featuring the Dubai Fireworks Display 2017 courtesy of Amazing Videos
While contemplating at my seat during the eve of 2017's first day, the thoughts of another year full of adventures excited me and that made me imagine new places, new faces and of course brand new photo gallery sets. Well, I better be more active with creating my photo book since there's a huge pile of back logs from the past year. I am worried I won't be able to complete everything but that's a good problem to think about.
But there is no better way to start the new year than with a clear plan and firm resolve. I know this will be a year of more quality traveling with my husband and perhaps with family and friends. Last year, we get to travel with just ourselves so we are making this year's travel stories to include some of our friends and family members too!
Have More Quality Travels
As full time working individuals, my husband and I consider traveling as the best reward we can give ourselves. Our love for Photography has always enabled us to to search for moments to capture and for narratives to share. Thanks to bitLanders for giving me a medium to share these photos we take and blogs I make. With a wide range of viewers from all over the world and from the different parts of the country, I am able to share the beauty of my beloved native land - the Philippines.
I have been very thankful for the job which I have landed almost two years now which had always enabled me to work depending on my availability and travel as well at the same time. I am thankful as well for the fact that I can continue to work on bitlanders and some other sites while also working full time. This has enabled me to earn additional income while also enjoy social interacting. I couldn't thank my employer enough for this job and I guess it is safe to say that I love my job.
So to more Quality Travels and to more travels. Plus enjoying it with friends and family. That means we will be saving more too since group travels give us another reasons to earn travel discounts. This is a big thing and will also help us save up for the next travel trips.
Focus More on the Travel Location
I also have plans, call it agenda, thoughts, goals, name it all but I would like the idea of unplugging myself from technology and be more in the moment while traveling.
But I know this is easier said than done so it would be a challenging goal to do specially that in this generation, technology has somehow over ruled the humans. Like whatever we do, we seem to be almost dependent to technology. When we arrive at work, we have to log in to our digital system for the time logs. When working, computers are usually used, when we go out off work, we have our mobile phones to play games with or interact in the social media. Digital age and fast growing technology is definitely getting into our lives and how we live.
And with traveling, I can't get to take my phone off from my hands, why?
1. Ticket is on the phone
I don't really print out our tickets when flying. I only save it on my phone after receiving from the airline via e-mail because printing would mean having to spend papers and inks for information which will only be looked up by the airport personnel in the computer.
Also if I have to print it, there's a huge chance of losing it. Thanks to the mobile PDF file viewer application and I can just store it and on travel date, retrieve directly from my mobile phone.
2. Itinerary saved on my phone
With the use of Google Documents application, I keep most of our itinerary. Well, this is when my husband and I go on DIY travels which is what we usually do most of the time.
There are certain cases where we go on package tours specially when we are with friends, just like what we are doing right now during the travel to Surigao. There's no reason to keep an itinerary since the tour company does it for us.
But in those times that we go on DIY travels, I always keep dual copies of the plan on different applications just to ensure that I won't be losing it. These itinerary documents will also be shared online so I can always retrieve it just in case something happens, like losing my phone which hopefully will never happen. So it is very important for me to save it on two apps on my phone in case the other application fails and ensure that the two app enables online synchronization.
The applications I use are Google Documents and Google Keep. They both have online synchronization options and that this gives me the ability to open the info on my phone and on my husband's mobile device.
3. Maps application is easy in phone
It has personally been proven that when DIY traveling or even with tour packages, one needs to know the geographic location. My husband won't go out without the map because he want to be able to trace the certain places we have been to during trips and even afterwards.
There were also cases when we get lost during our expeditions, we have to look into the app to get ourselves back into the right places. Multiple of times that this kind of scenario had happened and multiple times, Google Maps had helped us. The direction option in the application helps us get from the current location towards the destination with just a few clicks. Then there's the option to send it to someone which is cool.
Also, when traveling I get to check the distance and the number of travel hours before hand so I am able to create itineraries by knowing the exact or perhaps approximate time that we arrive in the location. Oh and if you don't know what public vehicles to take going to the location, Google Maps can also help you with that.
4. I write blogs on phone
One of the most important reasons why I can't take off my phone is that I write my blogs on my phone during traveling. A lot of times when I write my blog live, like for an instance, when flying and the phones have to be switched off or perhaps turned into airplane mode, the latter I chose of course, I would be making the drafts on my mobile phone application.
Most of my blogs have been written on my mobile, I tend to write faster and words just keep popping out when I write my blog live. Just like what happened during our Surigao trip. There were lots of land travel so I have to make the most out of the situation. Writing on my phone through Google Keep enables me to write and have the document director saved on my phone since it has the auto save functionality. It is easily accessible online too and the synch is pretty neat. As long as the mobile is connected to the internet, the documents get synced to the cloud.
Do More Research Before hand
I had a realization in the recent trip I had with friends and family to Surigao, that was our first travel for the year and the experience had made me regret that I didn't do much research on the location and the geographical area of the location from the airport which we landed to the airport which we were supposed to depart from the land.
That experience had made me realize that if I should have researched and found out that the location is too far from each other, I should have reconsidered the timing of the flights.
Mindanao is indeed a huge area, land travels take lots of time to move from one place to another. The airport in Tandag was a small one which doesn't have lights in the runway abd would be difficult for airplanes to fly when the weather is bad and at night which is why the flights there are only scheduled at noon time. So when our flight was cancelled, I felt really bad booking that ticket instead of the one in Butuan.
Anyways, that was a regret I consider charge to experience and don't want the same thing to happen to us in the future.
But that has been a good lesson to remember and that hopefully, in the future, when certain cases happen, I will make sure this was not caused by my carelessness. I would like to make all trips to be as memorable as the rest.
Spend More Time With Family
The last year has been a bit challenging for me to go home to be with my parents, due to the challenging year that was, I couldn't get to spend a lot of times with them. Got to only go out with my parents once to Lumayag Sand Bar which is regretful that I have not let them see the other sides of the province. They were instead able to go to Dubai, where our eldest brother is based so that I suppose is a once in a lifetime experience for them.
But this year, I am hoping that we will get to bring our parents together with us during trips and travels. I have planned of bringing them to Henan Beach Resort in Panglao, Bohol. I am also aiming that they'll be able to see dolphins and schools of fish in Balicasag Island as well as Bohol's Virgin Island. These are still plans so I do hope I can do reach these goals.
Be More Active in Social Welfare Activities
Last year, my husband and I stumbled upon the savethechildren organization which I had also shared in a blog post on how we were able to help our less fortunate brothers and sisters specially those of which didn't have anything including educating their children. The organization has been also updating us with the activities and events which had been done with the help of the donations made in a monthly basis.
But aside from that, we would like to be able to share even the other organizations as well with the simple and small amount we give. Just like how we get to share with the UNICEF program for children whilst flying on board with Cebu Pacific, they had announced that they had partnered with UNICEF to help these children, their tag line was:
Help Children Fly Everytime you fly.
The new year makes us think of the future - what's going to happen and what's coming up. It's just like a start of a hike.
Indeed things are not certain but once we have some goals in line, we may or may not achieve all of them available in the list, we would still be able to at least get a glimpse of goals, we can allow ourselves to fail, but we should never fail to stand and move on. We have to continue with our journey in this world. There will always be times when we need binoculars to see those things that are far away. So we gotta be ready with the materials we need to get our feet starting for the future.
How about you? Any goals to achieve in 2017?
Regards,
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