I wrote the first part of this blog while we were on a sleeper bus, nearing Nam Phao International Checkpoint at the border of Vietnam and Laos. This is my first international trip and it's already laden with a lot of memories and stories that I'm struggling with how to put everything into writing. Considering the issues hounding with Philippine immigration, international travel became more of a luxury than a right for Filipinos. It's true that the Philippine passport is already weak, but it's disheartening that it's even weaker in the face of our very own immigration.
Enough with the gloomy Philippine situation, this should be about me because I'm the main character of this story. These past two months have been a rollercoaster of emotions. From not being to summit Mt. Madja-as to celebrating my 30th birthday with the Amancion kids to quietly celebrating my 6th year here in Hive, and now with my first international travel, I am honestly overwhelmed. I don't know how to unpack everything, so I'll just start by expressing my deepest gratitude to the people who made it all possible.
Tam Coc River Cruise, Ninh Binh, Vietnam.
At Mua Cave Viewpoint, Ninh Binh, Vietnam.
At Cafe Hieu in Old Quarter, Hanoi.
This trip was made possible all because of Hive!
I know that international travel is just daily occurrence for some of you, but just indulge me with this. This is a fulfillment of another lifelong dream. I was just dreaming about what it feels to cross the three caves in Tam Coc River Cruise and then one day it just happened. I was surprised because I didn't engage too much with my friends when they were laying out our itinerary. Days prior to our flight, I was so anxious about the upcoming face-to-face with an immigration officer. It felt like I was applying for a job. I was also busy procuring all my supporting documents.
Thank you so much @traciyork for trusting me with all your necessary information to create a certification that I am affiliated with Hive. You're indeed the Hive Community Liaison! Having a certificate that would prove my source of income greatly helped my case.
I think this is the first time that Hive is used as an income source for international travel.
Another thank you to @enrique89 of Hive Creators for providing the design of an ID. You have been very helpful even if I know you're busy. We just used the design to create a physical ID. Thank you also to @eddiespino for the referral. I was bugging you even if you were busy with Hive Fest. Of course, thank you so much @indayclara for the last minute and desperate creation of my ID. If you're wondering how we did it, you can send me a message on Discord. Yes, you have a unique identification number that's only for you once you create an account with Hive.
Since I have no other source of income aside from Hive, this is sort of an experiment on my part if I'll be allowed to leave the country. Yes, it's possible to travel with just a certification that you're affiliated with Hive in lieu of a COE (certificate of employment) and a Hive ID in lieu of a company ID.
Since I'm done with expressing my gratitude, I'll move on to the preparation for the trip. As my friend put it, "It's better to face the immigration officer over prepared than to be offloaded."
Since I resigned from my work in 2020, I don't have any ID except for my expired PRC license. As fate might have helped me in this travel, my sister was able to locate my TIN ID weeks prior to my flight. That's the only valid government ID that I have. I decided to update my tax status with the BIR and now, I'm registered as a freelance blogger. The downside is that I have to pay my taxes. 😆
Registration in the BIR is an ordeal in itself that adding my anecdotes here would make this blog an endless rant of how inefficient the Philippine government is. Just imagine that you're the one paying and yet the hassle in filing all the forms is through the roof. It would be fine if there's a step-by-step guide, but there's none. You start with one form to fill up and you'll end with countless forms to file at the end of the day. It's just a nightmare, but for some masochistic reason, I was enjoying my BIR experience. It felt like I was in the true adulting phase.
As if the certification of affiliation with Hive, Hive ID, and certificate of registration as a freelance blogger were not enough, I decided to procure a national police clearance to serve as my secondary ID. Other supporting documents that I brought are my TOR (transcript of records), certificate of live birth, agreement (for a parcel of land that I'm still paying), GCash transaction history, return ticket, confirmed hotel bookings, and some other documents that I thought would help in proving that I just want to travel for vacation and I'll return in the declared date.
With the stories circulating in social media about the horrors with immigration officers asking for a yearbook and some other ridiculous documents, I can't be complacent. I don't want to ruin months of preparation and thousands of money spent just to be offloaded because I wasn't able to prove that I can afford this trip and I'll be returning to the country after a few days instead of looking for a job in another country.
The moment of truth!
My immigration officer was a millennial or Gen Z woman because she knows about Binance. She was in a good mood because she was smiling when I tensely approached her. The first document she asked was the return ticket. It's ironic that I haven't even left the country and the first question was when will I return. We weren't able to print our return ticket, so I just showed her the screenshot of our booked flight.
She then asked me if it was my first time and if I was nervous. I answered that it was my first time and that indeed I was slightly nervous even if it was nerve-wracking even if I was just standing there.
The third question was about our accommodation. We already prepared screenshots of our confirmed booking at booking.com, so it was easy.
The fourth question was about my work. That's when I showed her the certificate of affiliation with Hive. Since it's not the conventional work or source of income, she started to load me with questions upon questions about the mechanism of Hive. She asked me to show my blog page and then how the money is sent to my bank account. I told her it was through Binance and GCash. She asked to show the transaction history of both and then it was done. It was approved.
As I'm finishing and polishing this post, we are now inching closer to the capital of the second country of this trip: Vientiane, Laos. Vietnam has so much adrenaline that I'm excited to share about the whole experience. I can only hope I'll be able to write about it sooner.
I guess that's all for this post. See you in my next blog!
Kim Ybañez
Welcome to Kim's small corner in Hive. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits remote destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines). He's also a trying-hard photographer so stay tuned as he shares his photos and his thought process while creating them.
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