Rico Blanco wants to travel the world more with GF Maris Racal

MANILA, Philippines — Maris Racal’s biggest discovery this year about her boyfriend Rico Blanco was his sense of humor.

When they traveled to different cities in Italy for a month, she was amused to see his funny side.

“I didn’t know he was that funny,” shared Maris in a recent interview. “I thought he was a very serious person. Then, when we traveled together, tawa lang talaga ako ng tawa.”

Rico’s humor is “dry and sarcastic,” described Maris. “Unexpected humor. Grabe siya,” she added.

Rico, on the other hand, found out how a great team player Maris was during their sojourn in Italy. “Na-discover ko this year, I know that she is a team player like sa couple, but when we traveled together, I really saw kung gaano siya ka-team player. Kasi nakikita natin siya inaalalayan sa trabaho. She works so hard and I understand that,” said the former Rivermaya frontman.

“So, I thought if we travel, medyo baka ako mostly (organize), but no… We also tried some stuff, akala ko ako lahat because it was her first time in Europe, so I thought like, ‘Ako ‘to.’ But no,” added the rocker.

Maris was the one who also booked the train rides, looked for restaurants, and other stuff. “It was really teamwork,” she asserted.

Rico chimed in, “We enjoyed it tsaka walang sisihan (there was no blame game). You know what, when you’re on vacation, may mawawala, may iiwan. Nakakatawa pala siya kahit umuusok na siya. Tapos ako maya-maya tatawa.”

Going on a trip is just part of the couple’s bonding time together. “Isa yun because that takes us away from work. So, ‘pag nag-ta-travel kami, kami lang,” Rico told The STAR.

Maris was the one who picked Italy as their travel destination.

“We pictured kung anong country lang muna. I travel a lot, and then, I told her it would be nice to stay in just one place and just really explore. So, she chose Italy. I just chose the main destination (cities) na kaya ng schedule namin. When we were there, she was the one who would decide what we should do. So, we took turns in terms of planning,” furthered Rico.

After touring for a month in a foreign place, Maris told this paper that their communication skills as a couple have improved. “Individually and especially with each other. Because traveling is not all fun, it’s also planning and dealing with weather, health, so we became sensitive to each other after that.”

Rico admitted that there were times when they would disagree on some things during their vacation but they were able to sort them out. “I think we figured out on how we could fix it if ever may mag-come up na mga ganun. Because when you are there, you don’t have a choice. We have to fix it. We are stuck with each other in the middle of nowhere. So, I think that yun ang naging initiative namin na like mag-discover kung paano bang ways if ever merong gusto (gawin).”

After their first big trip in 2023, they’re looking forward to exploring more of the world together.

“My dream (vacation) is for us to be able to keep doing it (traveling together) until we grow old,” declared Rico.