Every year, Cruising, Going Places! - Manila Bulletin’s monthly travel magazine – pursued its annual cross country drive not only to commemorate its anniversary, but to make a strong statement on motor travel. We knew there were many others out there who liked to go on long drives and see the country from the windows of a motor vehicle. In seven years, we have met many travelers like ourselves, many of them following a new road simply because they wanted to know where it led – and bringing their camping equipment along.

We’ve done a variety of cross country routes – criss-crossing Luzon, visiting islands grouped as a region, driving around big islands, and even trying several modes of transportation to get to a place. The simplest – but more adventurous – cross country was when two Road Teams crossed six islands in the Visayas – by jet ski (from an island in Leyte to Boracay); by motorized banca with very irregular schedules, our boys had to act as "barkers" to get the right number of passengers; by bus; by ferry; by multi-cab; by tricycle; and finally by plane to Manila! (I can’t forget how heavy a backpack gets at noon!)

Yesterday, June 1, Cruising started on its seventh cross country. For the first time, the team will drive to Mindanao, a plan that Anjo had been trying to push since our second year.

The 2,000-km Cruising Cross Country journey will take us – and the Isuzu Alterra and the D-Max – from Manila to General Santos City in South Cotabato. We shall take the old highway, the one which merchants and the Philtranco followed before the Strong Republic Nautical Highway was opened two years ago.

From Manila, we drive to Matnog a small town in Sorsogon, where the roll-on-roll-off ferries shuttle between the islands of Luzon to Samar in the Visayas. The most significant tourist attraction in the next leg will be the San Juanico Bridge which connects Samar and Leyte. After Tacloban, all of us, except Chris, who had done this trip with Philtranco years ago, will be first-timers in that part of the country. We shall trust the route book loaned to us by Raul Asuncion, a well-respected navigator and rallye driver.

It is in Liloan town, at the southern tip of Leyte where we shall board a ferry to Surigao. From there, we shall continue our drive to Davao City, rest a while, and proceed to General Santos City.

The event is sponsored by our old friends who like us, also believe in motor travel: Isuzu Philippines Corp., Chevron Philippines Inc. (formerly Caltex), and Smart Communications.

It will be a journey with old friends, too. Aris Ilagan, Anjo Perez and I have done the past six cross country events together, and we never had an argument, except on who drives next. Also joining the team are Johannes Chua and Chris Datol, who started on more adventurous cross country trips three years ago.

As usual, we shall make the drive without back-up vehicles, or the company of sponsors’ representatives. We trust the vehicles. We know the country’s transportation system works, maybe not on schedule, but it does get you going! We believe that we can find our way to the most isolated places with unfamiliar names.

Getting lost, missing a road sign, or knocking on doors to ask townsfolk for the name of their town is part of the adventure of a long drive.

Hope to see you on the road sometime!