Everyone knows how Jose Rizal’s travels in Europe helped mold his ideas for reform in his

homeland. But it was an unlikely friendship with one European—an academic who was so
engrossed about the Philippines—that cemented these concepts in Rizal’s mind.
Rizal was set to leave Europe for Calamba. His stay in that continent was no bed of roses; the
cost of living was high and his own family, being in turmoil over land disputes, had difficulty
sending him money. Rizal was not only in Europe to write letters to foreign friends and attend
parties; he was there to study and, eventually, campaign for reforms. His stay exposed him to
different cultures and practices, good and bad. And through these he was also able to formulate
ideas as to what reforms are needed in his home country, among them having a free press.
Not all the experiences of Rizal in Germany were good, there is this one wintertime wherein he
lived in poverty because no money arrived from Calamba and he was flat broke. During that
time, he only eats one meal a day and had to wash his clothes himself because he could not
afford to pay the laundry. On Calamba, Paciano tried to raise money but crops have failed due to
locusts and the sugar market collapsed. 
Noli Me Tangere during Rizal’s stay in Berlin was unable to be published. But with the help of
Maximo Viola, who gave him the necessary funds to publish the novel, Noli Me Tangere was
published. Viola loaned Rizal money for publishing and for Rizal’s living expenses. With that,
Rizal and Viola happily celebrated the Christmas of 1886 in Berlin. During the printing of the
Noli, the chief of police Berlin paid a sudden visit to Rizal’s boarding house. The chief asked for
Rizal’s passport, but Rizal couldn’t show any. The chief told him to secure a passport within four
days, otherwise he would be deported. Rizal failed in obtaining his passport and presented
himself at the German police office, politely apologizing for his failure. The police then told him
that Rizal was suspected as a French spy because he came fro Paris and knew the language of the
French people so well. Rizal explained in German to the police that he was not a French spy, but
a Filipino physician and scientist. With that, he could stay freely in Germany.

The travel and adventure of Jose Rizal are an important surface of his education and mission for
the Philippines. Because of his broad knowledge of different culture, he learned from his
journey, it became his inspiration for Reform. Upon his travel Jose Rizal experience struggle that
lead reform to the Philippines.
In his travels across Europe, Rizal reminds us that we cannot harbor a simplistic view of the
continent, which, from Paris to Prague, from Riga to Reykjavik, has had a diversity of
experiences. Instead of looking at it solely on imperial terms, we should realize that some of the
ideals that inspired our revolutions came from it: Europe itself, after all, was a colony of its
kings. And If Europeans are vocal about human rights, perhaps it is borne of their past, which,
like ours, was full of unspeakable suffering.
Rizal also commends us to ensure that wherever we are, our hearts should not be far from home.
When he was in Brussels, he wrote about building a school in Calamba; when he was in London,
he wrote to the women of Malolos. The Philippines was always his reference point, and today,
with more and more Filipinos going and living abroad, we have much to gain if we allow other
countries to inspire us about what can be done for our own.
Finally, Rizal in his European journeys exemplifies the importance of an international outlook:
one that strikes a balance between patriotism and the idea of a universal brotherhood. Faced with
the splendor of Europe and the varying attitudes of the people he met, Rizal felt neither insecure
nor resentful, even if he had plenty of reasons to feel that way. Instead, he took a more
enlightened path: learning as much as could, opening himself to new experiences,
communicating his ideas in reasoned tones, and building friendships along the way.