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What type of traveler are you?
Do you plan your trips well in advance, looking at scheduled holidays for the year and plan corresponding travels? Or do you decide where to go just a few days before leaving?
As a budget traveler, I am definitely a planner. Cost is a major consideration for me, and there is nothing like Cebu Pacific’s seat sale when it comes to cutting down the price of airline tickets!
Last year, my return ticket to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia was only P871 (around US$20); this year, my Beijing trip only costs P2900 (~$US70) for a return.
However, I do plan trips on short notice, especially when it doesn’t require plane travels and if it is on my bucket list. Last weekend, together with almost 50 CouchSurfing members, I went to Anawangin Cove in Zambales, a 4-5 hour trip from my house.
It was definitely an eye-opening experience of what happens during a full moon party, and admittedly quite a lot of fun, but I have to admit it also reinforced my desire to travel solo or at least with a smaller group next time.
Last night, I have also decided to go to Anilao in Batangas next week to—finally!—enroll in an open water dive course. Scuba diving has remained un-crossed out in my bucket list for a long time, and I’m ecstatic to finally do it this year!
If you are an impulse traveler, do you worry about the cost at all? What do you do to bring it down? I know some use online resources in planning their last minute holidays, while others make do with strategies that make their trips über-cheap.
Some travel bloggers, for example, cut costs while traveling, from sleeping in a hammock rather than renting a room, to hitchhiking. I could do the latter, but I would probably prefer spending P150 or so for a room rather than get cold and feasted on by mosquitoes if I sleep outdoors.
Bottom line, I plan my trips well in advance to be able to save a lot. I don’t do last minute planning, unless it’s something in my bucket list (like caving and scuba diving!).
How about you? Are you a planner or an impulse traveler?
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20 Comments. Leave new
@ My: Philippine residents are not required to have a visa when we go to Malaysia. We’re automatically given a 30-day visa on arrival (free). Not sure about your boyfriend, as I don’t know his nationality. If you’re going to KK, you can dive, yes, but you can also go island hopping and hiking in the Mt Kinabalu park.
hi. im from the philippines. my boyfriend is in brunei. and we are both planning to go to KK Malaysi this July. this our plan, i am going to travel from the philippins to brunei first. and then from brunei, we will both go to KK Malaysia. problem is were not sure on the visa and all. are we supposed to get visa to enter KK Malayasia? we are only planning to tour there for 2days only. were not yet sure where to go but mainly we want to try scuba diving. can you give us some tips? please email me as soon as you are free. hope to hear from you soon. thanks much.
@ Bon: There are so many places I have yet to see in the Philippines. You’re right; we do need to travel locally first.
@ Liz: We haven’t had a chance to travel together. How about Tinuy-an Falls? 😉
@ Marco: yeah, pasalubong can really eat up your budget. I just buy a bag of chocolates/candies, or cheap stuff like keyrings or ref magnets.
@ Nonoy: I agree, sometimes, it’s more fun to be surprised!
@ Gay: That’s where travel blogs come in, right? We can help people who haven’t been to the place we visited learn about our experiences there.
@ Fetus: Yep, hehe. I don’t want to do much of it though. Don’t want to get penalized!
@ Tin: thank you for the kind words 🙂
@ Airine: Hope to meet you in one of the meet-ups!
@ LokalSoul: Thanks. Surfing is in my bucket list, hope to do that in the near future!
as far as surfing is the goal, everything is unplanned 🙂 great to have stumbled your site.
nice view thanks for the post, find you at FB
I love your blogs…:) you inspire me..:)thanks.
so you finally did what we emailed about! hehehe…
i’m a planner. i plan that i will travel, and at that moment i’ll go anywhere! hahaha
Hmm… A lil bit of both actually. Pag within the Philippines, impulse traveling most of the time. Kasi I sorta know my turf. Pag overseas trip, I do a bit of research (I don’t obsess about it though) para at least alam ko kung ginogoyo na ako. Hehe.
I am an impulse traveler, I should say. I love surprises and serendipities. I am a type of a person who cherish and enjoy the spur of the moment without caring about the consequences. hehe.
Nice post and lovely blog. 🙂
Im super budget traveler, haha if possible, I dont buy pasalubong hahah
Al, I have not been travelling for like 3 years? But believe me, I always plan for my travels! At times nga, kaka-plan, di pa natutuloy (yung ibang kasama sa travel plan)…that’s when I get the impulse to travel lalo pag na-frustrate sa mga di sumusunod sa usapan. Like when I went to Malaysia and Singapore, it was supposed to be a group tour but it ended up only 2 pushed thru. Tinuloy na namin…it went well naman. So I guess it depends on the circumstances. But it sure is great to plan ahead – cost-wise! 🙂
As a family man, I am now a budget traveler and a planner. Before when we dont have yet kids, we are impulse traveler. It is much better to be a planner and a budget traveler. Aleah. I am truly inspired with you guys in pursuing our travels within the Philippines muna. Ayaw kasi naming maging banyaga sa sariling bayan. :-).
I’m also a budget traveller. So, it depends on the destination. If it requires plane travel, I usually plan ahead but not to the point that I already have a resevation in a hostel or a resort. I enjoy searching for cheap yet comfortable hotels, it also makes me acquinted with the place. But there would be “spur of the moment” times where I just want to satisfy my cravings… kaya minsan, go lang ng go, kahit saan ako dalhin ng paa ko… hahaha!!! go go go!!!
I feel the same way too. And sometimes those spur of the moment travels become much more memorable 🙂
Aleah! i think I’m bit of both hahaha…impulsive in terms of booking for flights esp the promo fares! whoohh I can’t help it even if I know I don’t have the budget. But of course I do plan ahead especially the overseas trips. It’s important to have enough foreign currency for pocket money hehe 🙂
I’m sure I’ll catch you again in one of the Cs events! See ya!
@ Karen: I’m now your fan in FB! Gawa na rin ako ng fan page ko haha. Inggit much? Hope to see you again in CS events!
it surely pays to plan ahead of time: it’s cheaper and you get to fully study your destination before you actually leave. that means, for example, you get to actually understand the significance of the temple before you go there.
@Jerik: I agree! Though I also like not knowing about the place and just go where my mood takes me.
Nice, soon you will be blogging about the underwater world after you finish that course 🙂 (I plan a lot but I still want some flexibility. That is one of the joys of solo travel because you can just sit one day and do nothing or do a marathon trip from one place to another without having to think of other people. But now, I travel mostly with Charles, a spontaneous traveler, so we balance each other out 😉 )
@ Claire: Yeah, I’m super excited na to go diving! It has been in my bucket list so long that I really need to cross it out na. 🙂