Christine Dayrit shares her 'map of memories' through her travel book

60 Dream Holidays Around the World:

- BÜM D. TENORIO, JR.

It was winter of 2008. My BFF Christine Dayrit and I were at Istanbul airport waiting for our flight to Cappadocia. It was November and the trip was her the trip birthday gift to me.

Since we checked in very early at the airport, Christine had time to write her travel column for The STAR. She brought out her laptop, placed it on a vacant seat, plopped herself on the floor, and typed away our glorious staycation at Four Seasons Sultanahmet and Four Seasons Bosphorus. Just when she finished writing her conclusion, the public address announced our names. The plane's gate was about to close and it was the last call. She was engrossed with her writing; I was sleeping on my chair. We sprinted to our gate, each with a carry-on bag, and in 10 minutes we made it to our seats. Our hearts were leaping out of our chests. We were happy.

That experience and more made it to 60 Dream Holidays Around the World, a compendium of the delicious travel articles Christine has written for her column since 2000. I say "delicious" because the books opens to the continent of Africa and the first photo is the mesmerizing migration of wildebeests in Tanzania. The book celebrates her 25 years with The Philippine STAR. She has never missed her deadline-not once.