When you’re a virtual professional, you don’t have a chance to enjoy a summer outing with your officemates because, well, you work alone.

WRONG.

You can actually enjoy a summer outing (or any kind of outing, depending on where and when you want to go).

HOW?

You call your friends who are also virtual professionals!

That’s what we did recently. We invaded the province of Laguna, the place of hot springs and the majestic Mount Makiling. The virtual professionals who live there arranged our fun day trip to the International Rice Research Institute, University of the Philippines Los Baños Campus and Museum and Makiling Botanical Gardens.

We enjoyed our day trip at the different areas of the University of the Philippines Los Baños in Laguna. Well, let the smiles tell you about the word FUN.

What’s special about this Virtual Professionals Assemble was the planned seminar. When some seminars are held in a hotel or a closed room, we did ours in a road corner in Makiling Botanical Gardens! It was fun to learn with nature as our venue! Our virtual professional speaker said doing the seminar by nature was challenging yet awesome.

It was so fun to learn and be with nature up close! Nolan (our speaker) taught us what to watch out in local and international scams.

This is the roof of our seminar venue. Unusual? Well, we like that way.

I learned these things from our assemble:

1. Virtual professionals may serve different clients, but they experience the same things: slow Internet, getting more clients, finishing many tasks in a day, and yes, even not being able to talk to someone who understands the online life without typing it in a chat box or using a headset.

This is a big map in the museum at the International Rice Research Institute. We stepped on the countries where our clients live. Cool, right?

2. Virtual professionals may be big shots in earning different currencies, but they enjoy the simple things in life: relationships.

Why the fuss with umbrellas?

We rode a train trolley, that’s why. 🙂

3. Virtual professionals love offline days.

All smiles for our Offline Day!

And yes, we love groupies.

I’m excited for the next adventure with these exceptional friends!

Karl Marx once said, “Surround yourself with people who make you happy. People who make you laugh, who help you when you’re in need. People who genuinely care. They are the ones worth keeping in your life. Everyone else is just passing through.” If you are interested to find out some of the people I surround myself with (and how exceptional they are), click their names to check out their blogs:

Jones Mancilla

Sweet Reyes

Dhey Faustino

Lyn Nafarrete

Nolan Ray Lazaro

Ela Carillo

Gracie Avinado

Conz Zabala

Shawi Cortez

Wilbs Lirag

Mike Ortiz

Noemi Cariaso-Mora

Dha Faustino

Jonas San Luis (to whom the photos here are credited)

Jem Songalia