Life? Go travel!

I'm a hardcore dreamer.. yeah, both literally and figuratively.

Familiar with a scene where you see pictures of delightful places and then suddenly you dose off wandering or say imagining as if you're in that pic? And then suddenly you're boxed by Reality and boom! on the left side is your if and then on the right side is your but and the dreams were transformed into stars hovering your head. Hehe.

So I came up with a list of buts and ifs and categorized them into these:

• Time : I'm sort of juggling motherhood, studies, career and all other extra curricular activities and then this? My solution? Of course I can't just dizz away guiltily carrying all these woes, so I plan all my travels way far in advance. Leaving me enough options for conflicts and stuff. So if you have none, go make one!
• Money : I'm not a posh traveler, that I have to say. The idea is for me to get the gist out of this places and people and the not vice versa hence the backpacking. Oh it also pays to be a fan of this and that. Travel tours, low cost airlines, hotel booking site and etc. for you've got to be the first to know should there be a promo. And of course, book ahead to save as almost in anything, it comes cheaper when booked in advance. Little by little, imaginary build on how to live like a local. Read blogs and most importantly, save.
• Emo Baggage : Hehe. Sad but true. No one is born brave enough to face the world. It takes time and mastery and a whole lots of guts. In short, experience. So what are you waiting for? Pack and go! 

Choosing between those pullings and pushings is not an option. There is no contest at all, as they come like a tick with a tock. Hand in hand, summing up life well lived. :)

Carpe diem~

In transit: Zamboanga to Bangkok

Well, it was hell.

The mere thought of starting this reminds how I silently cursed everyone on my way.

It was supposed to be an early morning flight to Manila. Which supposed to spare us 7 hours hassle free travel time to Clark. My quick vision of it during my planning stage is that it would be leisure trip ahead.

Coming from Sulu Archipelago, the nearest international flights would be coming from and going to Manila, Clark (like ours) and sometimes via Cebu so to speak. So that leaves you no option but to pass by either of these places for you to be able to fly internationally. By 6:30 am we were already seated by the airport's boarding gate. We were these morning fresh couple smilingly breathing crispy sunshine. An attendant called us in after some time and there we were, with already fastened seat belt. The cabin door was already closed, everyone was seated, waited and again waited until the captain announced that there was an engine problem and that we need to alight the plane and wait for further announcement. Wow. So we lalala waited. Then the announcement finally came and it said, our flight to Manila was moved to 3pm.. Well okay, let me lay down our "supposed" flight itinerary that day for I know this is confusing:

7:45 - 9:20 Zamboanga to Manila
10:00 - 12:00 Lunch
12:00 - 2:00 Manila to Clark
4:15 - 8:30 Clark to Bangkok

There. This can't be happening! Denial then with composure I headed to the airlines counter and politely told them my concern. There was no way we could wait for the 3pm flight to Manila for we need to be in Clark before that. Options options options for if not, everything will be ruined, lots will be wasted and what? left overs will be meant to learn from their mistake? No way. So we were left with an option to fly to Cebu and then to Manila with expected arrival time by 2:00 pm. So not fair. But then we need to gamble with time and pressure. No time for pointing fingers and we were like Pacmans gulping instances on the way. Familiar with a reality TV show "Amazing Race"? It was more like it, only that this time we are dealing with random people in real time without a script.

Then we landed Manila by 2pm, which would need us to rent a taxi from NAIA Terminal 3 straight to Clark's Diosdado Macapagal International Airport, giving us with travel time including traffic congestion an 1 hour and 15 minutes beating the 2 hours trip. Not minding the agonizing P4200 rip from our pockets. Plus the condition that our driver can't go beyond 120km/h he was already in his last warning for over speeding violation. We vested upon the taxi driver the pressure as we leave everything to his control as if he was our god like anytime I would raise my white flag.

3:30 we were still not in Clark Airport.. 3:45 I found myself in between begging and giving up when the airline's attendant refused to check us in for we were 15 minutes late pass the boarding time. Reasons like they already had admitted chance passengers and outright purchases and that she can't promised us seat vacancies. I swear, I'm never a pushy type of person. I don't beg and never I insist but at that moment, I just feel like I need to pull my last string and there, with hands clasp together, I uttered the word "please". She went soft , exchanged words with the captain and finally checked us in.

Tips?

1. Avoid connecting flights with different airports and airlines. Save the travel time in between airport transfers especially when you're commuting in between.
2. When flying with low cost airlines, give at least 12 hours allowance or depending on flight availabilities for they are a point to point carrier only. They are not responsible with your connecting flights especially with different airlines or when your heading international. We'll never know when force majeur strikes or like in our case, engine trouble.
3. Be courteous all the time, mind your words and keep your cool.

To sum it all up, we were in transit for 14 hours, 5 airports, Mindanao to Visayas to Luzon to South East Asia, 3 coffee cups each and lesser nicotine intake. Glad Bangkok is a delight.