Travels

Chasing the Sun

I recently realized how a lot of people go to other countries for a holiday because they can’t experience summer in their place at the time. Just like two weeks ago, I saw so many tourists in Bali, Indonesia. I was also there to lounge at the beach and just relax; a couple of times I went to the waves to practice surfing.

How we wish that we can just control the sun. But since we can’t, we can chase it wherever it is high up; that is if money’s no big issue.

dreamland bali
Dreamland Beach in Bali, Indonesia

In my case, I don’t normally take the weather into great consideration whenever I travel. I usually just book a flight and and deal with it as I arrive at my destination. I’m a little lucky because most of the time, the weather is on my side. *knocking on wood*

magpupungko beach siargao
Magpupungko Beach, Siargao

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On the Road Movie Trailer

One of the movies I’m looking forward to watching is “On the Road” which is based on a book with the same title. This was written by Jack Kerouac and despite being in the travelling scene for quite some time, I’ve only heard about Jack and his famous book recently.

I seldom get to watch movies but I fancy these road trip diary scenes as they had inspired me to do what I’m doing in the present. Here’s a trailer of the movie below.

The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars, and in the middle, you see the blue center-light pop, and everybody goes ahh… – On The Road, by Jack Kerouac

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2011 Highlights: A Lot to Be Thankful For

As a tradition that started in 2010, I’m recapping the highlights that happened this 2011. This year was a good run for me. I’ve a lot to be thankful for as the blessings just keep on arriving.

Trips

January: Siem Reap in Cambodia, Bangkok in Thailand and Davao City travel picture
February: Anawangin, Nagsasa & Capones in Zambales
March: Sagada in the Mountain Province
April & May were spent at the home & office writing about my travel adventures
June: Palaui Island in Cagayan
July: A free trip to Hong Kong courtesy of Airphil Express
August: Started my Podcast Sessions
September: Salay Cave & Moalboal in Cebu, Manila travel talks and meet-ups
October: got hired online
November: Osmena Peak in Cebu, Dumaguete & Siquijor, Siargao Island
December: Cagayan de Oro, Bantayan, Oslob & Boljoon in Cebu

15 trips that totaled 63 days of travels (including weekends and holidays) and most of the ones during the second half of the year were unexpected at all. After reviewing my leave credits, I have NOT consumed my Sick Leaves (15) and I still have 5 Vacation Leaves left!

I’m truly lucky but here are some travel tips you can practice in order for you to understand how I was able to do it:

Good Health

I’ve never really thought about this but after being sick on the road during a recent trip to Siargao, I realize that I don’t often catch the flu. With my day job, freelance jobs, blog assignments, and my travels, my body does not get the rest it deserves. But I’m glad that I don’t easily hit the sack because of some illness. This makes me appreciate the experiences that I’ve gained just because I’m healthy. I get exhausted at times, but it hasn’t reached a point that I stopped wanting to travel altogether.

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Six Consecutive Trips in Six Weekends

For a month and a half, I spent my weekends out of town on different travel adventures with various people. The surprising thing was that these weren’t really planned at all.

I thought all my travels for the year were over and I was going to stay put in order to finish writing articles and other freelance tasks. I had unexpected trips but had a great time in the process.

Weekend 1: Boljoon, Osmeña Peak, Kawasan Falls, Moalboal

November 12-13, 2011

Doi, Edwin and I went with travel blogger Dong Ho to Boljoon to visit the church and climbed Osmeña Peak, which is the highest peak in Cebu. Then we met up with another travel blogger, Jerome, in Kawasan Falls in Badian and chilled at Basdaku beach in Moalboal. We slept at a barangay hall, climbed down a mountain with hardly any light, took a dip in the waterfall, relaxed at a beach and visited our friends, George & Isa, at The Outpost.

osmena peak cebu
Conquering South of Cebu

Weekend 2: Dumaguete, Siquijor

November 18-21, 2011

Headed to Siquijor with Ron & Monette, Chichi, and Doi and spent a couple of days on motorbikes while touring the island. We visited a couple of falls, jumped off a cliff, tried to swing like Tarzan (but failed), made crazy videos, and had a quick side trip to Dumaguete for food! We met up with travel bloggers, RV and Mervz, as well as chatted with a kind soul along the way.

siquijor
Motorcycle diaries in Siquijor

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Riding Trains

I haven’t been able to update this site in quite awhile. Been busy with a lot of things at work and my outside work. But I’m excited for the new year when I will jumpstart another adventure that I’m preparing myself for.

I already have a couple of tickets booked and I’ve been saving to help me get through a big decision that I’ll be announcing soon. I’m excited but I’ll wait till I can finally jump off that bridge. Because by that time, I’ll be able to savor every moment of travelling. One of the things I’m looking forward to are long train rides.

siem reap train

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Of Travel Talks, Travel Interviews, and Travel Bloggers

I booked a ticket for Manila out of the blue. I didn’t have any trips as I’ve been saving for a travel fund I’m preparing for next year. But then this unexpected opportunity came up and I didn’t want to miss out on it. Or probably I was just looking for an excuse to go out and travel. Whatever the reason, I’m glad I pushed through with it.

In the middle of September, I spent my days attending travel talks, conducting podcast interviews and meeting travel bloggers.

Travel Talks by WeAreSoleSisters.com

I attended two travel talk events by the Sole Sisters. The first time I was a spectator and the second time I got to participate by sharing my ‘crazy travel story’ which was my bungy jumping experience at the Macau Tower.

soloflighted
photo by Lauren

It’s been a long while since I talked in front of a crowd so my nerves really got me. I think I did okay in relaying my adventure to the audience (I hope).

I was also surprised that a few people had introduced themselves saying that they read my blog. I’m honored and humbled by these readers who said that they found my blog useful – made me feel good that somehow, it has found its worth.

meetup
Thanks for saying “Hi” guys!

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Winter Snow

It’s almost October and soon enough, the holiday season will be ringing in every corner. This moment last year was actually the time when I propelled my thirst for travelling. I remember I was able to travel to Hong Kong and Malaysia within 2 months and some neighboring provinces too. Blame it on so many flights that were booked because of promo fares that were available in the earlier part of the year. I haven’t even continued writing my articles about the places I’ve been.

Anyway, I came across a fellow blogger’s write-up about snow and shared a bit of his experience when he was in Canada and in tubing in snow. Don’t get me wrong, I love being in a tropical country. But I just keep wondering how it would be like to play with ice as it has been one of those plans that I want to do at least once.

photo credit: dennymont

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Inspiring Around the World Travel Videos

The past few days, I was able to watch Around the World Travel videos which made me realize how much more of the planet there is to explore. Aside from the traveling aspect in these videos, they’ve motivated me to hone my skills and pursue my passions. Let me share these videos to you.

Where the hell is Matt? Dance

Matt Harding
wherethehellismatt.com

Where the hell is Matt? was supposed to be a funny clip of him dancing but after a few edits, the idea of this dance in different international locations became viral which gave him widespread coverage of his travels.

This is the third installment of his video series. He started dancing in postcard photo locations in the background when he thought it became boring for him and decided to include people to dance with him.

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My 7 Links: Revisiting Old Blog Entries

Passing off a chain that came from word slayer blogger, AJ Poliquit, whose writing leaves me looking for tissues to wipe my nose. My 7 Links – This is a project by Tripbase “to unite bloggers from all sectors to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that … Read more

Won Dispatch Magazine’s Hunt for EL SUPREMO

I won Dispatch Magazine’s Hunt for EL SUPREMO. It was a simple photo contest of posting your most fearless picture of yourself while traveling. Among the many photos that I have in my archive, I wondered which one to place but when they said we could create a collage, I decided to post most of my crazy photos in the different places I’ve been.

Prizes are:

  • Plane tickets to Kota Kinabalu for one male and one female contestant
  • Plane tickets to anywhere in the Philippines for another pair, and
  • 3 consolation prizes.

Full mechanics can be viewed here. Below is my photo entry with a caption on why I love traveling.

crazy travel
My entry to Dispatch Magazine’s Hunt for El Supremo

Bungy and cliff jumps, headstands and crazy stunts. I do just about anything to make the most of traveling. I live for adventure and share my stories in my travel blog (http://soloflightEd.com). Every journey is a work in progress as I learn more about life and discover realizations that I am normally unaware of when I’m stuck at the office. Traveling on a budget makes a trip more exciting as you acquire new skills of improvisation. Going on an expedition is not as expensive as you think; so long as you sacrifice little luxuries to gain experiences that are far more enriching.

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Killing Time in SM Mall of Asia

12 hours. It’s how long we waited in Mall of Asia in order to kill time before our trip to Sagada. We arrived from a Cebu to Manila flight and we decided to burn the hours online and stroll around this shopping and recreation center. We also bought some grocery items in order to spend less as they say that food is a bit pricey and we’ve been squeezing our resources because we’re really tight on our budget. Lunch and dinner are actually composed of those Jollibee 39er meals which keeps me full after an extra serving of rice.

bos coffee mall of asia
abusing the free WiFi in SM.

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Won a Mountain Hardwear Scrambler Backpack from R.O.X. Philippines

I claimed a backpack that I won from a contest that was organized by R.O.X. Philippines. The Backpack for Bloggers was a contest on Facebook wherein participants were tasked to write about their most memorable Outdoor adventure for 2010. In my case, I shared my bungy jumping experience at the Macau tower which is hands down the best moment as I conquered my fear of heights and I achieved one of my goals that I planned for over a year. Heck, I still can’t stop talking about it as it’s always something I’m proud of doing.

I received the news that I won the bag some time in January but it took me awhile to get it since I’m from Cebu and they needed to ship it to the R.O.X. branch in Ayala Center. Recently, I just had a trip in Zambales and decided to drop by Manila before heading back home. Just shows how anxious I am to get the prize.

mountain hardwear scrambler
Mountain Hardwear Scrambler

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How to Travel to Four Countries Within Four Months

…and still maintain your full-time job.

No, I didn’t take my job with me when traveling in those months but I filed for vacation leaves in between. From October of last year to January of this year, I visited four countries within four months; all of which happened in different times. It was no easy feat considering that I have a day job in a BPO industry. I was apprehensive too, if all my plans would push through considering the number of vacation leaves that I had.

Hong Kong, Macau (Ok, Macau is not a country but just a region of China along with HK, but my passport was still stamped), Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand. I visited these five places which makes me wonder if what I did was a rare opportunity to achieve or if everybody can do it as well.

Friends would ask me if I’m still working in my current company due to my constant travelling. I tell them I’m just lucky to also have a boss that understands my needs to get away from the office environment once in a while. Sure, you may not be able to choose your manager but there are other circumstances that you can control.

kuala lumpur monorail
KL Monorail, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Here are four basic tips that you can take note of so you can travel while keeping your job.

  • Book Ahead – Check out budget airline websites for dirt-cheap promotions which they hold regularly. You’ll be able to save a ton of money because of booking in advance at ridiculously low prices.

My trip to Hong Kong cost me 1200 Php and those are round trip tickets already. (Cebu to Hongkong)
My trip to Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia cost me 850 Php; and that’s riding four planes! (Cebu to Clark to Kuala Lumpur and back)
My trip to Bangkok cost me 6000 Php; actually it’s 5200 bucks more because of a huge mistake of being late at the airport but you understand the point of booking during promo fares.

Suggested websites are CebuPacificAirlines.com and AirAsia.com once in a while to what they’re offering. Better yet, subscribe to their feeds to notify you on their next big airline ticket sales.

venetian hotel macau
Venetian Hotel, Macau

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