A fun-loving, bright-eyed and independent globetrotter, Kach Medina Umandap has toured 150 countries, all with her Philippine passport. She is an inspirational blogger who brings her experience to the table through an all-inclusive travel website, Two Monkeys Travel Group. She is a proponent of sustainable travelling, a social-media-savvy, and a backpacker.
From dropping the quintessential 9-5 job in the Middle East to chasing her travel dreams and converting it into a livelihood, Kach Medina has been living out of a suitcase for years now. Her journey has created a sensation in the travel blogosphere. From snorkelling in Maldives and paying less than $200 a night at a local-run guest house to living 6 months in Peru giving massages and English classes, she has set her holiday goal right.
Here is the rundown of how she became one of the most charming, honest and engaging travel admirers.
From Corporate Employee to Full-Time Backpacker
Following her BS Economics graduation from the University of the Philippines-Los Baños in 2009, Kach Medina joined a job in Kuwait’s Healthcare Industry in 2009. Her CV also includes an experience in Oil and Gas Industry in Iraq. But soon, she was driven by her inner zeal to be a bird that hopped from one country to another in search of long-term happiness. Although she had an option to take a month-long break for the trips, she left the comfort of her well-settled job at the age of 24, simply to satisfy her unwavering passion for travel. After working in the corporate world for 4 consecutive years, she managed to save and stash US$10,000; half of which she employed in one of her initial backpacking escapades in South East Asia and South America. As time passed, travel became the backbone of her new career.
Ticked off 150 countries and counting
Since 2013, Kach Medina has left her footprints in over 150 countries across 7 continents. She travelled to Cambodia, hitchhiked in Carretera Austral, and sailed from Costa Rica to Panama on a boat trip. Travelling from the Pacific to the Caribbean side, hiking mountains in between, her world has always been consumed by wanderlust. Thanks to her extraordinary feat, she is now a member of the coveted Travelers’ Century Club, a nonprofit social organization acknowledging travellers who have visited 100 or more of the world’s countries and territories.
Two Monkeys Travel Group originated in late 2014
What makes her journey imprint in our hearts is how she retells the deets of her holidays into a wholesome package. At a time when accurate travel narratives are scarce, there is nothing like reading a well put together travel blog. She brings all her raw experiences, expense stats, DIY itinerary, sailing ideas, staycations and travel guides under one umbrella. Her social media feed is an array of stunning landscapes, wide-ranging cuisines and everything fabulous with detailed captions offering the story behind the photos.
Plan, Stay, Work, Explore and Repeat
Kach has an interesting outlook towards travelling; she firstly chooses the destination, secondly, reaches the place, and then decides whether to stay for longer or not. Her idea of slow travelling benefits her to analyse the cost of living, work during the holidays, and spend more time exploring the culture of the place. People are fond of Kach’s blogs as she encourages everyone to go on adventures, regardless of their economic status. She has crossed continents on a shoestring budget. It is commendable how she shares her ‘tried and tested’ budget holiday ideas with her audience in the simplest way.
Wears millions of hats as a traveller
A couple of skills are good to earn money while you are on the road, this is what Kach Medina believes as an enthusiastic traveller. She has been quite upfront and candid about her travel expenses and how she manages her funds. She travelled without a credit card till 2016. She is extraordinary when it comes to learning new skills. She had spent 7 months in Hanoi, Vietnam where she taught English. She became certified TEFL teachers. In 2014, Kach Medina landed in India and taught yoga besides getting trained as an Ayurvedic massage therapist. She indulges in a gamut of jobs, from volunteering in hotels to appearing in reality shows. When she isn’t doing anything, she operates her sailboat in the Caribbean. Today, her blogs have become the main source of income for her travel diaries.
She is a solo traveller
As someone devoted to travel and female empowerment, Kach Medina is recently travelling solo again. Well, travelling is not all hunky dory or how fancy it looks on Instagram. Kach Medina is an honest travel blogger who has put out her authentic experience of being in a stranger country as a sole female holidaymaker. From not having a permanent address to owning a Philippines passport throughout her life, she also had her share of hits and misses during her visa applications. Once she got stamped by US visa on her passport, it turned over a new leaf. She then applied for Schengen Visa, UK Visa and even Australian Visa like an ABC.
Her 200-year old Stone House Villa
Passionately following her nomadic lifestyle for years, Kach Medina had decided to hunt a permanent home a couple of years back. She found her dream home in a double century-old Stone House Villa in Montenegro, Europe. This small mountainous Balkans country is gorgeous, cheap and young.
Sustainable Travel Lifestyle
You might love travelling but Kach Medina makes sure she does it in sustainable manner. This 33-year old responsible and inspirational blogger has lived her fullest on foot and bike, mountains and rivers, planes and trains. She has travelled through hitchhiking and also stayed at luxury hotels. She knows to balance the budget against experience and nature against adventure. No one tackles the complex subject as Kach does and that’s what makes her an ethical traveller as well.
What’s coming in future?
Kach Medina is a headstrong girl whose ultimate aim is to tick off every country in her wishlist before she turns 35.
Images Credits: twomonkeystravelgroup.com
