change of plans

so from our last email, my companion might not be able to go with me through the whole trip. though the reason why is understandable and perfectly valid, this poses a problem with our initial itinerary. first off is that different sets of ticket will have to be bought since I will be arriving earlier. second, i will be spending more than our initial budget since i will be alone, and therefore will be spending on a single basis, on the first few days of the journey. third, our plan to have a couple of her friends "house" us for the few days we'll be staying in one place is now next to impossible since i'm not comfortable staying at a stranger's house without the person known most especially to the host.

anyways, this is just a couple of the fixable problems in this planning stage.

what is most pressing problem to me right now however, is my fear of going for a few days alone in a new place. okay, so i've done it already and can do it again, but i have already set my mind that i'll be with someone on the onset of the trip and now, i'm left alone to wander the first few days. it would be an adventure just like old times, but as i've said before, with age comes many fears.

for now, i must fix my new itinerary and budget before december 12. according to our agent, the airfare is already rising as we are nearing the wyd and must finalize our travel plans. the tickets need to be bought the soonest.

so, good luck to me, to us!

i've already thought of looking for a companion but no one comes to mind at the moment. like what the Dhammapada said, travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if not, travel alone.

first session planning

the most important thing we had to do first, was ask our friend nel (who's been to the wyd events plenty of times) what we needed to do to get to the wyd next year. so a couple of weeks ago, we met to discuss all the things that needed to be done by the end of the year. according to him, we need to create a group (even if we're only two who's set to go), register ourselves and pay online. he said that it is not necessary for us to be affiliated with a church but it would be logistically better if we were in one. so kim decided that she'd be the one to ask her diocese for an affiliation. we also need a confirmation letter from the bishop that we would be joining the event. this document will be attached to our visa application next year. and that's it for now.

as for our other plan, nel asked us to make an itinerary that he could show his agent. that way, we can have a quotation on how much the airfare tickets will be. this is pretty important because we need to take care of our finances/budget, too. as you can see, the airfare will be more expensive than the actual registration fee for the wyd. since travel itinerary is my specialty, i offered to do this and would later send it to kim for confirmation and then to nel for him to send it to juanjo. crossing our fingers that it would not cost us too much! :)

planned itinerary to follow.

Welcome and Mabuhay!

A few months ago, an officemate encouraged me to think about going to Madrid next year for the World Youth Day 2011. At first, I had a few qualms about going because, if you know me, I am not exactly a "youth" in its strictest definition. However, a friend of mine who is older than me has also mentioned about going and had immediately, like the first one, encouraged me to go. I am Catholic and the last World Youth Day experienced I had was when I was in high school and the event was held here in the Philippines. I never did get the chance to join the delegation to Manila and of course, never did see Pope John Paul II. This time, I will to the best of my abilities, do all things so I can go next year. I look forward to going because this is a once in a lifetime experience for me. I look forward to going because I feel that next year will be one of those turning points in my life and I want that God would be one of the largest part of that. I am hoping that joining this communion with the rest of the world sharing my faith, will give me a clearer understanding of my faith and make me closer to the Lord. You may tell me that I can do it right in my own house, in my own church, in my own self; but, this is something I want to experience. I just hope that when I come out of it, I will be a better person who is more willing to serve the Lord.

So in my heart, I am all set to go to the WYD 2011.

Yet, going is not much fun without somebody you know to experience it with so I invited a couple of friends to join me. As of the moment, only one has replied positively and we are both excited. Out of our conversations, the idea of making our way to Madrid through Europe two weeks ahead the WYD event came up. This idea had merit but we also had to think of our finances but eventually, we thought that this is an experience we could not just pass. A lot of my friends told me to do this, too. So in the end, my friend and I decided to go for it and to plan for a three week journey through Europe on our way to the WYD event, our closing salvo.

So in our hearts, we are set to go to Madrid by way of the best places in Europe.

I am hoping to document this once in a lifetime experience through this blog, from our planning sessions to the actual execution. Follow us in our adventure!

Mabuhay!