My travel peeves..

There are many articles out there about what kind of travellers (or rather tourists..) there are. And they always ask the same things.. Asking you which category you fall in. Which type of traveller you are. So I was having dinner with a friend recently and it just struck me that wouldn't it be fun to share what kind of traveller I am? =)

Bathroom picker:

I am icky when it comes to picking accommodation that does not have attached bathrooms. And even more icky if the bathroom comes in olive green. =/ I recently tried a open dorm hostel in Siargao Philippines and after the initial shock. It really was not too bad! Coz it was clean and there was no foul smell. =) But the best (or rather more memorable one that I had was the one in Galle Sri Lanka. Where it was an open bathroom! Hahaha.. Imagine showering in the rain! =D

My bathroom in a hostel!

My outdoor bathroom in Galle! 

My outdoor bathroom in Galle! 

Cheap and good accommodations:

When I mean cheap I really mean cheap. Anything about USD$80 per night is too expensive for me. Especially if I travel alone. My cheapest stay was in the dorm (yes.. That dorm..) for USD$3.50 per night. And my most expensive was a stay in Maldives (well it was my birthday week and I wanted to pamper myself..) and it set be back about USD$150 per night. =D The best deal I had? A villa for USD$40 in Krabi Thailand! Hahaha..  I scourge for my deals by comparing (Agoda. Tripadvisor. Individual websites of the place I wanted to stay in..) and of course booking in advance. I am a solo backpacker but I do not like scrambling for accommodations at the very last minute so it has been a habit that I will always book in advance. =) the headaches it save me is tremendous.

My overwater villa in Maldives!

And the open dorm I had in Siargao!

Street food and cafes:

I am always intrigued by the street food in each place I visit. But thing is. I am very selective on the kind of street food I try. I love fried and grilled insects and so far have tried locusts. Crickets. Grasshoppers. Tarantulas (I know this doesn't count. It's not an insect.. But still.. =P). Scorpions. Tried balut in Philippines but I could not bring myself to swallow the ungrown chick. =/ Worms are not my kinda thing either. Even though I have seen people slurping up tamilok in Philippines too. *horroz*

We were trying grilled golden locusts in Beijing. 

Street food in the cold in Lhasa.

I looked damn happy for some oily/grilled/spicy food!

My favourite tempura when I'm back in Philippines.

And the tamilok that I will never ever ever try! *shudderz*

And I simply love cafes. The smell of the beans.. The aroma of freshly ground coffee. And the decor and atmosphere of most cafes. 

In Malacca!

And another also in Malacca!

Local beers:

And me being me. I love my alcohol. Mainly the beers and ciders. Best when they are served icy cold and either I am alone enjoying the place I am in. Or with my drinking kakis/travellers while we stone and catch up. =)

In Sri Lanka!

And in Phnom Penh.

A must try Cambodian beer!

Water activities:

Sometimes I wonder if I was a fish my in my last lifetime. I could never stay away from water activities for too long. And now that on my last trip 'home' (read: Philippines) I picked up scuba diving. Nothing can keep me away from it for too long. *grinz* Mainly dived in Philippines and Maldives so far. (I only clocked 19 dives since May when I got my license. And next month. I am going for more! Perhaps I can hit 25 before 2014 comes to an end!) I love white water rafting too since my first experience in Bali Indonesia. And went on to do it in Kitulgala Sri Lanka. Cagayan de Oro Philippines is famous for their waters too so I gave it a try too! 

In Maldives.

That's me! =D

In Cagayan de Oro Philippines.

Picky about who I travel with: 

And like everyone else. I have pet peeves too. I dislike travelling with people who cannot sit still and want to pack the whole day with activities. Sometimes when you are at a place where you are keen in. It is annoying when your friend is walking around you looking listless. That feeling sucks. I do not like to travel to places where most people have been. Coz after seeing/reading so much about it. It just takes the thrill out of everything. I like to go where the locals go. Do what the locals do. And I get an experience like none other.

I dislike travelling with people who are super connected to technology. Checking your phone once every hour is too much for me. Even when eating if you can't put down you phone. Then 'Thank you. (Never) see you again.' When I travel alone. I check my phone probably in the early morning when I wake up and after dinner. If not for my job. I would love to stay unconnected totally. (That's for another post.)

I love travelling with people who are super laid back and have no plans. Maybe coz I love to plan for trips. I would ask those friends I love to travel with what they want to see so I can incorporate it into my plans. Other than that. It is free flow for all. =) We wake up when we are ready. Not because we had to rush from place to place. I used to be packing my 7 days back to back with places. usually covering 3 places in a week. But after my trip to Philippines in May. I realized that probably age is catching up and staying put in the same place for 7 days isn't too bad. And that is what I am doing on my next trip 'home'. =)

I love travelling with friends who ain't sticky and enjoys doing and seeing the things I do.

So far me being the picky me. I only have 3 friends good for road trips and 2 friends for backpacking. Of course it can be 'mix and match' in a sense coz I haven't brought those 2 of those 3 road trips friends for backpacking. But we shall see. =)

What kinda traveller are you? =)

Addicted to you!

Let's talk about my new addiction that has me falling head over heels in love with. Diving! 

'Scuba diving is swimming underwater using SCUBA - Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. Using a cylinder of compressed gas to breathe (usually air, but sometimes other gases), scuba divers can stay underwater much longer than would be possible by just holding their breath - for hours or even days!' (extracted from: http://scuba.about.com/od/whatisscubadiving/a/About_Scuba.htm) 

Scuba diving has been on my bucket list for years now.. Since when I was in school? And that was a good 8 years back or so? Hahaha. I have been procrastinating coz it was 1) expensive 2) time away from work 3 days straight and having theory lessons was hard to arrange for 3) I was juz plainly procrastinating. So when I finally made up my mind on this trip. I was planning on doing only 3 things for the 16 days. 1) diving 2) white water rafting 3) surfing. 

What I didn't expect was really to complete the whole Open Water Dive (it cost me S$545 - theory. Confined water waters. 4 dives at Camiguin Action Geckos Dive and Adventure Resort.) and I was totally hooked on it! Arno is a fantastic instructor. He was super patient with me. Especially when I think it was super obvious how much I was panicking on my first confined water and especially during the flooding of mask and clearing it out part. He was calming me down as we were kneeling on the seabed. Don't ask me how he calmed me down. He juz did. And I really did calm down and took my own time to clear that part. I almost wanted to give up actually coz I was so freaked out by the world down under. I am so glad I didn't!

I became a pro setting up after 2 days of continuous practice. Hahaha..

The wetsuit was a killer. I took like 30 mins each time to get it on? Only after a few rounds of putting it on and removing it did I manage to get the hang of it and get in on in less than half the initial time. =)

As the days past. It was no surprise that I was out for dives every single day that it was automatic that I would wake up by 6.30am daily to get breakfast by 7.30am and then to leave by 8.30am or so. 

Of course I won't forget my first dive site. Sunken Cemetery. It was ok. I didn't do much of a tour coz I still had exercises to clear. Ah damn. I wanna go again!

At White Island there was quite a massive dive site know as Kilambing (and spilt into Kilambing South and North). I did 3 dives in the whole place and it was simply amazing. *heartz*

Happy diver - me.

Another amazing dive site at Mantigue island. But pity about its visibility. It wasn't that good. But the sand - *2 thumbz up* and the sea was as amazing.

And here I am at Siargao and juz finished planning my dives for my Advanced! Yes you read right. Advanced Open Water! Before I head over to Maldives next month. Coz Michele did an outstanding job of selling the dive sites in Maldives to me (she has been) and some of them needs AOW due to the depth. Hahaha.

Cheerz to my new found love and I am looking forward to my dives on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday before a 5 days break and Maldives here I come! And Camiguin. You are not forgotten! I'm coming back for you next year!

My travel burnout..

You may be curious what initiated me to write this post and come on. What has the picture of giving up gotta do with anything? Sadly. It has everything to do with how I am feeling about my travel right now. 

I am dealing with travel burnout now. Yes. You read right. Me. Talking about travel burnout. I know I know. Those who know me are in shocked. With mouths wide opened and eyes staring in disbelief. So what is travel burnout? It's when you have reached a limit of travelling and travelling is no longer top of your mind. Here are some articles describing travel burnout: http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/15-signs-you-may-have-travel-burnout/1. http://www.pacsafe.com/blog/7-signs-you-may-have-travel-burnout/. 

Compared to many travellers. My trip is nothing but short for many. But for me. When my longest was to Chengdu/Tibet/Inner Mongolia/Beijing last June (19 days) and with a tour group though I was travelling solo. This is my longest trip so far. And it's to a place that was like home to me. Today is the 10th day into my 16 days trip here.

So when I left Camiguin for Cagayan de Oro. I thought it was juz that familiarity of  Camiguin and the place I was staying at and the people (Camiguin Action Geckos) that made me torn when leaving the place even though I already had plans in Cagayan de Oro.

The stay at Cagayan de Oro was not good. And I juz didn't like the vibes the room gave me. So I decided to get out and stayed out as much as possible. But there really wasn't much to do there except white water rafting and my heart and mind kept wandering back to Camiguin. =/

I was so happy to get away from that place and the almost 10 hours journey from Cagayan de Oro to Surigao was good and gave me some peace and time to think about continuing my trip. Once I got to Surigao (this was meant as an overnight stop before getting over to Siargao). The hotel (the only hotel I am staying at for this whole trip) was calling me. I juz wanted to stay in the room as much as I can and I almost refuse all calls to get out for food even (which explains me blogging now).

Many thoughts started running through my mind. Why did I choose to come here? Why did I have to leave Camiguin (okok.. So coz I booked all my accomodations thereafter and also my flight is back from Siargao to Cebu.) But still. I juz flat out refused to go see the local culture or do any island hopping or any shopping or anything. Like literally. 

I slept till 11am today and went out for postcards and mineral water and brunch (at McDonald's - craving) and I'm back holed up in my room. I juz feel tired moving about. I haven't really cramped my trip this time round with enough days at each place for rest. But it's getting to me. So I guess like what this article mentioned (http://travelista.org/332-top-three-tips-for-avoiding-travel-burnout). I juz wanna do nothing. Or rather do whatever I want: which is to rot in the room and get the day over and done with quickly.

And like what the picture quote says. Now that I kept thinking about giving up. I think back on why I started in the first place. And I guess another thing that will spike my otherwise lethargic mind and body is to look forward to more diving in the next few days. No doubt I can't stay at Kermit Surf and Dive Eco Camp but I plan to stay most of my time there. Why? The word 'dive' explains it all. No? =)

My reservation was with Paglaom Hostel and Michel from Camiguin Action Geckos was the one who suggested staying with Gianni at Kermit Surf and Dive Eco Camp. But coz Paglaom Hostel doesn't provide any food (but with kitchen to cook and all) I have a feeling that will be a place only for me to shower and sleep coz I'll be whiling away at Kermit's instead doing my Advanced Open Water course and probably even learning surfing there. And coz there's free wifi there too where Paglaom doesn't. =)

So I guess my travel burnout has somewhat subsided as today is coming to an end in another 5 hours time or so. I will juz keep myself busy with the internet. And then out for dinner. Back for completion of my last module and tomorrow will be a brand new day at Siargao!

But damn. I'm missing Camiguin so much! I will go back next year for more diving with Arno and Michele! Anyone wanna come along? =)