How to (Awkwardly) Travel Alone, Unrelated Photos and Life
October 10, 2013
Warning: If you don't want the mush, skip this part and go directly to the How to (Awkwardly) Travel Alone part.
Today is my mother’s birthday. It is also the same day I
deactivated my Facebook account last year. Moreover, today marks the first year
since I became officially single, which is really the point of this post. Haha.
I promise to keep it light but first, here’s a quick background.
For the past year, I’ve been too embarrassed to admit it but
boy, did I work really hard, pleaded with every tear that I had to keep a
failed relationship. For more than a month, I have been crying relentlessly
over the past 6 years and 3 months that has been a part of my life. It was a really
sucky logic, I know, but I still decided to fight for those years. Heh. Nothing
changed.
Come last week of November 2012, I finally snapped out of
it. It took a really unconventional way, but it worked like magic. Just like
that, I stopped crying. Just like that, I chose to have a life again.
(Wow, so how’s that for keeping things light??? Hahaha sorry, it won’t
stop being emotional)
Fast forward to this day, I cannot believe that it has already
been a year! It was such a painful and slow process but now, I can proudly say that
the tables have turned. I cannot believe it’s this easy not to give a rat’s ass
about history.
(Promise, the dark blob ends here!)
So to commemorate this one year of independence and spontaneity,
I opted to go to the beach alone. It was not exactly a spontaneous decision
because I had enough foresight to bring a pair of bikini and a change of
clothes. However, up until I was leaving the office early this morning, I kept
on switching intended beach resorts, even municipalities/provinces. There are
just too many options and I had to choose what’s best for a commuter like me.
I almost backed out too. The darn LRT1 had technical issues
so what could have been a 40-min ride give or take to Monumento became 1 hour
and 40 minutes. It was the longest train ride of my life as I had my camera and
beach bag on my left shoulder and my work bag, which has a laptop in it, on my
right shoulder. I was only able to sit an hour after we left EDSA-Taft. It was
that harsh. Did it stop me from going? NO, which brings us to this next segment
of..
...............................................................................................
How to (Awkwardly)
Travel Alone
(Disclaimer: I’m
not a seasoned traveler. This guide, if you can even call it that, should not
be taken seriously. KTHXBYE)
A.
Booking Accommodations
You finally decide on a resort so you call
them for room availability. The receptionist will ask, “How many people in your group?”
You respond with *stutters* “Two
people.” Then, when you arrive at the resort, you make up another lie to
the receptionist on how your imaginary second person wasn’t able to go at the
last minute. This will prevent the receptionist from feeling sorry about you,
or so you think.
B.
Transportation
Against every advice of friends, you still
sleep on bus rides whenever you’re travelling alone. The secret here is to act
like you’re a local to where you’re going. If you’re going to a province, plus
points if you already look like a probinsyano/probinsyana. Because really, a
local would sleep through a bus ride without having to worry about missing
their stop. If you look outside the window every minute, you’ll stick out like
a sore thumb.
Now,
this is the IMPORTANT part. Before traveling, read as many user reviews on
the internet as you can, and find out about the average commuting time. If you
want to sleep during the ride, sleep by all means BUT make sure you are awake at
least 30 minutes before the average time of arrival. This is necessary if it’s
your first time to go to a certain destination. At this point, you smile to the
conductor and say “Kuya, pakisabihan po ako ‘pag nasa XXXXXXXXXXX na ha?”
Why the need to smile? You need to make an
impression to the conductor. In a bus full of people, he needs to remember
about you needing to be assisted on where to get off. At this point, he will
probably say, “Ay, di ka pala taga-doon?”
C.
Meals
One of the good things when you’re
traveling alone is the opportunity to meet a lot of new friends. By all means,
share meals with your newfound friends so you can hone your social skills.
If you are not a people person or if you
choose to enjoy your alone time by literally being alone all the time during
your stay, you can get the resort staff to bring you food in your room/cottage.
Saving Tip: Since you’re alone and
the room you’re staying in is most probably allotted at least free breakfast,
there will be two breakfast meals just for you. If you’re not feeling
gluttonous in the morning, charm your way into getting the 2nd meal
as another meal you can get for dinner or lunch instead. #libre (well not really because you already paid for it)
D.
Activities
It really depends on your trip goal. If you
wanted to just relax, then relax. Bum around the beach. Drink iced cold Coke
and/or beer. Swim in the beach. Lie on a hammock. Read the pretentious book you
brought with you. Get a massage. Eat a lot. Take souvenir photos. Blog.
If you’re the type who doesn’t want high
energy opportunities to pass, take up that surfing session because the waves
are great.
E.
Getting Home
All good things come to an end. Because you’re
alone, your time will be more flexible. Find out the bus schedule that you
wanna take and plot your timeline around that.
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