Travel Bits: April 2020

Planning for my next vacation.......

Apart form the trip itself, one of the greatest thing about a dream vacation is the trip planning. Finding out about the places to visit, the food to eat and the kind of experience that can be enjoyed is a joy for anyone who enjoys travelling.

While my motto has always been to travel with only a loose plan in place so that I can serendipitously  chance upon some delightful travel experiences, a loose plan still needs some basic information before it becomes what it is, a plan!

With the internet literally at my fingertips, I can easily look for information whenever I have some free time in-between work meetings or tele-conferences. And these bits of information that I collect are all cut-and-paste digitally into my smart phone. A month or two before the trip, I will collate all this information to form a broad itinerary such as the cities to visit, the areas that I want to stay for the night and the sights and food I want to enjoy. With this in place, I proceed to finalise my accommodations, flights and the local commutes at the destinations.

Visiting the Uspenski Cathedral and taking photographs of its unique architecture was one of the highlights of my trip to the Finnish Capital City in spring of 2017, Helsinki, Finland (2017)

Also useful for the trip will be information like weather and culture. This helps me to decide what to wear which in turns decide what goes into my travel luggage. Because I always travel light to leave enough space in my luggage for the inevitable shoppings, deciding the right clothings to bring along for my trip is necessary. If the weather is going to be cold, heavier clothing and a jacket or two will be required. If the weather is going to be sunny, warm and humid, then light clothing and bermudas will suffice. And if I am planning to visit any places of worship, then a long sleeve shirt and jeans will be required because I would need to dress more conservatively. Any plans to dine at high class restaurants may mean one or two slightly more upscale piece of clothing in my luggage. 

I always enjoyed planning for my trips much as I enjoy embarking on the trips. I usually do not go into deep planning because I want to keep the technicalities away. For me, the enjoyment factor is paramount when I travel for vacation. I plan enough to prepare for the trip but leave enough time and space in my itinerary to enjoy that chanced encounter or experience that always define a great trip.

Citrus fruit skins being sun-dried outside a local home. I chanced upon this photo opportunity while walking around the rural areas of the city without the aid of a map, the idea being to enjoy whatever crossed my paths. Luang Prabang, Laos (2017)