money money money. and some other things.

So I was doing some accounting and budgeting and I realised I might have tried to stretch my dollar a little too much. And when things can't stretch anymore they tear/break/fall apart. It therefore appears that a loan from my parents is inevitable, and will just add on to the debt that I have accumulated through the years of my education (mostly from travelling and exchange, so well worth it then).

Anyway, besides money being very important, I realised several things from just planning to move from place to place as well as booking hostels. I won't claim to be doing everything, because I'm not, but I can still learn lessons from what little I've done ha. I shall try to make a list, but I might veer off into long prose again.

1) It's difficult

Train/Bus/Plane schedules don't run according to your personal travelling timetable, and many times, from the plan itself, we will have to cut short certain activities and haul our ass towards the train/bus station/airport to move to the next destination. Even then, the trains we want might not be available, seeing as to how we are still unable to get a booking until now. Someone needs to make an international call soon I think.

2) It's expensive (especially when you don't have time)

Well, I don't know how to elaborate other than it costs a lot of money, especially when time isn't a luxury we can afford. Instead of cheap 9-13hr overland transport, we chose planes because it's fast. And also very expensive. Right here I'll have to explain that it's not that I don't want to take longer and do the overland routes, but the fact that (not really wanted) duty calls and if I took my time I'd be heading back to Singapore after 2-3 stops.

3) Coordination is a pain

The title is self explanatory. Getting the opinions of 5 others to make a single decision is really not fun. I still try to do it, but most of the time just go with the majority. Pure democracy is maybe not the way to go haha! I guess we're lucky most of us are more easy-going and don't mind whatever decision is taken, but sometimes a little feedback can help. Our meeting did help a lot in finalising many things. Looking at it theoretically (meaning not a case from our group), from a worst case scenario, it's everybody's trip, but sometimes people don't give opinions until a decision is made, which is not helpful. Long story short, that's bad. And did I mention unhelpful?

Well, I came up with 3 things. Planning is part of the process, but it sure isn't THAT enjoyable (other than looking at the places we could potentially visit). Especially when you realise you don't have a lot of money.