TRAVEL: Turning Plans into Reality this 2013

 2013 just rolled in, have you made your travel plans yet?

If you have not, take time to pause for a few minutes and seriously think about it now. Remember that your plans are your blueprints to reality.

Make this year your best yet, make your rallying cry for 2013 be ‘Carpe Diem! You have the power to make this year special, claim it and go conquer the places and destinations you dream about. Take the first step and the rest will follow.

For those of us who believes that adventures bring us closer to knowing ourselves, it is very important that we do things to make our dreams and adventures within reach. I think what can get us from ‘dreaming’ to actually walking the soils of the places we want to visit are the following:  planning ahead and having that intense commitment to follow through on the plans.

Be committed to turn your dreams into plans, plans into actions, action will turn your dreams into reality.

If you plan ahead you also make things easier for you. You can beef up your trip fund, find the best vacation deal that will give you the greatest savings, file off-time from work or if you are a freelancer like me, arrange your calendar and do your projects ahead of time to create free days that you can fill with memories, experiences and great adventures.

It took me lots of years to realize that there is a huge difference between taking that first step in executing your plans and just thinking about it.  I am happy though to know that now, rather than later hehe. 🙂

By the way, I also realized that if you only make plan without taking immediate action, chances are you will just make excuses one after the other until your intended trip dates pass you by. BUT if you act on your plans today even though it is just the first step, you are increasing the chance of making your vacation a reality tenfold!

Going on a getaway even for a short time will give you fresher perspective on your life, your goals and everything. Isn’t it cool to have that fresh eyes and take on things? *grins*  😀

In case you need more convincing, scientific evidence suggest that there are tons of mental benefits in going on a holiday break. But before you get to your retreat, you need to plan. So YES I urge you to stop procrastinating and ACT NOW.  Look for vacation deals, find the cheapest tickets and the most affordable vacation packages, book the nicest hotel that is within your budget and look forward to discovering new things about yourself, about your surrounding, about the world!

Errr … if you are curious on what steps I have already taken – I have executed the first part of my plan. I already hold my tickets for my travels on January and June. Yeyyy!  My next target is to build the funds for it hehehe.

During the piso fare promos of last year, I booked tickets since booking ahead ensures I get good deals on flights. True enough I got the tickets cheaply. The destination is not definite yet, I just know that I want to explore more of Luzon Island for the first half of 2013. There is no dearth of amazing places to see in Luzon so I find it okay to just book airline tickets from Cebu to Manila and back months ago.

The next step to my trip planning is selecting the specific provinces to visit; my deadline for this is 45 days before my flight dates so I have ample time to make a draft itinerary.  I am pretty sure I will have an amazing time exploring new destinations recommended by my friends from the Philippine Travel Blog community and from reading travel magazines, Philippines tourism reports  etc.

I did not book anything for the second half since I am thinking to explore Mindanao if I have time and funds.

STOP! Therein lays the problem with “if” planning.

“If” plans tends to be easily postponed and then forgotten. Do you agree?

Case in point, I know without a doubt that come what may, I will push through with my first semester vacation plans, simply because I have already invested cold hard cash on the airline tickets. I can’t leave the ticket unused that would be such a waste of money if I do.

Now, compare it with my vacation plan for July to December 2013, the planning is just on my mind still which may translate to “will not push through”. Lol. But I am hoping it will, I am crossing my fingers and will update you with reports down the road hehehe. 

I hope after reading this, you’ll be taking your pen and writing down your travel plans for this year. By putting your plans on paper it make your plans more concrete. Now, if you share your plans with friends and family, you will have added motivation and more reasons to push through it, as you will now have accountability. If you will not push through after promising with earnest that you will, those whom you share your plans to will tease you until the New Year 2014 rolls in. Hehe

Good luck to us! ^_^ See you on the road! Let’s conquer more places and go for more adventures this 2013!

The quotes on this post are some of my favorites. I sincerely wish you and I that may we always find new roads to travel, new horizons to explore, new dreams to call our own.

Cheers! =)

So where are you going on your next trip?