My first time to visit Bohol was when my two officemates and I just decided to have a tour of Central Visayas for three days last 2004 starting November 5 when it’s Cinco de Noviembre holiday here in Neros Occidental. From Bacolod City, we traveled by bus to Dumaguete City, Oriental Negros, toured the city and spent overnight there. The following day, we boarded the first trip via fast craft to Tagbilaran City, Bohol, toured the major tourist destinations the whole day. The support service to the tourism industry was well organized for it’s so easy to get a V-Hire right there at the port. It’s just a question of whether you have the money and that time the three of us felt like hacienderos and hired the van just for ourselves. After the tour, we boarded the last trip to Cebu City where we spent overnight. The following day, we again traveled via V-Hire to Toledo City, Cebu boarded a fast craft to San Carlos City, Negros Occidental and back to Bacolod City.

The second time was last December 3-7 for a convention sponsored by our office. Tourism is evidently Bohol’s number one industry. The province has a lot to offer in eco-tourism, food, culture and crafts. Add to this the charm of the Boholanos and the Loboc Children’s Choir. The Boholanos have a very high awareness for the environment, history and culture. They have successfully protected their mangroves and coral reefs as well as their cultural heritage. All of these are actually present in the different provinces but what others lack are the commitment and the entrepreneurial spirit which are very much alive in Bohol.

Tourism is good for local entrepreneurs and economy. When tourists arrived, they would be prepared and willing to spend their money on the following:

• Accommodation
• Food
• Transportation
• Guided Tour
• Pasalubong and Souvenirs

You can find accommodations in Bohol that suits your budget. Guided tours can easily be availed and local transport within Tagbilaran is by PUJ and tricycle. You’ll be surprised at how knowledgeable of their local history and culture the tricycle drivers are. Pasalubong and souvenir items are affordable and export quality. Entrepreneurs in the tourism industry can learn a lot from the best practices of Bohol.

Tomorrow I’ll be off to where there are giant Kisses. I’m talking about Bohol of course. If nobody donates through Paypal, then the sight of those chocolate hills and probably some Peanut Kisses will do just fine. What more can I ask? It will be business with lots of pleasure.

The office is sending us there all expense paid. This is one of the things to be thankful for in my organization. It will be for our annual convention so I’ll also be helping out with our report. Aside from the usual presentation of accomplishments and development plans, there are two things I’m very interested in.

1. Presentation of i-Negosyo Portal. I saw them featured once in Entrepreneur magazine and also visited their website. I want to know more about them and how different they are from other Filipino online stores and maybe I can learn a thing or two from them.

2. Countryside and Livelihood Tour. We’ll tour around the different craft villages of Bohol. The province is reaping thousands of dollars in exports on their handicraft industry, mostly belonging to the different town’s “One Town, One Product”.

Aside from these, the convention will also be a great opportunity for me to promote my blog. I couldn’t let the opportunity pass by. I’m going to prepare my calling card, an official one, with a more personal touch at the back, my blogsite. Don’t you think I’m wicked?

My fans …err…friends must have wondered what happened to this blog since I’ve uploaded it last November 15. There’s no updates, and the site can’t be accessed sometimes. Has this blog experienced an early death? What a pity, you say. It shows potential.

Well, don’t fret because I was wondering the same thing too. I can’t even login to my own blogsite! After several phone calls I knew the source of the problem. It’s not us, it’s them, Globe Broadband that is. They’re “upgrading their system” (as always) so unfortunate subscribers may experience downtime and selective browsing. And the system just happen to select my site to be one of those on the dark side. It’s such a pity that our office is using Globe Broadband. Otherwise, I won’t have to decide to hook up with Smart Bro last November 27 in order to resurrect this blog. So there, that spells the end of my free internet. Now I can feel the pressure to come up with posts, tweaked the theme and plugins, subscribe to blogging gurus, and read on SEO and monetization strategies. I’ve got bills to pay you know.

I’m no longer sure I’m happier now that I have unlimited connection at my disposal. I’ve been losing sleep ever since I got connected. But I’m sure Hershey’s Kisses Rich Dark Chocolates would cheer me up. Wanna buy me some? Click the Kisses to the right, to the right, please.

P.S. I’ll have to thank these two guys for my Buy Me Kisses Paypal Donation:

• www.blogclout.com for the original Buy Me Beer Plugin.
• www.jozzua.com for his post on the Buy Me Beer Plugin.

I love living in the province. No traffic. Laid back lifestyle. Fresh air. These are some of the reasons why I chose to stay here in exchange for bigger career opportunities in Metro Manila. After all, there are more important things in life like family, health and quality of life. However, the laid back lifestyle doesn’t stop me from being aggressive in looking for ways to earn extra bucks. If opportunities are scarce in the province then I’ll just have to be more enterprising.

Here are 5 ways I earn extra income:

1. Teaching. I consider this as my main sideline for more than two years already. The pay is not that big considering I’m teaching at a local city college but I welcome the regular monthly income. I have a lot of extra time on my hand and I believe it’s a sin not to spend it more productively. Part-time teaching can also be demanding as you don’t only use your time on the hours you do classes. You also spend extra time in preparing for class, doing readings and researching, checking papers and computing grades. At the end of the day, it’s more than just the money. It’s your passion to impart your knowledge.

2. Consulting. I’ve done consulting and preparing proposals and business plans for small entrepreneurs and students. My background is really on small business counseling so I’m actually using my skills acquired from my job to earn extra income. This is one of the reasons why I keep my day job for it is actually my training ground. When doing this part time, I see to it that there’s no conflict of interest. I get clients from other provinces who are not part of my regular clients. I also adjust my fees depending on the client, the amount involved, and the time I’m going to spend in preparing it.

3. Desktop Publishing. I know a little Photoshop and I’ve done some free layout jobs for the office. I love acquiring new skills and I learned it through self study. It has now become more of a hobby and through word of mouth, I have accepted a few paid layout and printing jobs . When I bought my PC, I already have in mind that I would use it to earn extra income. Somehow, I’ve already recovered my investment on it.

4. Online Trading. It sound big but actually I’ve only done a few online transactions at eBay. I’ve sold a few of my stuff, ebooks and video tutorials. Your junk may be a treasure to others so it’s a good way to get rid of those old stuff and earn a little. There are ebooks and video tutorials that are freely available on the net. Some people out there are too lazy to download these from the net and I’m only too willing to do it for them, at a price of course.

5. Blogging. I wish! I’m in a stage where I’m just learning the ropes so I currently don’t earn from my blog. But other people have, and quite much. Do a Google search for ‘making money blogging’ and you’ll be amazed at how and how much people earn from blogs and other online activities.

Earning extra income is quite a challenge and an adventure. Actually, if you only let yourself be more creative you’ll learn, as I have, that there are a lot of money-making opportunities waiting to be discovered, even in the province.