Its funny trying to book flights. When you think ok that’s the route. Done. Book it now. And then the traveller in your head goes “oh what if we go here instead….” that’s when you start realizing – this is not going to be easy. Planning a trip of a lifetime has been difficult but I need to be realistic and say I aint going to make everyone. I have a plan and I need to stick to it.
Financially and to do with what events I am trying to attend I am organizing the trip into 4 stages. First is Asia and New Zealand. This adventure will hopefully conquer 25 events and give me the opportunity to explore areas that I have flown over in the past but never actually explored on the ground. I can google what what every country looks ike but its not the same when you explore.
You get to hear the sounds you cant hear from google. You get to see the sights you cant experience through a screen. You get to see the hustle and bustle of the city centre or even the quiet atmosphere of alleyways or countryside.
To be able to organize a trip like this is an honour. Now most probably the question would be why an honour. To be able to have the financial resrcoue, have the ability and have the determination to do so – is an honour. Also to do my family proud and to be able to go and see the world and tell people about it – will be something rather special.
Booking flights is not just as simple as saying – I will go here to here and that’s it. I need to think about certain festivals and events – and link them with the destinations I am going. For example, I am flying to Brussels then the next day Ajax are playing there last home match of the 2019 football season so I need to get to Amsterdam and the next day get to Dresden in Germany for a music festival – all in three days.
The other point about booking flights is the amount of options. I have never seen some of the airlines I am booking with and never even knew half of them existed. It is exciting when you get on the website and try to book as you would with a local airline, one that you know, but instead you are met with a Vietnam Airlines website, which is not globalized one bit and trying to navigate through is tricky. But this is what travelling is about – its about understanding how other people and things are done – and not just everything being the same.
(Options and trying to make the timings work – was one of the key and stressful things…)
As my first flight will take off in 2019 I will remember the first one I booked the flight. I will remember that excitement and know that for a year I will be flying those butterflies each time I go on the flight and to a new destination…that’s the excitements of travelling.