Welcome to BWAB!
I’m Jona. I work in SEO and content, but I tell stories for a living.
I run Backpacking with a Book and HomeHums, where I write travel content that actually comes from being there. Think guides, opinions, and takes shaped by real trips, missed trains, great meals, and sometimes bad hotel choices.
I collaborate with brands on paid partnerships, UGC, and travel content built to rank and feel human. I bank on solid storytelling with search intent in mind.
I’m originally from Cebu, Philippines, now based in Munich, Germany. I used to work as a travel journalist and I’ve been to 30+ countries, mostly fueled by curiosity, child-like wonder, and a refusal to travel the same way twice.
At the core, I’m a writer and poet. My Cebuano fiction and poetry have been recognized with the Palanca Awards for Literature and the Gawad Bienvenido Lumbera Awards. It’s why voice matters to me.
If you’re here for travel stories with substance and strategy, you’ll feel at home. Let's collaborate.
what's popular
destination guides
You may not know how to save your soul, but you know how to put one foot in front of another.—Rebecca Solnit
January 25, 2026
Raw and immediate. When I first started traveling solo in the Philippines, everything was. I moved on instinct — hiring cabal-habal (motorcycle taxi) driver to take me to hidden beaches, tiny towns tucked away from any map, and waterfalls that felt like secrets. Group tours were for reasons only very […]
January 17, 2026
The task was simple, almost administrative. I needed a few images from my solo trips before moving to Germany to accompany a recent post about what solo travel looks like now as a new mom. Then versus now. Motion versus almost-stillness. A life once lived lightly compared to a life […]
January 8, 2026
I’d spent a good amount of my mid-20s to mid-30s traveling around Southeast Asia in a wheeled backpack that lasted way longer than most of my love affairs. My curiosity and hunger for the unknown was as full as my backpack. Border-crossing was as adventurous and logistically irritating and tiring […]
January 3, 2026
I tried. I really did. To stop romanticizing solo travel. That era is in the past. I’m now a mom and a wife. My life is now all about family travel. I told myself that the season had passed, that the urge would naturally fade once my life reorganized itself […]
digital nomad guides
And her joy would become a restless thing, flapping its wings inside her, as though looking for an opening to fly away.
― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
January 22, 2025
As a seasoned travel blogger with over a decade of experience and deep expertise in SEO, I’ve witnessed how strategically optimized content can directly influence a traveler’s booking decisions. Today, travelers are savvier than ever—they research, compare, and weigh their options before making a commitment. This is where SEO-driven content […]
January 18, 2025
As a travel blogger with over a decade of experience and a strong background in SEO, I’ve witnessed how a single, well-optimized blog post can outperform even the most viral social media campaigns. Social media offers fleeting engagement, but it lacks the staying power that SEO-driven content provides. A thoughtfully […]
November 9, 2024
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being financially dependent on your partner, especially if you’re the main caregiver. It’s a role that deserves respect and recognition. However, the narrative of the man as the sole provider, often perpetuated on social media, oversimplifies the reality of many households. Financial contributions are just […]
November 8, 2024
Sometimes, me yapping about a lot of things get me some personal stories and letters that I think may resonate with others. So I’m sharing someone’s story and take on that matter. Yes, I know I talk a lot about my own financial independence (for sure, therapists, armchair or otherwise, […]
reading life
My grandfather says that's what books are for," Ashoke said, using the opportunity to open the volume in his hands. "To travel without moving an inch.― Jhumpa Lahiri
May 9, 2025
Vienna is a beautiful city. Of course, that’s the perspective of a traveler—wait, scratch that—a full-blown tourist with eyes wide and heart open, gawking at Gothic spires and Baroque balconies like they’re slices of sachertorte handed down from the gods. But it’s not just the well-preserved grandeur of imperial years […]
May 8, 2025
For book lovers, the State Hall of the Austrian National Library isn’t just a place—it’s a mood, a hush, a full-body goosebump. Tucked inside the Hofburg Palace like a secret too good to keep, this Baroque beauty isn’t just stacked with books—it glows with them. Frescoed ceilings swirl like a fever dream, towering shelves […]
January 16, 2025
When I learned that Vienna has a Shakespeare and Co, I knew I had to visit. As someone who fell in love with its Parisian counterpart, stepping into its Viennese location felt like revisiting an old friend in a new city. Nestled in the heart of Vienna, this cozy bookshop […]
July 12, 2024
I personally believe Joan Didion, Jennifer Egan, Mia Alvar, Eula Biss, and Ada Limon capture the essence of New York. These writers embody the city’s literary spirit, and its independent bookstores are a testament to this legacy. New York City’s independent bookstores are hidden gems offering an intimate dive into […]
life and food
One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.—Virginia Woolf
July 16, 2025
I was seven months pregnant. Since that moment I had a hunch I might be expecting during a solo trip through Ljubljana and Bled Lake in Slovenia and Trieste in Italy, I made this quiet pact with myself to keep moving, to meet somewhere new every month. Solo in Strasbourg, […]
July 14, 2025
Prague has this small, stubborn corner in my heart. It was the first city I wandered alone after a heavy talk with my then‑boyfriend (now husband) on a windy night in La Palma, Spain, when I admitted how much I missed traveling solo. He didn’t flinch—he just said, then do it […]
May 13, 2025
Venice isn’t my ultimate European love story (Vienna already swept me off my feet), but it’s hard not to respect a city that wears age like a velvet cloak. Aside from a quick coastal flirtation with Trieste, Venice is the only Italian city I’ve spent real time in—so no, I […]
May 9, 2025
Having roamed over 15 European cities since planting roots in Munich, I can tell you—Vienna didn’t just waltz into my heart, it strutted in like it owned the place. Sure, Prague’s right up there, giving me moody romance and cobblestone poetry, but Vienna? She’s the full symphony. This city along […]