and 22. Armenia

Georgia

Hiked up a snake-infested mountain. We were told about this half-way up! Crossed the Georgia-Azerbaijan border on foot while visiting David Gareja monastery.

Armenia

Visited almost all of its UNESCO World Heritage-listed churches and monasteries. Armenia is the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion. Luna’s not familiar with Christianity, she thought the structures were castles with queens and princessses.

23. Laos and 24. India

Laos

Stepped in bomb craters. Also, visited the mysterious Plain of Jars. In Phonsavan, she befriended and made a boy cry (for the first time) when she said goodbye.

India

She was a subject of countless Indian tourists’ photos.

25. Guatemala and 26. El Salvador

Guatemala

Climbed (yes, more like, carried) up temples of Tikal. Ate lava-roasted marshmallows atop Pacaya Volcano. She rode a horse to get to the peak while we hiked.

El Salvador

Lived in an Airbnb home of a guy with his mum and granny. They watched over a sleeping Luna at home while we did salsa classes in town. The family’s dog passed away while we were staying there. I grieved. Luna didn’t. Hike to some falls with a columnar basalt formation, escorted by Salvadorian police (because tourists got mugged there in the past).

27. Honduras and 28. Nicaragua

Honduras

Crossed two country borders to get to this country from El Salvador. Visited UNESCO World Heritage Site Copan. Also spent some lazy days on an island where blackouts regularly occur because power is deliberately turned off while drugs are loaded to small planes, to be transported elsewhere in the Americas.

Nicaragua

She had fun ordering food at a cafe which employs deaf and mute staff in Granada, she enjoyed learning sign language. Also in Granada, she spent her fourth birthday in a public school. A teacher gave her a piñata as a gift.

29. Kenya and 30. Tanzania

Kenya

She made Elsa (her doll) do a biometrics scan while the immigration officer was stamping our passports, to the amusement of everyone in the queue. Where she first learned that there’s a race where everyone is “dark brown”. She loved ugali.

Tanzania

In Serengeti, our jeep was chased by an angry bull elephant.

She proved she can still handle long bus rides. Did a 12-hour journey from Arusha to Dar Es Salaam.

31. Puerto Rico and 32. Jamaica

Puerto Rico

Dipped her hand in Viequez’s bio-luminescent plankton bay while shouting “Pixie duuuusttt!”.

Jamaica

Visited the “government yard in Trench Town” and Bob Marley’s house in Kingston. Partied at the Reggae Summer Fest in Montego Bay. Yep, she dance the whole night. She’s not a fan of the jerk chicken but she liked the Caribbean goat stew.

33. Curacao

She screamed her heart out every time water shot up from the blow holes in Shete Boka National Park. We drove there even though we had a dodgy tire (a temporary replacement for our flat one) because it was our only chance to see it as we were about to leave the country.

So…

Enumerating these things, remembering all the risks we took, I’m thinking… I will prolly never win any Best Parenting Award. But really, all I need to win is my daughter’s heart.