Here are my travel plans for the year, as promised. You guys might have noticed how I’ve done on a lot of solo travels in the past two years.

I don’t really prefer to travel on my own. In fact, I love to travel with a group and share the experience with other people with the same passions.

My hermitish activities were largely due to not finding anyone in my “circle” who has the same nomadic lifestyle as mine. Although I sometimes get to travel with my friends or with new acquaintances, it wasn’t a frequent occurrence since most are tied to work and responsibilities.

I assumed early on that trudging on a non-conventional path would mean being alone … a lot.  I just wanted to travel and see different places. I wasn’t going to let my inhibitions on solo travels keep me from realizing my wants.

Ambot-ah Season 2012! Thanks to soloflighted for the levitation photo (bottom) and raphroad for the beach shot (middle).

Thanks to heartwarming blog comments and inspiring travelers I encountered on the road, I started to realize there are also a lot of people in the same boat. Maybe it was just me, who has been so closed off.

This 2012, I’m hoping to break some personal barriers … and so I thought of doing this post.

Travel Plans for 2012

I’ve haven’t planned most of my trips for 2012 (yet). All I know is that I have flight tickets booked and particular places I want to visit in mind . I’m still going over specifics of the itineraries.

January

February

  • whole month: Iloilo – spend the whole month at home to prepare itineraries and logistics of travelling for the whole year. open for short trips in Iloilo and  Western Visayas … also eyeing to visit Apo Island in Oriental Negros and/or Tuki in Oslob, Cebu.

March

  • 1st week to 3rd week: 19 days in Malaysia and Indonesia (flights booked; itinerary semi-flexible) – fly to Kota Kinabalu, explore a bit of Eastern Malaysia (Sabah), side trip to Brunei, fly to Jakarta, few days in Greater Jakarta, fly to Yogyakarta, visit Borobodur and other temples, land trip to Mt. Bromo, possibly visit Bali (if there’s enough time), land trip to Surubaya, fly to KL, back to the Philippines.
  • the rest of March: free. maybe spend time somewhere in Luzon.Finished the trip to Malaysia and Indonesia

April

  • whole of April: no definite plans. thinking of visiting these summer destinations: Caluya Island in Antique, Batanes (if I could score a cheap flight or find out a way to travel there by boat), Coron in Palawan, possibly Apo Island in Oriental Negros and/or Tuki in Oslob, Cebu.

May

  • 1st week: free
  • 2nd to 3rd week: New Zealand via KL (flights booked; itinerary almost finished) – my first time to apply for a tourist visa and I’m scared. I understand it’s harder for Philippine passport holders to secure travel visas *sigh* Crossing my fingers I haven’t jinxed it by announcing my NZ plan openly. I want to visit South Island only. Start from Christchurch, land travel to Franz Joseph/Fox Glacier, spend a few days in Queenstown and Glenorchy, tramp through the Routeburn Track (Great Walk), spend the night in Milford Sound, land travel to Te Anau, go on the Doubtful Sound cruise (if I still have enough money), spend a few days in Dunedin for some downtime, back to Christchurch.Trip to NZ did not pushed through, traveled to Malaysia and Southern Thailand instead
  • rest of May to 1st week of June: somewhere in East Malaysia countryside (flight back to PH booked; itinerary not set).

June

  • 2nd week to 4th week: Surfing in Siargao (flights booked; itinerary not set) – fly to Siargao via Cebu, spend at least a week in Siargao, visit Bucas Grande if the non-sting jellyfish are still in season, explore other sights in Surigao del Norte and/or foray into Agusan Marsh area.Spent two weeks in Bucas Grande and Siargao Islands then another week exploring Agusan del Sur, Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, and Surigao del Sur

July

  • whole of July: Free.

August to October

  • Indo-China Backpacking Trail (flights booked; itinerary not set): spend 3 months exploring the mainland South East Asia. Fly to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), fly to Chiang Mai (Thailand), land travel to Laos, land travel to Cambodia, spend at least a week in Siem Reap, land travel to Southern Vietnam, fly back to Bangkok, fly to Yangon (Myanmar), fly back to Bangkok, fly back to KL, fly back to the Philippines.
  • 3rd to 4th week of October: Free

November

  • 1st week: Free
  • 2nd week: Davao Region (flights booked; itinerary not set) – fly from Iloilo to Davao (flights booked), visit spots in either Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, or Davao Oriental.
  • 2nd week to 3rd week: Tawi-tawi and Zamboanga (flights booked; itinerary not set)

December

  • 1st to 2nd week: Eastern Visayas (flight booked; Itinerary not set). fly to Tacloban via Cebu, cover as much of Eastern Visayas as possible. main agenda is a multi-day photo exploration of Biri Island.
  • 3rd to 4th week: Rest in Iloilo for the holidays.

If you’re interested to join me on certain segments of the trip (or even the whole trip), I can be reached through my facebook account. I won’t be posting any details about my flights in the comments section for security reasons so please do message me on facebook instead.

If I don’t have definite plans yet, we could come up with one together ;) or if you already got some trips planned, I’d also be more than happy to hear them :D

Independent Traveler

Everyone is welcome. Just make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. I’m not offering organized tours. I’m just an independent traveler who loves do-it yourself (DIY) travels and wants to meet more people on the road.

I travel on a bare bones budget i.e. backpacking. I usually find the cheapest accommodations so I could spend most of my money on sightseeing or sometimes eat in a nice restaurant. If you’re not running for the hills after reading this post  or not thinking how stupid I am getting hopelessly lost a lot then you’ll find me a good travel buddy :)

Support My Travels

If I’m traveling to your area, I’d love to meet-up for a cup of coffee or a bottle of beer or something. I’ll need all the company I can get :D

If you also own or know someone who has travel-related businesses (such as hostels, hotels, resorts, tour operating companies, restaurants, transport operator, clothing and travel equipment stores etc…) in a place I’ll be visiting, my blog is open for sponsored reviews.

See you on the road!