2015 Trip

As of my last blog entry, which I posted just a few days ago (but wrote a couple weeks back), my upcoming travel plans revolved around going to the Australian Open.  I went back to the States for Thanksgiving and Christmas and was hoping to make it back to Australia by mid January.  Two friends whom I’d met at Ohio State were interested in going with me to the Open.  From Australia we were considering a trip to New Zealand as well.

I was hoping to make it to the Australian Open, partly because
I love watching tennis but also since I hadn't been to Melbourne

All of that changed within the last few weeks.  I had been researching flights to Melbourne with airline points.  Unfortunately my points balances are down - I booked my flight back home from Perth using American Airlines miles.  Even if I had ample points, however, award flight availability was paltry.  It was a repeat of my trip to Australia in 2014, when I couldn't find any space on American flights until the beginning of February.  December and January are prime travel times to Oz, so I guess the lack of award space makes sense.
My OSU friends also were planning on using their airline miles to book a flight, so without available seats the possibility of a trip to the Aussie Open seemed bleak.  In addition to the flight difficulties I had decided to take the GRE in January.  I had been studying in December and felt like an extra week or two more of preparation would do me well.
In the end I decided to ditch the plan to see the Australian Open.  I was definitely disappointed to miss it - I had wanted to do it last year too - but in the end I couldn't justify the price.  After factoring in a cash ticket, say a week in Melbourne, and a flight on to SE Asia, I would have  easily spent over three grand.  For $3,000 I could backpack in SE Asia for two months.
And backpacking SE Asia was on the agenda again.  One of my favorite countries in SE Asia was the Philippines, and I wanted to make it there this time around too.  The Philippines is an archipelago of over 7,000 islands, and exploring all of it would take years.  I also wanted to see Taiwan, a country I missed that last time around.  Hong Kong was on the list too; I spent only one day there during Semester at Sea, and considering I am considering teaching in nearby Shenzhen I’d liket to get to know the area better.

The Philippines - I definitely want to check out Palawan,
the island in the southwest
Taiwan is on the list too!
Once I shelved the Australian Open my backup plan quickly started to take shape.  Mike and Sam, my two OSU friends, still wanted to travel with me in SE Asia.  Mike is the guy who works for himself and has tons of flexibility.  Sam, on the other hand, has a traditional job with only two weeks of vacation available for the trip.

Mike and Sam, two of my OSU friends who traveled to Australia
to meet me last year and who will meet me in SE Asia this time
After a bit of brainstorming we decided to see the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Vietnam.  It will be a quick trip for Sam, but considering he doesn’t get many opportunities to travel abroad, he should try and see as much as he can in the two weeks.  The three of us will spend 5 or 6 days together in the Philippines, a few days in Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year, and another 5-6 days in Vietnam.
As for Mike, he’s in no hurry to get back Stateside.  Sam will fly to the Philippines around the 13th of February, but Mike will likely come earlier.  Just today I booked my flight to Manila, which is due to arrive on the morning of February 4th.  Mike will try and get to Manila close to when I do, so we’ll have over a week there before Sam arrives.

More on my trip coming soon!

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