TRAVELING THE WORLD. We just came back from a short trip to Hongkong last weekend. I personally waited for this for the whole year (we booked our flight last year, in October. Abangan ang seat sales online!) and was super excited to be travelling out of the country again this year. The last time I traveled was in March of 2012, we went on a business trip with my close friends/kinakapatid to China. I had such a great time on that trip! Goal na yan every year to travel to one country at a time, starting first with the Asian countries (when our budgets permit us to do so. haha) . I know we just arrived early last Saturday, and I can't wait to go back! So in honor of my hangover from our Hongkong trip, here are some travel quotes with a little kwento on the side. haha.

It was my first time out of the country with friends, and I can say that it's a very fun experience. We have been on numerous out of town trips before, and we have seen each other asleep, bagong gising, wearing pambahay, so ibang level na ng friendship. haha. But this time, travelling abroad together, I just enjoyed the company, and appreciated each one more. I love having close friends na pwedeng yayain kahit saan, and game always. And all of us (except Boaz, who is part of the group na din. haha. travel buddies!) are architects, that's why we really appreciated the architecture in Hongkong. We practically grew and matured together, and shared all of our major milestones together (falling in love, starting our own firms, our friends getting married and having their first baby :) now its high time we travel together, baka in the near future with our own families na. Traveling together with friends, or family/ your loved ones makes it more memorable and enjoyable. :)

This is our goal. :) One country a year! 

Things I've learned : start a travel fund, it really helped us with this trip. We started early in the year and ended up with more than enough for our trip, to cover our expenses from the plane fares to the hotel accommodations, and the pocket money. We didn't have to worry about our travel allowance. :) I also learned so much during our trip since it's my first time to be travelling without my parents or family, so we handled our own itinerary and money. We learned tips on how to manage our currencies and peso (and computing the exchange rate , knowing/deciding when its best to have your peso changed), and booking and buying tickets for theme parks/ travel destinations/ tourist sights early on to avoid lining up and wasting time, and also to research about the destinations we want to include in our itinerary so we know exactly where to shop in between (have to have time for shopping - for pasalubong and souvenir items. hehe) so that we can visit every destination on our list and that sticking together (or setting a time to meet at a particular place) is the best thing when travelling with a group. :) Of course there are some learnings, and we know better next time we travel. (next year! hahaha) Baka next year complete na buong barkada! :) Yey!

So where to next? hehe. So excited for our future travels! I always thank God that I ended up with someone who also loves to travel, so we can travel the world together! hahaha. Excuse the cheesy-ness. haha. Its such a blessing to be able to experience these trips, with the one you love, and with your loved ones too! It's true that travel does the heart good, makes us realize our blessings, makes us appreciate other people more, opens our eyes to other cultures and interesting people, sights, stuff  and new experiences. God is the giver of every good thing, it's an honor to be able to see His work and creation in all the different parts of the world. My BIG dream is to be able to travel to Europe and makabalik sa US. (siguro when we're done na with Asia. haha.)

So excited to continue to make great memories! 

Will be sure to post lots of pictures of our Hongkong trip here soon! :)

Where would you like to go on your next trip? hehe