Tag: Recap

2023 Roundup: Revenge Travel At Its Peak

And just like that, another year is about to end. Looking back at this year, I can confidently say it has been a year of peak revenge travel. I started the year without any plans, but I was able to take on more than the usual number of trips I take in a year.

Join me in today’s roundup as I look back on how this year went for this website and my travels, as usual.

Blog Roundup

I am ending 2023 with 36,000+ page visits by over 29,000 unique visitors from all over the world, a big jump from last year’s 16,500+ page visits by almost 13,000 unique people.

Content-wise, I managed to post 38 blogs (including this) that mainly talked about our 2022 trip to France, Italy, and Spain. I also continued sharing my flight experiences with Emirates, Vietnam Airlines, Vueling, Scoot, Air France, and many more. I kept featuring hostels from Europe and Southeast Asia; I also shared itineraries, day trips, and travel tips about the places I visited in the past.

I had a busy but fruitful year maintaining this passion project. I am a little bit behind, but I am keen on finishing a lot of content for you in the next few weeks and months. I want to thank you for sticking by and showing some love to all the posts on this site.

A Dream Come True Part 2: 24 DAYS Around FRANCE, ITALY & SPAIN For Less Than ₱170,000 ALL IN – Airfare, Accommodation, Food, Museum Tickets & Transportation Included

Trips Roundup

VIETNAM

I spent a week in Vietnam before their Tết Holiday last January. I flew into Hanoi, met new friends, and explored the city. I also spent a day in Hạ Long Bay. After Hanoi, I flew down to Ho Chi Minh City on business class with Vietnam Airlines for the first time. I spent a few days around the city and met with old (and new) friends after not seeing them for more than 5 years.

HANOI Weekend Photoblog: 3 Fun-Filled & Spontaneous Days around the Vietnamese Capital City
Flight Report: VIETNAM AIRLINES VN 219 – Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City – Wide-Body Business Class Product in One of the World’s Busiest Domestic Routes [January 2023]
Hostel of the Day: LONG HOSTEL SAIGON – Family-Managed Homey & Value Hostel Found in the Heart of Ho Chi Minh City District 1

SINGAPORE

In March, I flew to Singapore with Scoot with my relatives to celebrate my cousins’ birthdays. We went around Marina Bay, Bugis, Kampong Glam, and Orchard. We also spent a day at Universal Studios Singapore and became kids again with the kids.

I also took this time to reconnect with friends from college dormitory days and my previous 2019 Boracay trip.

Flight Report: SCOOT TR 397 – Manila to Singapore – Reasonably-Priced Early Morning Flight to the Lion City [March 2023]
Hostel of the Day: CUBE BOUTIQUE CAPSULE HOTEL @ KAMPONG GLAM – Budget-Friendly Property in the Heart of Singapore’s Muslim Quarter
Hostel of the Day: THE POD BOUTIQUE CAPSULE HOTEL – Dark-Themed, Futuristic & High-Priced Property Along Singapore’s Beach Road
Flight Report: SCOOT TR 390 – Singapore to Manila – Affordable Low-Cost Afternoon Flight Back to Manila [March 2023]

JAPAN – FUKUOKA & KANSAI REGION

For the first time since the pandemic, I flew to Japan for a week. I started my journey in Fukuoka, stayed only around the city, and hopped on a Peach Aviation flight to Osaka. I spent the rest of the week just walking around Dōtonbori, Shinsekai, and Shinsaibashi. I also took trips out of Osaka and went to Kyoto, to Uji for green tea, and Nara for Sakura.

Flight Report: PEACH AVIATION MM 158 – Fukuoka to Osaka Kansai – Future-Proof & Efficient Japanese Domestic Low-Cost Flight [April 2023]
Kansai 2023: OSAKA & NARA Photoblog [April 2023]
Kansai 2023: UJI – Do-It-Yourself Half-Day Tour Around Kyoto’s Green Tea Heaven + Kyoto Side Trip [April 2023]

HOSTED FRIENDS IN BICOL

For the second year in a row, I hosted Manila friends again in Bicol for the Labor Day weekend. Just like last year, we spent two full days on a private coastal beach and spent the rest of our time around Legazpi and nearby towns.

CEBU

Last August, I took a quick hop from Legazpi to Cebu to spend a random food trip weekend with my N9 constants. We went around the city, ate a lot of food, and enjoyed each other’s company for 48 hours. Like my 2022 Cebu trip with high school friends, we also went out of the city to visit the Sirao Garden and Temple of Leah.

AUSTRALIA

Two weeks after Cebu, I flew to Australia with my parents. I took them around Sydney for the first four days. We walked around the city and went to the Sydney Opera House, near the Sydney Harbour Bridge, to Darling Harbour, Chinatown, and within the central business district. We also took an afternoon out to the famous Bondi Beach.

We spent the remaining 5 days in Brisbane with our relatives, my father’s sister, and her family. We went around the city, drove up to the Australia Zoo, and drove down south to Gold Coast. I will post flight reports about our Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia flights taken during this trip, so I hope you can look forward to those.

JAPAN – TOKYO

In October, I flew to Tokyo for a few days with my high school friends. We have been to Tokyo in 2015, but we have not been to many places. We went around the usual places like Shibuya, Ueno, Roppongi, Tsukiji Outer Market, and Tokyo Disneyland. We also went to Shinjuku, Odaiba, Ginza, and the new Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter in Nerima City.

We also took a do-it-yourself day tour to Fujikawaguchiko and saw Mount Fuji in its glory. We were three days early before its first snowcap, but we just found another reason to go back in the future.

I have so much to write about our Tokyo trip. I hope you can look forward to these contents in the future.

DAVAO

Last month (November), my travel and buffet buddy got married in Davao. My friends and I flew to Davao to witness this very important occasion. We went only for the wedding and nothing else. We also took this chance to spend time with friends whom we had not seen in a long time.

HONG KONG

Early this year, my friends and I joined Hong Kong Airport’s World of Winners campaign and luckily won Cathay Pacific tickets to Hong Kong. We used the free tickets early this month and flew to Hong Kong for 4 full days. We went to the usual places like Avenue of the Stars, Mongkok, Ngong Ping Village, City Gate Outlets, and The Peak.

We also spent one whole day in Hong Kong Disneyland, from park opening to closing. We availed of Klook’s early entry tickets and immediately rode the two new rides in the newly-opened Arendelle: World of Frozen. Please look forward to my Hong Kong blog next year.

Bonus – US Tourist Visa

Another achievement I got this year was getting my B1/B2 United States Visa, which is valid for 10 years until December 2023. A day after arriving back from Hong Kong, I showed up at the Embassy of the United States of America in Manila for my visa interview. I got approved eventually and got my visa after four days.

I will write about the do-it-yourself process of getting this visa soon and post it, hopefully next month.

What’s In Store for 2024

You might wonder what plans I have for next year. At this stage, I am unable to disclose until everything is final or the trip has happened. I do not have a lot booked, but I am looking forward to whatever flight deals come my way this coming 2024.

Of course, I will not stop posting details of my previous trips, flights, and hostels. I have a lot of content planned for 2024. I am looking forward to sharing all of them with you.

2023 has been a great travel year for me. Thank you to friends and families who joined me on all these trips. Also, thank you for sticking with me throughout the year. I look forward to taking you with me on my future adventures! Here’s to more in 2024 and beyond.

I wish you, your families, and your friends a fun-filled and prosperous 2024! Happy new year!

Cheers,
Paolo ✈️

2022 Wrap-Up: Reopening, Reunions & Revenge Travel

It’s 2023 – Happy New Year! I hope you had a memorable time welcoming the new year with your families & friends. Before I start planning the year, I’d like to wrap-up the eventful 2022. It was the first year that pandemic-related restrictions had been scrapped, if not relaxed. It was also the first time in a few years that we’ve spent more time physically with our families, friends & colleagues. It was also the first in a long time that we Filipinos were given the hassle-free means of traveling locally & abroad. Join me as I look back on how 2022 went for me & this website.

Flight Reports

The work from home set-up allowed me to pack all my things in the metro & move back to my hometown in Albay. I am currently based here until God knows when. This also meant that I have been flying in & out of Bicol International Airport almost every month. Out of all these flights, 6 of them were featured under the Flight Reports section this year – see list below.

Flight Report: PHILIPPINE AIRLINES PR 2922 – Legazpi to Manila – First PAL Flight in 3 Years
Flight Report: PHILIPPINE AIRLINES PR 2919 – Manila to Legazpi – From a Crowded Terminal 2 Experience to a Delayed Flight Back to Albay
Flight Report: CEBGO DG 6192 – Legazpi to Manila – Delayed First DG Flight Out of BIA [March 2022]
Flight Report: CEBGO DG 6207 – Legazpi to Cebu – My First-Ever Regional Flight Out of Bicol [May 2022]
Flight Report: CEBU PACIFIC AIR 5J 325 – Manila to Legazpi – Last-Minute Cheap Jet Flight Back to Bicolandia [May 2022]
Flight Report: PHILIPPINE AIRLINES PR 2920 – Daraga (DRP formerly Legazpi LGP) to Manila – Last-Minute Mabuhay Miles Redemption Ticket to the Metro [December 2022]

I also took some flights out of Manila, Davao, Singapore & even Kuala Lumpur. Check out the list of these non-Legazpi flights below.

Flight Report: CEBU PACIFIC AIR 5J 971 – Manila to Davao – Excellent ₱872 Domestic Flight on a New Generation Fuel-Efficient Aircraft [March 2022]
Flight Report: CEBU PACIFIC AIR 5J 982 – Davao to Manila – From a Missing Pre-Booked Seat to a Delayed Late Night Flight Back to the Metro [March 2022]
Flight Report: SINGAPORE AIRLINES SQ 915 – Manila to Singapore – First International Flight After 31 Months [June 2022]
Flight Report: SINGAPORE AIRLINES SQ 114 – Singapore to Kuala Lumpur – Delayed Short Hop on One of the World’s Busiest International Routes [June 2022]
Flight Report: SINGAPORE AIRLINES SQ 107 – Kuala Lumpur to Singapore – First Ever Flight on the Controversial Boeing 737 Max 8 Aircraft [July 2022]
Flight Report: SINGAPORE AIRLINES SQ 916 – Singapore to Manila – Excellent but Turbulent Flight Back to Manila [July 2022]

These posted flight reports don’t cover all the flights I took in 2022. There are still a lot missing – mostly from Emirates, then Air France & Vueling Airlines. I hope to share them on this website soon!

Hostel of the Day

With travel requirements scrapped & borders now open, I took some trips within the Philippines & even abroad. This meant that I stayed in some hostels & led to these hostels being featured on the website. I wrote about the 2 hostels I stayed with in Kuala Lumpur. I also had my first ever collaboration with our friends at Z Hostel Philippines. They invited me to stay with them for a few days & to experience the Z Hostel vibe.

Hostel of the Day: PODS THE BACKPACKERS HOME & CAFÉ – A True Backpacker’s Home Near Kuala Lumpur’s Central Transportation Hub
Hostel of the Day: THE BED KLCC – Modern & Premium Capsule Hostel in Kuala Lumpur City Center
Hostel of the Day: Z HOSTEL PHILIPPINES – Makati’s Prime & Best Value Hostel in the Heart of Poblacion

I stayed in a few more hostels somewhere far, but I have yet to reveal the details in future posts. Watch out for these 4 hostels! For now, check out the hostel features posted in 2022.

Trips

2022 was another memorable travel year. For the first time since late 2019, I came back to what I love doing the most – traveling. I’ve revisited some local & international destinations & also explored new countries, cities & places I haven’t been to in the past. Let’s look back at the trips I had in 2022.

PS. I will refrain from posting group photos with friends for confidentiality purposes.

HOSTED FRIENDS IN BICOL

After almost 10 years, my college friends (N9) flew back to my hometown in Bicol. I hosted them for 3 days & 2 nights here, took them to a private coastal beach & accompanied them around Legazpi. The last time they visited me in Bicol was back in November 2012.

A few weeks after, my former officemates-turned-friends also paid a visit. I hosted them for 4 days & 3 nights, spent most of the time on the beach & took them around Legazpi on their last day.

It was fun showing my friends around the province. I hope more friends will visit me here soon!

DAVAO

I mentioned in my That No Travel 2020 post that we planned to fly to Davao for a reunion at the same time to celebrate a friend’s birthday. This plan happened after 2 years. Loose inter-regional travel restrictions allowed us to travel from Manila to Davao for 3 full days.

We’ve all been to Davao after our college graduation so we just went around the city & ate. We visited a few restaurants, took a day trip to Samal Island & again eat, eat & eat. We just enjoyed our time together after 2 years of not seeing each other physically.

CEBU CITY & BANTAYAN ISLAND

Last May, my high school friends & I flew to Cebu for a quick weekend getaway. We took the direct regional service from Legazpi to Cebu & immediately went around the Queen City of the South. The following day, we took a 3.5-hour drive up north & rode the ferry to the famous Bantayan Island. We stayed there for 2 full days. We all flew back home from the new Mactan Cebu International Airport Terminal 2.

CEBU-YAS WEEKEND: 4 Days Around Cebu City & Bantayan Island [May 2022]

KUALA LUMPUR

After being on the ground for 31 months, I flew to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia via Singapore. I used my KrisFlyer miles & got a good return ticket with Singapore Airlines. I stayed in the city for a week, temporarily worked from the hostel & went to meet people from Couchsurfing hangouts.

Friends from the Philippines followed to Kuala Lumpur after a few days. They joined me for 3 full days around the city. I took them around KLCC, Bukit Bintang, Batu Caves, Chinatown, Masjid Jamek & Genting Highlands. Check out the full Kuala Lumpur blog list below.

3-Day Kuala Lumpur Weekend: Do-It-Yourself Below 20K Trip Around Malaysia’s Modern Capital City [July 2022]

EUROPE 2022

In late 2022, my friends & I flew to the other side of the world & spent 2.5 weeks around Paris, Rome, Florence, Milan & Barcelona. I used my Emirates ticket credit that I booked back in January 2022. We spent the first 5 days in Paris, then we flew to Rome & explored the city for another 5 days. The remaining 12 days were spent equally between Florence & Milan in Italy & Barcelona in Spain.

France
Italy
Spain

I haven’t posted anything about this Europe 2022 trip on the website, but I will start in the next few weeks. I have over 20 planned blog posts for this trip alone. Watch out for the Emirates flight reports, new hostel of the day features, city itineraries & day trip photoblogs – everything about this trip to Europe – in the next few weeks & months.

Wrap-Up

2022 was definitely a year for the books. The world has reopened & people have started to move around places. People went out & spent quality time with families & friends. The same people also restarted travelling. Revenge travel is real.

Personally, I am thankful for all the times I got to reunite & spend time with my family, friends & colleagues. I am delighted that I got to see most of them in person after numerous times of seeing them virtually. Hopefully, the worst is over for the pandemic. There is no other way for all of us but to learn from & to move on from the lessons of this historical event.

What’s In It for 2023

You might wonder what my plans are for this year. Unfortunately, I am unable to share everything until all plans are finalized or until everything has happened already. It is still risky to plan far ahead given the possible global economic crisis. I do hope that everything pans out well.

One thing is for sure – I will share every detail of my recently-concluded trip to Europe. Please expect more itineraries, budget travel posts, flight reports & hostel of the day features.

Thank you for being with me in 2022. I hope all of you stay & even invite more friends to join us on this journey called 2023.

Wishing you, your family & friends a fruitful & meaningful new year. Take care!

Regards,
Paolo 🙂

That No Travel 2020 – A Year of Refunds, Flight Credits & Cancelled Trips

2020 – an eventful year no one expected. It was a year that challenged the world’s normalcy, every country’s government & health system, every business & every person’s daily life. Things changed in a blink of an eye – natural disasters here & there, global pandemic, ‘environmental reset’ for a while & now, the new normal with strict health protocols.

The past travel years have been very memorable for me – 2016 was all about travelling solo, 2017 was about discovering new places & revisiting the old ones, 2018 was about reuniting & travelling with friends & 2019 was all about crossing borders & making travel dreams come true. 2020 was different – it was a year where I had big travel plans but nothing came to fruition. It was a grounded year full of refunds, flight credits & cancelled trips.

Let me share with you what were my plans for 2020, what actually happened & what the future holds.

2020 Plans

I started 2020 with a high note; I had big plans for this year. I booked tickets to old & new destinations, planned to reunite with friends in Davao, Palawan, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur & Bangkok, travel with my mom to Australia, take my colleagues to Vietnam & revisit Europe for the 2nd year & Japan for the 6th year in a row.

I also had plans of trying new airlines (Emirates, Qantas, Virgin Australia, Thai Airways), flying different aircraft types (Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 747-8 & Airbus A380 (thrice!!)) & staying in new boutique hostels around Asia, Australia & Europe. I had a long list of new things to try & planned contents (old & new destinations, thrift hacks) to share in this blog.

I was so looking forward to flying the world’s superjumbo jet in these 2 flights from HKG to MUC 🙁

All these plans got postponed or cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

What Actually Happened

The deadly virus believed to have started in China before Christmas 2019 – just days before I got my Chinese tourist visa. Its effects were not widely talked about until the country imposed a lockdown for the Chinese New Year holidays. Flights to & from China were cancelled; borders in various countries were closed for people coming from China. People all over the world started to become cautious about everything.

Our Shanghai weekend trip got cancelled for obvious reasons. Everyone lived normal lives except that people wear masks. We booked tickets for the rest of 2020 trips; we even got our Australian tourist visas for the April trip. Little did we know, the virus started to spread in Europe, particularly in Italy in February & the rest of the world in March.

Here in the Philippines, the government imposed a community quarantine effective 16 March but was later changed to the strictest form of lockdown from 17 March. The country closed its borders with all domestic & international flights suspended. Everyone was forced to stay & work from home. Malls & offices were closed, public transportation systems were shut down & streets were empty. Only limited essential movements were allowed; only 1 person was allowed to go out per household. All countries around the world also closed their borders, imposed strict lockdown & limited movement protocols.

The first of many flight cancellations I received back in March 2020. I remember I was so looking forward to this Airbus 350 flight from Brisbane to Singapore only to find it out was cancelled. 🙁

Our Saigon weekend trip, Davao weekend trip & Australia Holy Week trips got cancelled one after the other. We applied for a refund for the Saigon trip & opted for travel fund / travel credits for all Davao & Australia tickets. All accommodation bookings & trips were also cancelled. Airlines were forced to suspend commercial operations. The world’s travel industry paused.

Our N9 March Davao trip was initially moved to August but was then cancelled due to metro MECQ

Restrictions were somewhat eased in June. The government was forced to open the economy but the number of cases continued to rise until the end of the year. With the level of uncertainty happening around the world & with all borders closed, I was forced to cancel the planned trips to Malaysia, Thailand & Europe. Again, these tickets were either refunded or kept as travel credits.

Our Bangkok trip also got cancelled because of Covid & we got our refund from PAL after a month!!

I didn’t take any trip in 2020; I’ve been on the ground for the whole year. On a lighter note, I caught up with my Europe blogs. I also continued posting about hostel of the day features, flight reports & even the ‘hit’ Tuesday tips. I also introduced new sections namely P’s List & Flying 101.

Towards the end of the year, I almost ran out of content to share & completely lost motivation to write. It felt like the pandemic is here to stay for a while. I stopped looking at airline websites & booking air tickets, stopped reading about & looking for new destinations & even stopped watching travel vlogs. I stopped everything I was doing for travelling & turned away from this website for a bit. That is the main reason why you are reading this 2020 recap in July 2021.

The Future

It’s now mid-2021 but the pandemic is still here. Vaccines have arrived but new virus variants threat the effectivity of these brilliant works of science. What does the future hold of us? No one knows. I am very positive that this pandemic will end & that we will all go back to the normal lives we were used to.

Currently sitting on various travel credits & funds from different airlines. Where should I go first?

As for this site – it’s not going anywhere. I will start posting in the coming weeks & months. I will also start planning my future trips; I have so much travel credit to use! I also plan to travel domestically as soon as it’s relatively safer outside. I guess we have to learn to live with the virus for a while!

I know it’s too late to ask but I was wondering how your 2020 went? What happened to your travel plans? Did you push through with some of them? How was it travelling during the pandemic? Feel free to share your cancelled 2020 trips, pandemic travel experiences & plans for the future in the comments section below.

I will end this recap here but I hope that you are all healthy & sound. Please always wear a mask & observe minimum health protocols when going out. Also, please get vaccinated when you can! Let’s do our part in helping the country achieve herd immunity & in helping the world end this pandemic. Stay safe!

2016 Recap: Going Solo

In less than 25 hours, another year will come to an end. Before I start another calendar year in my life, I believe it is a good time to look back where this year took me.

2016 was mostly about solo travel. After years of travelling with various sets of friends, I finally had the courage to go on my own, (re)discover old & new places, experience different cultures & meet new friends.

Let me give you a recap of how this year of solo (& some of not-so-solo) travels went.

Yangon, Myanmar

I initially planned this as the first solo trip of the year but my friend Geof tagged along. There are no direct flights from Manila to Yangon; so we had to book tickets to Bangkok, then onwards to Yangon. We had a 16-hour layover in Bangkok so we took the chance to go out of the airport, stay in a hostel over the night & see the Grand Palace in the morning.

           Team Philmar at the Yangon Amazing Games 2016

Then, we took the afternoon flight to Yangon & spent the rest of the trip there. We joined the Amazing Game Yangon & attended the Global Village 2016 Program, both organized by AIESEC in Myanmar. We also went around the city by foot, discovered different temples & pagodas & experienced Chinese New Year in Yangon Chinatown. We went to different markets, tried their street food & watched football (with beers) with our roommates in the hostel.

                   A visit to the Shwedagon Pagoda

Of course, a visit in Yangon will never be complete without visiting the Shwedagon Pagoda. It’s definitely a place to visit in Yangon.

Koh Lipe, Thailand

This should have been a beach trip to the Gilis in Indonesia or a weekend in the forests of Luang Prabang, but plans changed when Carl, the Brit guy we met in Ao Nang last year, recommended Koh Lipe. This place is also known as the Maldives of Thailand.

It was my first international solo trip, to an island unknown to all people I know back home. It took me 2 flights (Manila to Kuala Lumpur, then to Langkawi) & 1 ferry ride (Langkawi to the island) to reach Koh Lipe.

                 Walking at the shores of Koh Rawi

I had the most relaxing 3 days of my life there. I literally walked around the beautiful island, sipped some fresh fruit shakes while sitting on the shore, enjoyed some quiet time in paradise, got sun-kissed in the scenic beaches & met some cool new friends in the hostel & in the island tour.

Koh Lipe is truly a paradise; it’s a place I will definitely go back to in the future.

      With my sister in the grounds of Petronas Twin Towers, KL

I had a one night stopover in Kuala Lumpur before I flew back to Manila. I dropped by to visit my sister who was assigned there for work. We heard mass & had lunch together; also made a quick visit to the grounds of the Petronas Twin Towers.

Pangasinan

For the 2nd year in a row (& maybe for the last time), my friends at work decided to have a beach weekend trip somewhere far from the metro. We, a group of 16 fun people, went to Pangasinan for a weekend last May.

           View from the Governor's Island, Hundred Islands

We spent the first day around the Hundred Islands in Alaminos City. We walked around a crowded island, went to caves & jumped over a cliff. We then went to a lighthouse, a beach, another cave & into a market on the 2nd day.

                      With the best colleagues!

The road trip was really long, we enjoyed each other’s company.

Boracay Island, Aklan

This trip pushed through just because I didn’t want to waste the cheap roundtrip tickets I booked. I went to Boracay all by myself, stayed in a party hostel & ended up having a great time up to the point I didn’t want to leave.

                 Mad Monkey Hostel Boracay's pool

The weather wasn’t that favourable during my stay. Good thing, Mad Monkey Hostel had a swimming pool & a bar / restaurant. I found myself staying in the hostel all throughout the trip, talking to different people from all parts of the world, drinking with new-found friends & exchanging travel stories with everyone.

                           Boracay Beach

It was also one of the days where I had too much alcohol, passed out & woke up in my bed the next day not knowing how I went back the night before.

El Nido, Palawan

Just like the Yangon trip, this was supposed to be another solo trip. Days & months after, my high school travel buddies joined, making it a reunion trip for the 4 of us. The last trip the 4 of us were complete was way back in Singapore 2 years ago.

           With my highschool travel buddies / constants!

El Nido is place I will never get tired of visiting. It was my 3rd time to visit the paradise & I still am in awe of how beautiful the place is. I took my friends to Nacpan Beach twice (Yes, twice!) then joined them in the famous Tour A (Lagoon Tour).

                    Small Lagoon, Miniloc Island

It’s one of the trips where we made great memories together & enjoyed each other’s company.

Bangkok, Thailand

This is the best trip of my 2016. I wasn’t able to see much of what Bangkok has to offer but I surely had fun drinking, socializing & partying.

   One of those nights in Khao San Rd with 10 other solo travellers

I flew to Bangkok with a roundtrip plane ticket, a hostel booking & no plans at all. The only ‘tourist-y’ I probably did there was to go on a day tour in Ayutthaya. The rest was all about meeting people, eating ฿40 pad thai on the streets, drinking Chang beers & partying in Khao San Rd.

           A game of cards turned into one big party group!

I also met & hangout with a lot of people from all over the world – England, United States, Canada, The Netherlands, Poland, India, Gibraltar & a lot more.

Japan

When I went to Japan last year, I made a promise to myself that I will definitely go back to explore more. It didn’t take long for me to book tickets back to Japan; thus this trip was born.

      European city vibe in a middle of a Japanese City (Nagoya)

This 13-day trip brought me to the beautiful gardens of Nagoya, the historical sites of Hiroshima, the ancient temples of Kyoto, the busy shopping streets of Osaka, the friendly deers of Nara, the tender beef cuts of Kobe & the delicious ramens of Fukuoka.

                   Arashiyama Bamboo Forest in Kyoto

I was able to experience the Japanese culture again but this time with the luxury of time.

                          Deer selfie ;)

That sums up all my travels for this year. I may have explored fewer places & countries this year; but I surely made awesome memories with different people.  I might not have anything booked or planned as of yet, but I look forward to another year of solo (& maybe not-so-solo) travels for 2017!

*Yangon photo credits to Geof & Nappark photo credit to Danielle.