My most recent blog post talks about a holiday to South East Asia that I have booked for next year but sometimes, when opportunities for travel present themselves, you just have to take them.
When opportunities for travel come, take them
For the past few years, I have been talking about taking my Mum on a trip of a lifetime to celebrate her retirement. As she hadn’t travelled for quite a long time she was understandably nervous and this is why, in 2022, I persuaded her to come to Madrid for the weekend. That was a trip that, despite me catching COVID while I was out there, she really enjoyed and it got her excited about the possibility of a longer trip.
We initially planned the trip to be in 2026, after her retirement, but we both ended up having some annual leave from our jobs that needed using at the same time and so we ended up booking a trip this year with only a couple of months’ notice even though I booked my holiday for next year months ago.
I wanted to make the trip extra special, so wanted to include some surprises in there. This included not knowing the full itinerary until we were about to depart, which is something that was inspired by the videos on the Yes Theory YouTube channel where people get taken on a surprise trip and have a great time. I didn’t expect her to go along with it, but she did.
About this trip
She had always wanted to visit Singapore, so I did tell her that we were going there. However, to make the trip extra special, I booked shorter stays on the way to and from Singapore in locations that she didn’t know about.
After much discussion, without revealing too much, about the places she would and wouldn’t enjoy – and the things she would and wouldn’t want to do – I booked a few days in South Korea on the way to Singapore and a couple of nights in Dubai on the way back. I chose these places so that we would have reduced flight times, and a three-stop holiday in very different locations which all have lots of things to do.
I have lots planned in each location, and I’m looking forward to the trip.
The secrecy around this trip is also why I haven’t posted about this trip before now, even though I posted months ago about the trip I have already booked for next year, so that the nobody saw the blog entry and spoiled the surprise.
I will be leaving the house shortly to meet my Mum at the train station ready to head down to Gatwick Airport. We don’t fly out until tomorrow, but as it’s a morning flight we have booked a hotel at the airport tonight so that we can have a good night’s sleep before the long journey ahead of us.