About Tita S Travels

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”

Ibn Battuta (1304-1369, a Moroccan geographer, explorer and scholar)

Welcome to TITA S TRAVELS, a travel and foodie blog! For foreigners, “tita” means “auntie/aunt” in Filipino, a term of endearment of the younger members of my family and younger friends. S is short for “Sylvia”, my first name.

This blog serves as my virtual diary of travels, food trips and just being a sentimental senior citizen (SC) to satisfy my insatiable passion for writing and adventure. In the process, it is a wonderful opportunity for me to share my escapades as well as other vital travel-related topics with other travelers.

“SCapades” is the section of this blog which features destinations worldwide, classified as:

• Philippines – Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao
• Asia
• North America
• South America
• Europe
• Africa

The pandemic has prevented people from travelling for two years but this did not stop Tita S to write about unique, strange, stunning, and spectacular natural and man-made attractions and events which we could consider to visit/witness after obtaining the required vaccinations and other “new normal” requirements. So, she featured:

* interesting destinations and events worldwide for awesome and record-breaking natural and man-made attractions, and travel-related events worldwide – the shortest, longest, oldest, youngest, tallest, shortest, biggest, smallest, etc. Some are records held by natural sites that are uninhabited or are not accessible to tourists. Some are annual festivals or unique events which affect/affected travel. Some are no longer open to the public, but I included them as well for additional information of interesting and unique places and events worldwide.

*  amazing, bewildering, mysterious, and sometimes even weird, trivia of various destinations and events for daring wanderlust-filled travelers. For the curious and inquisitive readers, she will also reveal the nature of such attractions and events, and unravel their mystery and secrets so you will be able to understand more about our beautiful planet and diverse cultures.

Perhaps you can include at least one of the featured destinations in your travel bucket list and patiently wait until we can all safely travel again!

The “Smart Traveler” section highlights assorted travel and food tips/information which would be useful to fellow travelers. It has three parts:

• “Short and Simple” and “Now You Know” posts include general travel/tourism terms and trivia which I would like to describe/explain to travelers.
• The Say, Say, Say!* posts tackle current issues and concerns of the travel/tourism industry which affect the traveling public. I want you to comment on such travel-related updates.

The Pinoy Delights section features unique and interesting Philippine ingredients and dishes to showcase the inherent delicacies as well as foreign influences to Filipino cuisine.

I also opted to feature footnotes, if need be, to describe terms which I think would be helpful to viewers who might not be familiar with such terms or would like to know more about them without leaving my post/website. Don’t you sometimes feel helpless when you need to exit a blog to know more about terms used? Well, no worries, just go see my footnotes! There is always something new to learn each day!  Nurture your gray matter! I hope you will appreciate this special feature of my blog.

As Tita S, I want to continue visiting various destinations and hospitality establishments, and not regret having done so when I can no longer be able to enjoy such pleasures in life. I want to tick off, one by one, my travel bucket list till I can no longer remember such a list! It seems funny now, but a sad fact of life.

The wanderer in me still yearns to wake up and welcome each new day in a different place waiting to be explored, to discover its beauty, interact with people from a different culture and savor delicious food and complementary beverages/concoctions. Even Seneca said: “Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.”

The world offers so much beauty in various cultures as well as God-given and man-made destinations … so many to visit in one’s lifetime, to experience and to appreciate such treasures! Thus, I hope to inspire other travelers to do the same, hopefully guided by the features in this blog.

“Let’s find some beautiful place to get lost.”

Joel Annesley (Australian life coach, author, speaker)

So what are you waiting for? Join me in my travels and stories!

I would also love to hear from you! Write your comments below my posts, share your pictures and experiences in the featured destinations/food as well as your thoughts about my posts.

Here is my contact information:

Email: TitaSTravels17@gmail.com

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*Seniors, can you recall where I got: SAY, SAY, SAY? This is the title of a certified gold-hit song written and performed by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney, released in 1983, and considered one of the top 50 biggest hit-of-all-time by the Billboard Hot 100 charts! Go to YouTube if you want to listen to this song …

About Tita S, The Senior Blogger

I am Sylvia Silvestre-Ama, a retired hospitality management educator and school administrator of various tertiary educational institutions (never mind how many decades LOL). I am now based in Laguna, a province in the island of Luzon, in the Philippines.

Family members and friends who are younger than I am call me Tita S. For those who are not familiar with the word “Tita”, it is a Filipino endearment for “aunt”.

I obtained Ed.D., Masters in Business Administration and BS Hotel and Restaurant Administration degrees, have co-authored several hospitality-related books/manuals, and was affiliated with various hospitality/education-related professional organizations. I was opening General Manager of a hotel-school of a university and briefly co-owned a coffee shop on the side.

Through the years, I enjoyed traveling domestically and abroad with my parents, husband, family and friends and desire to continue doing so at this senior stage of my life, God willing.

I took care of my 95-year old mother till she passed away in 2018 so I was only able to travel domestically but started to travel overseas thereafter until the pandemic prevented me in 2020.

Based on the latest* official count of 7,641 islands, assuming that I can travel once a week, I have calculated that I can only visit 48 islands per year and it will take me a little over 159 years to visit all the islands. However, if I travel once a month, I can only visit 12 islands per month and it will take me more than 636 years to do so! Gosh, I hope my calculations are right, that is why I didn’t pursue BS Math (LOL)! Well then, it seems that I will be busy going around!

I am proud to be a Filipino and will feature our local culture and delicacies in my adventures as well.

So, see you during my travels, or better still, follow this blog (simply click the “follow” bar at the bottom right corner of your screen), dearest Seniors, soon-to-be-Seniors, and curious wanderers in the web, the universe, I mean, the world (for now, as far as technology will allow)! Who knows, I might be a senior-space traveler in the near future! LOL

“Oh, the places you’ll go!” –

Dr. Seuss (pen name of Theodor Seuss Geisel: American children’s book author,

political cartoonist, illustrator, poet, animator, filmmaker)

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*Speech of DENR Secretary Ramon Paje at the First Philippine Environment Summit at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia, Pasay City, February 10, 2016.