This Filipino anthropologist made 44 audio walking tours for 44 places in the Philippines
Let's face it: as much as we'd love to explore the beauty of the Philippines, this may be a difficult thing to do especially if you don't have the budget to go on a tour. But fret not as there is still a way to satisfy your travel lust minus the carbon footprint.
Filipino traveler Raizel Pauline Albano has created a total of 44 self-guided audio walking tours for 44 cities and municipalities in the Philippines, all of which serve as a way for travelers to learn about the country's famous tourist spots while also helping the environment by mitigating the use of vehicles.
"Traveling does not have to be at the cost of the environment. Through our self-paced walking tours, we help reduce our carbon footprint—one foot at a time," Albano wrote about the audio tours.
Consisting of about six commentaries on the city's most popular tourist attractions, each tour costs a modest fee of P65.
To access them, you must first download the izi.TRAVEL app and type in "Philippines" on the search bar, and all the available tours will show up. You will then get redirected by the app for payment before you can have access to the tours.
The app also has other free self-paced audio walking and museum tours for popular travel destinations like Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, the US, and Europe.
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Born a traveler
Albano's thirst for travel and exploring places started when she was young. "I’d like to think that I’ve been a traveler ever since I was born. To me, every day is a new day and a new learning opportunity," she said. "I used to have a narrow and naïve idea of what it means to ‘travel.’ As I grew older, however, I realized that I need not leave anywhere to see, hear, and experience something new."
"Every day is indeed a novel experience—after all, isn’t that just what we’re chasing when we start making travel plans? So I can’t say that I have a certain love for travel—it’s a love for experiencing life," she added.
The 34-year-old anthropologist eventually started sharing her excursions through her travel blog Anthro on Foot sometime in 2008, when she was still a university student.
I used to have a narrow and naïve idea of what it means to ‘travel.’ As I grew older, however, I realized that I need not leave anywhere to see, hear, and experience something new.
But as she puts it, "I can’t really call myself a 'travel' blogger, because I don’t really share travel-specific tips, other than book, song, and show inspirations related to places that I get to visit."
Albano stressed that the reason for this is that she believes that traveling is a privilege and that she doesn't want to "give a false impression that it must be done or should be done a certain way without laying down the proper context."
Inspiration for the project
Once she had built up her traveling experience, Albano was inspired to start her audio tour project because she enjoys going on self-paced and affordable walking tours herself, where she could take her time savoring local experiences.
"I had the chance to try these free walking tours overseas and I thoroughly enjoyed them, so I thought of starting one in the Philippines," she shared.
Albano started recording for the tours back on Jan. 3, 2020, juggling the project with caring for her six-month-old daughter. After four long years, she finally managed to accomplish her initial goal of creating audio tours for 44 cities and municipalities on Jan. 9, 2024.
"Initially, I did everything by myself, but with parenting duties and a day job, I eventually hired three people: a research assistant, an editorial assistant, and my brother, Renrich, as a publishing assistant. I also hired a voice talent for my first tour, and while I was happy about the work, it proved too costly, so I decided to do it DIY," Albano said.
"I almost stopped producing them a year after I started, but thankfully, I received a grant from the UNESCO Silk Roads Youth Research Grant, a part of which I used to complete this project," she continued.
With nearly 50 audio tours, one may be lost on what tour should they immerse themselves in first. But according to Albano, you may want to start with your hometown.
"We can’t get anywhere if we can’t appreciate the value of looking back to the whys and hows of our own roots. As for my personal favorite, it’s difficult to pick one because every destination has its own story to tell. Just like any of us, we have our own story to tell, a story worth remembering," she highlighted.
You can check out the audio tours through this link.