They say that you should travel the world to see all the beauties that they have. Each country and city have their own unique tourist spots that cannot be seen in others. For example here in Philippines, we have many beautiful beaches because of our tropical weather.
While we envy most of other places that snow in winter, since we only have 2 seasons here: summer and rainy season, and others have 4, most of the whites love coming here to experience our white beaches and get a tan.
Even if us locals do not want to get sun burned, and we could not understand how they love choosing here for staycation, I think they also get confused as to why we like visiting their hometown and get to make snowman and snowballs.
So since I started working and earning for a living, I met quite a few friends who love travelling. And one of them was the one who invited me to join her in her Taiwan and Japan tour. I first travelled in 2012 to visit Taipei and some other provinces.
And in 2014, we went to Tokyo to eat ramen and takoyakis. And in a span of one week, I am proud to say that we were able to go the places that are most highlighted in the both countries.
I remember having heard before that going to Japan is expensive and it will cost you a hundred thousand in our currency (that’s around 1900 US Dollar). But with the help of my friend, we were able to enjoy and go to their famous tourist spots at half the price.
Yes, you read it right. I only spent half of the normal cost, and this included even my pocket money for buying presents and stuffs that I like. And yes again, you read it right. I was able to go home with my medium sized luggage full and with an additional medium hand carry. (And have I told you that I am a great packer? Hihi 😀 )
The normal cost that I am telling you is that if you booked a tour package which can be done at half the price, but with a little (or MUCH) of your time researching and researching, and planning to make the best trip that you want.
What’s best about it is that you have control over your time, whether you want to do some side tripping or you want to stay long in a certain museum, but take only a little time in a certain park or temple.
Also, in tours, you will be going back to your hotel by around 8 or 9 PM, which we usually are still in the middle of our night shopping just yet. So don’t you think that this is a win-win situation? 😀
Early this year, me and my husband had our honeymoon at Japan again. Yes I was back there, but this time, we visited not only Tokyo, but also Osaka and Hakone. My husband is in his second time in Osaka, so I took some ideas from their previous trip (done by his friend).
And after so much researching and thinking, I was able to make our trip memorable and at the same time, we were able to visit (and revisit) the spots that had amazing view. At the same time, eliminating the irrelevant ones.
I did not have a hard time in Tokyo since I had been there and was quite familiar (even if roughly 3 years had already past) so I only did some researching and voila! I did it. With the help of my friend too – she had a lot of inputs, because she is the most experienced in Japan (I wrote about it before too, how her heart was broken once due to an unfortunate event).
And then after our Japan trip, we went to Europe. And again, made our own itinerary. But this time, since we were with my husband’s friends and travel mates to go there, they were our trip captain.
Hubby’s friends did all the researching and booking and planned everything ahead. They even asked us if there is any place that we would like to visit. Thank God that we enjoyed the whole trip.
Even if I had a bad sore throat during one of the days that we stayed in Spain, but we were still able to enjoy delicious meal sets and desserts. Ah.. Just remembering them is making me hungry.
So if ever you want to travel but you see the travel packages, and think that you are under their budget, do not lose hope. Because nowadays, it is not too hard to plan your own trip.
Just make sure to do a lot of research (and I mean, a LOT!) and seek help from your friends too. You will never know when you will need the experiences that they may share, and you might just find yourself a new travel mate! 🙂
For some travel tips, please also visit my topic about ‘travel tips: save some, save more’. It might help you get some idea on how to make the best out of your trip. Also, feel free to comment if you want to add some ideas to help others too. 🙂
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