Monday 29 March 2010

Two Trips a Year

Entrance fee to Westiminister Abbey in London is a cool GBP15.00 (approx RM74.00). That's why I just passed the abbey and snapped a photo of it from outside :-)

Travelling is expensive, no doubt about it.

When daily expenses starts eating into savings, most people would put travelling last on the list of "needs" as travelling is definitely a "want" which you can go without.

As for me, travelling is important. It not only adds spice to the routine of life, it's also a breakaway, a learning experience and definitely an enriching experience. I want to continue travelling as long as I am able to.

But since travelling needs $$$, I have devised a plan according to my budget, i.e. to travel twice in a year - one in the first half and the other in the second half.

The first trip will be within the region with a plane ticket averaging RM1,000. This would allow me to travel to places like South East Asia and South Asia.

The second trip will be a "bigger" one, meaning the destination will be further from home, with a plane ticket averaging RM2,000 and above. This means Europe, Middle East, South Africa, etc.

It's tough especially when the yearnings of travel are deep, but the pocket ain't deep enough!

Now that I've just started my new job, I was rather apprehensive that my new boss may not approve long periods of leave.

But during our recee trip to Langkawi recently, we spoke quite a bit and I was relieved to know that she's an avid traveller herself. So she understands why I need to travel :-) In fact, she has verbally agreed to approve my 2-week leave come year end, yippie!

6 comments:

aud said...

Yes - travel is getting more and more expensive. I don't think my 'favourite' red airline will have anything under RM100 anymore like before. Hmmph. I might just limit myself to one holiday a year. Or maybe just stick to domestic destinations.

How ah? Time to rob a bank?

Julie Lim said...

Aud,

You're right about the red airlines not offering any more really cheap flights. Moreover they are charging for every single item like processing fees, this and that.

Travelling domestically is indeed a viable option. But I think I'll grow bored after a few times. There are only so much you can see in Malaysia. And that's when I'll yearn to go to places far, far away.

You're right ... it's time to rob a bank, hahaha.

Anonymous said...

I love travelling too, although time and finances is a constraint. To me, if I travel, I aim to make one long trip a year at least, and if lucky, squeeze in a couple of short / weekend getaways.

But you are lucky. Not everyone is as understanding as your boss. To some, they don't even approve a few days leave, let alone two weeks!

Julie Lim said...

Juphelia,

Yeah, I guess I'm kinda lucky to have a boss who understands my need for travel :-) But I'll be working with stress levels to the roof to complete all my work before I can go for any long breaks!

Kanos said...

Westminster Abbey is also free if you go in during the church service. Just be discreet and don't be too obvious that you're a visitor. I've done it before :)

Julie Lim said...

Kanos,

Thanks for the tip. The tricky part is trying not to look like a visitor because as far as I know, not many Asians belong to the Church of England. So I'll stand out like a sore thumb :-)

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