u think jetsetting is fun? think again...

I was flipping through my old blog posts the other day and I came across an entry that I wrote sometime in early January. I was complaining about how I rarely spend the weekend in Miri since November. I also promised to myself that I'm going to slow down, give my body and soul a break they need, and to cut down all this traveling by 30-50%. Now, it's July already, the first half of the year has already been packed up in memories and let's see how good I have been in keeping my promise:

50% reduction? My ass. This is the list of AirAsia flights from March - November 2010. In January I flew back to Kuching 3 out of the 4 weekends (the other weekend that I didn't fly was spent for a camping trip in Similajau National Park), and 3 out of 4 weekends in February were spent outside of Miri as well, one of it for my sis' engagement day and another one for visiting Mila in Ipoh. This list also does not include all the Malaysia Airlines flights, recent purchases and business trips (which is roughly once a month, but with the new project that I've been assigned to, might be more frequent).

Just to give you a closer look, this is what a typical month looks like for me:

Notice the red scribbles at the right side of the calendar? Those are the weekends, I jotted down the flight that I have to take in case I forgot. Red scribble in the middle is for a business trip. I used to fill my weekends in Miri with activities like going to the beach, road trips, fooling around, etc with my friends, but nowadays, I spend the precious time at home, in front of the TV,and only come out when I'm very close to dying of starvation. I have suitcases and backpacks lying all around the house....I don't really bother to unpack anymore, coz I will end up packing again less than a week later....I just have different sizes of suitcase/backpack depending on the type and the length of the trip. I'm getting so good at packing I can pack in a matter of minutes for a few weeks' trip. Tapi unpack barang-barang tu boleh mengambil masa berbulan-bulan lah....standard orang malas.

Half of my trips, like the monthly balik kampung ones, are pre-planned...so I buy them whenever AirAsia has their promotional sale...but there's really no point of buying it now, as the flight timing has changed and unfavourable....I'm buying Malaysia Airlines' Get-the-Deal instead....okla jugak....as for the overseas trips, I had to plan it upfront and start saving/allocating budget for it...sebab inila jugak saya dah lama tak beli baju cantik.huhu. Actually in 2009, I was dreaming/planning to go to New Zealand or USA. Since the flight tickets to US is so damn expensive, and it's cheaper to fly to NZ, it was almost sure that we're going to backpack in NZ.....however, later in the year, my sister announced that she's planning to get married this year....so, I pulled out of the NZ plan (my friend decided to go ahead with the NZ plan alone though) so that I can use the money to help out with some aspects of the wedding preparation.

So, come 2010, guess what happened? In February, I learned that AirAsia suspended their operations to Abu Dhabi. It was 4 weeks before my long awaited trip (bought it 6 months before) to the UAE to visit my best friend. I was quite upset but decided not to dwell on it and wait for AA to contact us. When they did, we were given a choice to re-route to other AirAsiaX destinations (except London). Kitorang pun apa lagi, terus memilih Gold Coast as the alternative destination...coz it's soooooooooo hard to get cheap tickets to Gold Coast even during the promotion time, and we get it at no extra charge! So, even though I didn't get to go to NZ, I still get to travel down under (kira dekatla tu).

Then, my boss told me that my training request is approved, and the training is in Houston, USA. I get to travel to San Antonio, New York City and Niagara Falls in this trip. But it also kind of creepy to (almost) get both of the things that I wished for but had to let go earlier. Even though I'm happy to get the chance to go to these places, but it's also a threat to my purse strings, especially since the trips are within a month of each other. Somehow, I managed to figure out the finances....and though there's a lot more things that I wish I can do during the travel, it is good enough. At the moment, I'm still recovering from the trips and working hard to pay my credit card bills....huhuhu....so far, whenever I'm really broke, money will appear out of nowhere and help me to survive....not going to elaborate it here, but Alhamdulillah.

Itu baru cerita pasal duit....kalau travel sorang-sorang pun ada jugak yang tak bestnya...of course, you're free to chart your own activities, but there will be days when you feel depressed because there's no one familiar to talk to, you don't feel like talking to strangers, you got tired of taking your own self-portraits (lagi-lagi aku yang kalau ambik gambar camwhore je akan dikutuk oleh rakan-rakan) and you feel jealous looking at happy loving couples.....not to mention, with no traveling partner to share the accomodation costs with, your choice are limited to crampy hostels at a price of a 4-star hotel back home. You really have to be aware of your health, finances, time and safety. And to have to say 'no' to people yang nak kirim barang is equally hard too, especially for me who classify shopping as a "good to have, but not necessary" activity. Orang lain gi Gold Coast mesti gi factory outlet kat Harbour Town, I just knew about it a week after coming back to Malaysia. Boleh?

Even though it can be tiring and not to mention I don't know what is the effect of all those airport scans will have on my body, I don't know of any other ways to live my life. I guess I'll just have to let nature takes it course. Lagipun aku bukannya ada anak dan laki yang perlu dijaga makan minumnya. My parents have already come to terms with me and my passion for travel. I know deep down they're worried, hence I call them more often when I'm abroad just to let them know I'm doing fine.

For the second half of 2010, I still have trips to Singapore, Thailand and India, plus a family road trip to Sabah to look forward to. Also my balik kampung trips and business trips. And whatever it will be in between. I will still put the target to reduce travel by 30-50% for 2011. I think I have a good start since I haven't buy any flight tickets for next year (except for a family trip to Langkawi in April, hehe). We will see. Mana tau kot-kot I kahwin ke next year...kan, kan, kan?