Sunday, January 26, 2014

2013 Travel Roundup

Happy New Year! It may be weeks already from January 1st but the Lunar New Year is coming up so, my greeting is still appropriate. Agree? Anyway. Thank heavens for I can still find enough reason for everything!

Updates on this blog have been really sparse at the end of 2013 and it occurs to me that this recurring absence is nothing but a part of a natural course. Ups and downs. Highs and lows. Joys and sorrows. Bitter and sweet. Synonymous to my life actually. For this blog is of course, one of the many threads that knit together and consequently becomes me. I like to believe that I have these numerous aspects in my life, to make myself sound interesting. lol

Before I succumb to self-indulgence and before my patience runs out from writing on a tablet, here's what my 2013 has fared. To preempt myself, I think it has been a great year. Generally.

February in South Korea



Clad in Peter Pan-ish attire, I braved winter for the first time in South Korea. It was also my first official solo trip to a country where the only people I knew was a scanty number of its celebrities. I had to come up with some names to my folks, you know.


March in Bintan, Indonesia


I did the solo thing yet again for it's something one needs to get used to. I was supposed to go home during this 3-day weekend for the holy week but I hadn't booked in advance. The air ticket was effin expensive and I still had to recover my dwindling finances from my winter trip. But I had to be away so yeah.

May in Baguio City, Philippines


With months of preparation and a costly flight cancellation in between, we finally had our family getaway after a really long time. Not seen in photo is my brother and me obviously.

July in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam


Breinn spent his birthday with me in Singapore but as always with her girlfriend's impulse, we spent the remainder part in Ho Chi Minh. This reminds me of how far behind I am with my backlog for I still have to wrap up my posts about this trip and also Baguio. Shucks! I'm so doomed!

August in Cebu, Philippines


My first trip back home for the year. Although I have been with my family last May, it's nothing but perfectly nice when you tread on familiar soil and see everyone you sorely miss.

October in Europe


Until now, I can't wrap my head around the idea of me, leaping out from the continent I've always been in and into another. But it isn't an idea anymore because it just happened before everything can even sink in. More on this soon, hopefully.

November in Bangkok, Thailand


I had that nagging feeling of wanting to go to Bangkok and I didn't want it to be later. It just had to be November. And judging by Bangkok's recent events, I'm glad that I did. It even turned out to be one of my appetizing weekends with old friends.

November in Cebu, Philippines


I was looking forward to be home on Christmas when my anticipation came a little too soon. I just had to be home after the super typhoon, Haiyan. And this sunrise significantly tells of the hope that we hold dear in our hearts.

December in Cebu, Philippines


Sometimes, life has its way of putting everything together. It may be too hard to understand at first but you just have to keep faith that it turns alright in the end. With that, a holiday of 3 weeks shoved at me, was not something I could ever decline.


For those 3 weeks however, I was shuffling myself between home and the city. The city where I had endless errands to take care of and the only new place I had managed to squeeze in was the historical town of Argao in the south of Cebu. One particular thing to note was that Breinn and I decided at the very last minute on where to go. Like I only had 30 minutes to gather my things and off we go to the bus terminal for an evening trip. Delirious I know.

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The later part of my 2013 felt like a roller coaster ride. I don't know if the elation has been carried with me until now. All I know is that I'm bracing myself for what has yet to come and I hope for this renewed courage to not falter and consistently tide me over for what lies ahead.

The previous year has taught me a lot of things. I realize that listening to my stubborn intuition has lessened my would-be regrets someday. There may be a number of things to consider before jumping into a huge decision but at the end of the day, we must choose what makes us happy. Truly happy. Circumstances may no longer be the same when we frequently raincheck on the things we want to do. It's now or never.

Although, I met a big hurdle in 2013 but when I come to think of it, that hurdle helped things to be where I needed it to be. I'll end this post with this quote from my Twitter feed. "When you think things are falling apart - they are actually just falling into place"

Hello 2014!!

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