Travel - To love or Not Love - That is the Question

Whenever I go out on a trip out of the country, I always hated the last work day before the trip... it's always toxic since you have to rush the requirements for the trip and ensuring that things would go smooth while you are gone... Travel has been common this year going to my 6th out of the country trip... though mostly work... I always found time to make it a leisure trip as well... The plane fare and hotel are not necessarily the cheapest commodity in the market so, as much as possible, I try to make the most of each trip.

I both love and hate to travel...

I love...

... that I can earn a few miles with my mileage card (imagine... i already had two free out of the country trip... one in Hong Kong and another in Singapore... I'm starting to build up miles for Australia this time...

... the ability to diversify your understanding on the different cultures and how the other countries are running...

... the feeling of independence and satisfaction you achieve once you understand a bit about how their country runs... (It was a very proud moment for me when I finally understood how the Metro/MRT/MTR system works in Paris, Taiwan, Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong)...

... the chances to shop at the night market- Taiwan has a lot, Shanghai has Nanjing Road, HK is a shopping haven, Singapore for its techie stuff and from my last trip that there are a lot of cheap items you can buy in Shandong...

... the chance to be in famous places, Eifel Tower, Versailles, Notre Dame and Disney of Paris... Windmills and Red Light District (hehe... only took the day tour) of Amsterdam... Victoria Peak, Buddha, Ocean Park and Disney of Hong Kong... Petronas and Putra Jaya of Malaysia, Night Safari... Bird Park, Orchard and Sentosa of Singapore... Macau Tower and Ruins of St. Paul in Macau... Taipei 101 of Taiwan... Oriental TV Tower and the Bund of Shanghai... Foggy Parks in Shandong and the West Lake of Hangzhou...

I hate...

... the fact that I'm travelling mostly on business and that it could have been twice or thrice as fun if it were spent with family and friends... I sure wish I could have toured them in places which I visited... someday, I hope...

... the inconvenience of being tied up to year seat for several hours and delays in flight, queues at immigrations, severe security check up and a lot of airplane and airport mix up...

... breaking several routine like going to the gym, watching regular shows in Philippine TV... and even driving to work everyday...

.... the food in different places at times since I'm not really that adventurous when it comes to food... I've started this habit of eating at Mc Donalds in every place I visited...

.... that when I open my baggage, I get to deal with so many wires, charges and a lot of stuff... laptop, ipod, digicam, celphone... it's a wired world... still can't afford a wireless world...

... the load of work you accumulate while you're gone...

... the cost of living in other countries is much higher compared to the Philippines...

Well... Love it or hate it, I'm of to my next trip in two days Hangzhou, China for the Board meeting and Hong Kong for a short breather... told I always made my business trip a leisure trip... Anyway, It's quite late now... and I'm still not done with the cramming...