Location:
Location was something I thought about after my initial decision on time frame. I thought Southeast Asia was an automatic shoe in because I haven’t been there and it would be a no brainer because I am currently living in South Korea but it was still stressful and required some thought. I have never seen Vietnam, Lao, Thailand or Cambodia and wanted to see them but I also finished reading Shantaram which is an awesome book by Gregory David Roberts about India. This new painted picture of India for me made me want to include India as well.
Brake! Stop…three and a half months is not long enough to see SE Asia and India. India would be at least 2 months in itself for me, so I was thinking about leaving SE Asia and doing just India instead. So I looked at some plane ticket prices to see what cost factors would help me decide and realized that it was pretty much the same. So I started researching and talking to friends about both. India is a developing and changing country and I wanted to see it while it’s still raw and not yet a developed tourist destination. Thailand and Southeast Asia is a pretty beaten tourist destination, except for Vietnam and Laos which are still more undeveloped. Hmmm. After talking with friends who have been to both places they believed that Vietnam was changing faster than India so I should see that in the next couple years first.
Done!
Now this opens a whole other can of worms….one way flights, visas, vaccines, ticket costs and how am I going to roughly plan how I am going to do my route while hitting everything I want to see, getting a cheap ticket out and meeting my boyfriend in Laos for three weeks in November, which is the most inopportune time and difficult place because I want a month in Vietnam and a month in Laos. Still working on this one…
Monday, 19 April 2010
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
Step one: Time
Everyone starts their trip planning slightly differently and probably has their own insight into what works and doesn’t work for them. When I was preparing for my first trip I was anxious and worried and thankfully had a well seasoned traveling mother to help me through the packing and planning stages. I was grateful for the help but in the end I had to make my own decisions.
Almost two years ago now, when I was 25 I left for South America for 6.5 months. Each stage of planning brought new idea’s and worries about what was to come and eventually when traveling brought things into perspective and also contributed to new ideas that had not occurred to me so I wanted to put together my thoughts as I plan for my next trip.
I want to break down fully how I plan a trip so you can get an idea of how I make decisions and plan for a big trip.
Time:
First, I decide on an area and an approximate length of time. Included in this is the time of year I want to go and whether or not it suits the locations I want to go. The past year I have been living and teaching in South Korea so it was a no brainer for me to stick on this side of the globe. My contract ends August 31 so starting the first week of September made perfect sense. Additionally, I have not been home for Christmas in two years so I am determined to be back right before Christmas. That gives me about three and a half months, give or take, to work with.
In the past I have not worried about time and bought a ticket to a destination and traveled until I was tired or low on funds and found a return ticket home. This is the first time I am restricted by the length of time. Now that I have an idea of the approximate time the next step is location or destination.
Almost two years ago now, when I was 25 I left for South America for 6.5 months. Each stage of planning brought new idea’s and worries about what was to come and eventually when traveling brought things into perspective and also contributed to new ideas that had not occurred to me so I wanted to put together my thoughts as I plan for my next trip.
I want to break down fully how I plan a trip so you can get an idea of how I make decisions and plan for a big trip.
Time:
First, I decide on an area and an approximate length of time. Included in this is the time of year I want to go and whether or not it suits the locations I want to go. The past year I have been living and teaching in South Korea so it was a no brainer for me to stick on this side of the globe. My contract ends August 31 so starting the first week of September made perfect sense. Additionally, I have not been home for Christmas in two years so I am determined to be back right before Christmas. That gives me about three and a half months, give or take, to work with.
In the past I have not worried about time and bought a ticket to a destination and traveled until I was tired or low on funds and found a return ticket home. This is the first time I am restricted by the length of time. Now that I have an idea of the approximate time the next step is location or destination.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)