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I've had it at work today. It's only the end of January and it already feels like I've been slaving away for ages. Sorry just having one of those days when I think to myself: Why don't I just quit and go off to do something completely different and go somewhere completely wild?
Oh wait - I've already done it twice. And yes, it was quite refreshing, the best two years of my life.
Everyone talks about it: "I wish I could just pack up and go." and "I just want to take a break and take a few years off..." Most of us don't have the luxury of being able to just pack up and go unfortunately but with some planning, you too, can take a gap year (or gap months...).
Gap years are no longer for kids finishing school, adults are now taking gap years to take a break from their full time professions, to fulfil a particular life long dream.
I've learned a lot during my gap years. You learn not to take life too seriously. You learn that work really is just a method to keep you travelling (in my case anyway). You learn that some things just don't matter. You learn not to take things for granted. Not to mention the different people you end up meeting, the different cultures you end up experiencing, different cuisines you can try, different lifestyles you can adapt to... the possibilities!
It can be just a round the world trip; an educational trip to learn a language, research and write a book; participate in volunteering projects; visit the family heritage... the list is endless.
Why not start planning now?
Volunteer to teach abroad can be a rewarding experience
I can tell you just how frustration it is for me knowing that I am not allowed annual leave until October this year. My full time job is in full swing into the wrong directions and looks like we are all being made to work harder to swing it back.
However, short trips are always been planned! Earlier this month I won a Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb from the very wonderful folks at Vacations and Travel magazine, and just last week my husband won one of the $150 vouchers from Jetstar for posting his star jump photo he did on a beach in Malaysia. You know it's going to be a good travelling year when both husband and wife have finally won something from somewhere, all those hours of filling in competition forms have finally paid off!
So. Where to this year? With the limitation of only during public holidays and the odd weekends here and there, we'll mostly be doing domestic trips. For a quick weekend in February we'll be wine tasting in Barossa Valley; during Easter we'll be heading off to Uluru and checking out the Rock and the nearby Kings Canyon; and a quick trip somewhere during the Queens birthday weekend is still in discussion. Much later this year post October I believe a cruise holiday is on the cards followed by another new years even celebrated somewhere in Asia.
I'll make sure you hear about it all. So stay tuned!
Meanwhile, please do visit Worldette, a website I am now writing for regularly. As well as destination articles, I contribute a Life article every fortnight, with my latest discovery that I have a psychological disorder - Post Holiday Blues | Worldette, and fellow writer makes San Francisco sounds just lovely!
In a reported bid to cut costs, AirAsia X will withdraw some of the popular long haul routes in 2012. From March onwards, flights to Mumbai, Delhi, London and Paris will no longer operate, with the company aiming to focus on the key market routes within Asia instead.
According to AirAsia's press release, Developments in Global Economy, Soaring Taxes and Higher Jet Fuel Prices are the cause of this move.
“AirAsia X remains focused on maintaining its global leadership position in the low cost, long-haul segment. We intend to concentrate capacity in our core markets of Australasia, China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea where we have built up stable, profitable routes within an infrastructure that supports low cost services. We intend to open up new routes within these markets, as well as add frequencies on existing routes. Announcements of our future expansion plans will be made soon.... The implementation of the Emissions Trading Scheme and the escalating Air Passenger Duty taxes in UK, which will rise yet again in April 2012 has forced our decision to withdraw our services to Europe.” Azran Osman-Rani, the CEO of AirAsia X explained.
This is an unfortunate outcome for those looking forward to fly with the low cost airline, however AirAsia X states that ticket holders are able to either claim a full refund, or to use their flight towards another AirAsia X flight.
For further information on this press release: AirAsia Press Release.
I have big plans for 2012. There is an entire Australia to be seen and lots of beautiful islands of the Pacific to explore. Of course, a trip on a cruise ship would be really lovely. Unfortunately nothing can be solid yet as I am still paying off our Thailand trip!
Meanwhile, I'll just be sitting at my desk... dreaming
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So it had been a great journey. We try to experience something different each time we travel and Thailand had given us wonderful opportunities to try new things!
We tried our hands at cooking Thai cuisine...
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At the place where we boarded the boat on Phuket. I told you there were nice places like this!
Blue skies, turquoise water, beautiful islands. It was a great sight.
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We were determined to do something active while in Phuket and we discovered Phang Nga Bay National Park.
Phang Nga Bay and its series of scattered lime stone islands
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It's all quiet on the Love Adventures front, as I have been concentrating too much on Travel String!
So, it's another new year for another fresh start. We started the year by flying back home from our two week holiday in Thailand (visit www.travelstring.com for stories on this). Travelling with my husband is always fun, as we have a tendency to drive each other nuts but loving it at the same time
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I couldn't think of anything funny/tacky/nice as a title for Patong. It is, Patong. It is one of the places (like Bali, which I found much tamer than Patong even in the heart of Kuta!) that has so many stories attached to it and that I had to see it to believe it, and I found that place exactly as what everyone says about it. It is tacky, modernised, full of sex and alcohol, rude and extremely in your face. It is not a nice place at all.
Jungceylon - a modern shopping centre in Patong. It wasn't all that bad, and it's a good place to hide in to get away from all the 'crap'
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We were back in Bangkok for two more days to exercise my credit card and to meet a friend who was in transit here to Bhutan. However no way was shopping going to take all day and our friends also had their agendas for the day, so it was off to Kanchanaburi we went.
If you are unfamiliar with the name Kanchanaburi, perhaps you've heard of the River Kwai Death Railway. Kanchanaburi province and town is around 130 Km west of Bangkok and is surrounded by mountains, rivers and waterfalls. However, this town is more infamously known for the Bridge over River Kwai, the Death Railway, a Japanese construction project that killed approximately 100,000 prisoners of war and local labourers during the World War II
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Comment by AmyHuang
on Wishful thinking
Project Job Search
Travel Debate
Travel String
Love Adventures
I just won $13 in last week's lottery, so that means I actually can afford a coffee or two at work!
Easily satisfied. I know