Where Do You Want to Go in 2014?

Inspired by Twenty-Something Travel

Read Twenty-Something Travel's post and decided to put together my own list of places I want to visit in 2014!

Cambodia
The return tickets have been bought. Now I'm just waiting for a good deal on the tickets to Phnom Penh. I've planned out the route and more or less figured out the places we want to cover. We'll be landing in Phnom Penh, taking a bus or car to Battambang and then a 6-7 hour boat ride to Siem Reap. All this over 7 days with visits to The Killing Fields, Genocide Museum, Bat Cave, Tonle Sap and Angkor Wat. We're going to ride on the allegedly soon-to-be-extinct Bamboo Train as well...(at least I hope to get my dad to do it. Haha). It's going to be a pretty short trip so I've got to make sure things are figured out before we embark.

Likelihood: Very high! :D

New Zealand

I've been telling my friend and cousin studying in New Zealand that I want to visit them while they're there and I think it's about time I actually go! I'm going to try my best to make this trip happen. It's going to be a longer than usual one, probably 3 weeks to a month . I'm waiting for cheap tickets and hoping like hell that I don't regret missing the sale that Jetstar was having about a month back! Bus and train will be my main transport options and I definitely want to do some treks, climb some glaciers and bungy off some ledges. Am considering couchsurfing and maybe WWOOFing for a bit too. We'll see how it goes. I'll probably be starting with Auckland and then heading down South. My sis and nephew might join me in North Island for a while too. We'll see how things go. I'm waiting for cheap tickets now so *fingers crossed* My eye's on the prize!

Likelihood: High!

South-East Asia

THIS is THE TRIP. The trip I've been wanting to do for years. Inspired after reading Tony Wheeler's blog on his Singapore - Shanghai overland trip years back, I made it a goal to do this is the near future. No planes, just land/sea travel.Years have passed and the near future has gotten further than I would have liked. Haha. Not anymore I hope! I wanted to do this after graduating from Poly but I never got around to actually doing it. I guess perhaps the time was not right? The universe has its way of fitting things unplanned into your timeline. Several years on now and after working full time for more than two years in an uneventful job, I think the time might be 2014. Although my dad has taken a step back and given my rein of my life, he still worries for me and if he worries enough, he might grab the reins back so I'm not sure if this trip will happen. I'll probably know for sure next year.

Likelihood: Maybe?

Sabah, Malaysia

To climb Mount Kinabalu of course! I would like to do this with family or friends though. If I can just find someone/ some people up for the challenge...

Likelihood: Who knows?

Vietnam

If my SEA trip doesn't happen, I want to visit Vietnam or more specifically the Mekong Delta and places around it with MY! She keeps saying she wants to sit in a boat with a straw hat. So this is the place to go. Haha.

Likelihood: Medium High

United States of America

There's talk of visiting Florida again with the kids. But talk is cheap. Hopefully this year it happens and if the time is right and all falls into place, I will be able to tag along!

Likelihood: Low

China

My dad's friend is organizing another trip there. This time to Xinjiang (if I'm not wrong). I would absolutely love to tag along if the dates don't clash with work. China has proven to be quite an amazing place and after my last trip there, I have been yearning to see more of her. I really did not give her enough credit before. The trip's not entirely confirmed yet so hopefully the dates will change and I will be able to go!

Likelihood: Low

Krabi, Thailand

I want to rockclimb again at Railay!!! And I want to check out the rest of Krabi too.

Likelihood: Medium High

Malaysia

It's just next door so why not put it in the list? I would like to visit Penang again if possible! Or maybe a family trip to Taman Negara?

Likelihood: Who knows?

Where do you want to go in 2014?

A trip with my dad!

I'll be doing a trip to Cambodia with my dad next year! I've had in mind to do a father-daughter trip with him for a while and now that I finally have the finances, freedom and ability to plan, it is happening! He wanted my mom to go at first but I was pretty dead set that I wanted it to be a father daughter thing so he (and my mom) relented. Hahaha. I picked Cambodia because I knew my dad wanted to visit Angkor Wat and he loves history so I figured if I were going to propose a father-daughter trip anywhere and have him agree without much hesitation, Cambodia would be it

Part of the reason why I wanted to go to Cambodia with my dad is because I knew that if I were going to visit places like the Killing Fields, the Landmine Musuem and the Genocide Museum, he would be the one person I wanted to have with me.

So yep, the trip is happening next year. It's going to be and is turning out to be quite an experience(just at the planning stage!). May the force be with me and may I be able to prove to my dad that I'm more capable than I seem. Haha.

2014

Already making travel plans for 2014. I have not forgotten about Operation Figureshitout (the name of my mission to figure out what else I want to do other than travel - work at a new place or study?) but it's just so much more easier and less stressful to think about travelling.

ANYWAY, here's what I've been thinking about: New Zealand hopefully in May - trekking, handgliding, skydiving, bungy jumping, visiting family and friend. Short trips to Krabi again to rockclimb, Borneo to climb Kinabalu (I hope!!) OR visit Taman Negara OR climb Rinjani (whichever as long as I climb/trek something/place), a family trip (I'll let the family decide), and if I have enough capability to plan two big trips AND if I have enough finances, perhaps I'll do my SEA overland trip - Singapore - Malaysia - Thailand - Lao - Cambodia - Vietnam - China. Parents will probably not be pleased but I will try to ease it to them. Lately I've been feeling like 2014 might be the right time to start doing these trips I've had planned. It would be good if I could figure out what happens next though. I think my parents and I would be more reassured if I had more concrete plans of what happens after. But for now, let's just wallow in the glorious feeling of planning tentative trips to take in the near future.

Quick update

I really need to start making it a point to write about my trips here. Okay, so since I last posted, Bali, East-Central Java and Krabi-Phuket happened. In Feb of this year, Genting happened and in April, China happened. I've been grabbing opportunities and making trips happen and it's been a pretty fruitful travel year compared to 2012.

The best part about all this is knowing that my dad is letting me go. He's releasing the kite strings and letting my fly awayyy (quite literally haha). I am finally able to do trips on my own and I don't have to lie about them or hide it from them or [insert rebellious act haha]. I know to some people my age this is no biggy because their parents are more relaxed but for me it feels like a coming of age of sorts...like a milestone. Like I finally earned the "Ready to experience the world on her own" badge from my dad. Haha.

I shall keep this post short and end of with some photos from this year's trips. Maybe I'll post more about them in the future...maybe....

Genting - Malaysia

3.38km cable car ride

In the clouds

Sunset from Genting

Pagoda at Chin Swee Caves Temple

Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan - China

Feng Huang Cheng (Phoenix Town), Hunan

Generals Lining Up, Zhangjiajie, Hunan

Karst formations of Zhangjiajie, Hunan

En route to Yichang

On the Yangtze River

175m water level marker. I felt a sense of loss many times while travelling up the Yangtze. After reading River Town (by Peter Hessler), it was hard not to think of what once was and how so much history is now under water.

Imagining how awe inspiring it would have been if the water level were at its original depth

"Curse of the Golden Flower" was filmed here. Photo was taken from under the Tian Long Bridge, a natural bridge formation.

Marveling at the grandeur of this place with my dad

On a prairie up in the mountains. Fairy Mountain, Wulong County.

A rainbow around the sun!

View from our hotel - Wu River through Wulong County

The old overlooking the new. China in a constant state of development.

Bali - Indonesia

Tanah Lot

The family porter

Quality Balinese food at Bumbu Bali Restaurant

East-Central Java, Indonesia

Mount Bromo, Tengger Caldera

4km from Mount Merapi. Photo taken by Leonard Saw

Borobodur

Krabi - Phuket, Thailand

Islands in the Andaman Sea

Climbing some rocks at Railay!

Indonesia

BALI
Going to spend some quality time with 5/9 of the family in Bali this weekend. We haven't got much planned so it's just going to be a totally chilled and "see how when we get there" trip. We'll be staying at Nusa Dua, a gated high end resort area with a supposedly nice beach. Looking forward to just chilling with the family and spending quality time with my nephews who are growing up so fast. We only have 4 days there so we'll be focusing mainly on places in South Bali. Sis left me to plan where to visit so I'm trying to read up about places and stuff. So far, Kuta (You can't go to Bali without at least checking out touristy Kuta right?), Seminayak, Nusa Dua (Duhh), Jimbaran and Tanah Lot are on the list. I'm hoping we can do some snorkelling too but we'll figure out how and where we can do that when we're there. We won't be renting a car so I guess catching their Bluebird and Bali Taxis to get around would be the best option.

It's a bummer we can't cover most of Bali on this trip. I'll probably have to make another trip to visit Ubud, Northern Bali, Lombok and Komodo Island next time! No complaints there!

EAST JAVA
Plans for Bromo, Malang and Yogyakarta are really coming together. We've found accommodation and tours and bookings have been made. Am really looking forward to see how the trip will pan out. I still haven't figured out the less exciting part that comes with trip planning- insurance, emergency contacts, phone connection, etc., but I'll get there. I still need to break the news to dad too! Haha. That's the scariest part.

Alright, back to Bali reading. Until next time, safe travels and happy planning!

HI

I haven't taken the time to craft a nice first post for this blog. So here goes...


My name is Desiree, I'm 21 (22 this year but only once I hit July so let's just stick to 21 for now) and I was supposed to do an awesome South East Asia trip after graduating from Poly but I never got around to doing it. One day, I was feeling all upset about how at 21, I still hadn't done the trips I planned of doing, when my 17 year old "idealistic, I'm going to travel, I won't subject myself to a job I don't love, there's way more to life and I must not lose sight of that" self said WAKE UP. STOP WHINING. DO. 

So, I decided to start this blog as a first step. This is where I intend to write about future trips, trips I'm taking, have taken, am planning to take and am dreaming about. I want to keep a repository of my travel dreams (I wish I could find a less corny word but my vocabulary fails me..), my achievements and failures and look back one day and say "Hmm I didn't do too badly".

This evening, I booked air tickets for my first trip without family/a tour/my school. Just two other friends and myself. My dad is going to be pissed but let's cross that bridge when we get there.

For now, East Java awaits!