I first had my sights set on China. You might wonder why I decided on China first, and not some remote beach. The answer was simple, I was being frugal, and the flights into China are among the cheapest possible from Korea. After four days of research I mastered an itinerary. I presented my thoughts and plans to Corwin proudly, like I was displaying some animal carcass we could both share. The plan was aerodynamic, a flight to Beijing, a train to the great wall, and another day or so for tombs and temples. After a night train we would awake in Shanghai, where we would check out buildings that look like tennis balls and eat some more food that was not so delicately fried.
the streamlined train, that was my itinerary, was derailed by a single statement. I can't just tell you the statement though, I have to forward it with the question I was asked "Won't it be too cold in China in December?" (I'm from Canada, the girl who posed the question is from Arizona) The statement: "Did you hear that you have to have six months remaing on your Korean visa to get a tourist visa for China." The question coupled with the statement delivered a stinging blow, I was so offguard because of the question. It turned out to be all correct, and with 2 months remaining on my Korean Visa, China was done for.
Plan B would have been most people's plan A. The Philippines is a little slice of heaven tucked neatly away in the Pacific Ocean. There were many teachers planning on venturing there during the break. It made all my attempts to complain about China mute, how can you bitch when tropical paradise is plan B? The Philippines became my rebound, I was now scouring the internet in search of revealing pictures, and steamy video of this paradise.
If I couldn't be surrounded by millions of 3/4 tall people, I didn't want to be around people at all. It was with that in mind that I planned an adventure to Palawan Island. It is described as the final frontier of the Philippines (aka tourists haven't fully exploited it yet). As it turns out getting to the frontier isn't cheap, (well if you want to get there quickly). My itinerary for Palawan looked like a frankenstein monster. I had four flights, on four different airlines, and shoddy information about transport on the island itself. I spent an entire day working out possible itineraries to get me into the Philippines, and onto Palawan, the cheapest way possible. A pricetag of 1,200 bucks for 6 days seemed inevitable, and too expensive.The logistics of the problem dumbfounded me, it was like I was planning a small scale invasion of the region. In fact I can probably tell you the best way to get a light armoured divison in and out of Palawan.
Trials, tribulations, investment and heartbreak, is planning 9 days of vacation really worth that? My mother tells me that the best part of a trip is planning it. Mom loves spending weeks to plan every detail of her trips. It's great a way of extending a vacation. An activity that may only take you a couple of hours to do, bound with days of analytical planning, allow that single event to become so much more. While it has brought my mother so much glee, it has created sleepless nights and stress for me. I've not had the same gumption as I once did when it comes to a planning trip this christmas. As is stands now, I... I...
(breaks into song)
..I (might) be on a boat, I (might) be on a boat
not a real boat, just look and see
cause that boats on a cliff, a cliff!
I (might) be on a boat, on a cliff
take a good hard look,
thats a motherfucking boat (on a cliff)..
Plan C might not be such a bad thing, when I get around to planning it...
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