Planning Your Trip Itinerary

I started to pack early for my trip to General Santos on Thursday.  I like to plan things ahead of time and planned out this trip as early as January.  Ironically though,  here I am trying  to make last  minute changes on my original plan.  I just realized that I should have sat down with my husband regarding the activities I have planned to do this visit and missed out considering how his work schedule might be affected.  Anyway, I decided to throw away my list and to go with whatever plans my husband has made for the duration of my stay there.  After all this is suppose to be my birthday leave, so I want this vacation to be enjoyable, hassle free and relaxing for me.

I believe that planning your travel and itinerary is always a good thing.  It gives one a perspective of how & what your trip will be like.  This will also give you a chance to double check on the details of the trip, add to it and take out what you want to do without.  I'd like to share with you this article which I know will be helpful.

How to Plan a Trip Itinerary

An itinerary is practically a schedule of events you want to happen in your trip.  For instance, when taking a trip by plane an itinerary describes the flight to your destination (from departure to arrival) and again, your return trip (also from departure to arrival). When going on a trip to an unfamiliar location, it would be wise to always set up an itinerary before taking the trip.  Here's something that might help in setting up your vacation’s itinerary.

1. My idea of a vacation itinerary is one that has loosely scheduled events that I want to happen on a certain day and roughly at a certain time.  So, when you are setting up your itinerary for a vacation, all the events that are supposed to occur and all the things that are to be accomplished should be in it.

2. Schedule these events and the things you want to accomplish across the days of your vacation to balance it out.  Places to see that are in close proximity with each other should be set on the same day or in sequence to each other.

3. Keep in mind that in a vacation, events should ideally be loosely scheduled across the days.  Moving on from one event to another should ideally be based on what you want to do rather than being dictated upon by the hours and minutes.

4. Things that need to be accomplished may be set towards the end of the vacation or in the later part of the day whenever possible.

Remember that you are on a vacation and it is more important to relax and have a good time than to complete everything you have put in your itinerary.

 

A Trip to Roxas City

I took two days off from work to check out  Roxas City  in the Island of Panay,  popularly known as the "Seafood Capital of the Philippines".  I  have heard so much about this place.   I wanted to explore and check it out myself.

This was one of those days where I surely welcomed the slow pace of traveling.  No rush, no panic, no deadlines to meet.  We were just taking all in stride and going thru the normal pace of “cruising”.

My husband and I took the 9:00 am ferry trip from Bacolod City to Iloilo City via Surper Cat. The trip was a bit rough and choppy this morning because of a low pressure area affecting the region. Despite of this however, I was able to keep the "gooh-spitting dragon" in its cave and my motion sickness in check making the trip a relatively pleasant one.

We arrived in Iloilo City on time.   We were fetch by a friend who brought us to a car rental shop where we got our vehicle for the trip to Roxas City.  We met up with an  Electrical Engineer that my husband's company was hiring for the work needed at a processing plant he is setting up for the company  in Roxas City.  The meeting was  brief and we quickly grabbed  lunch at a "dimsum"  place   in SM Mall,  bought some "munchies" and headed off to Roxas City.

 We then came by a "highway stop" a place in Passi (town)  called "Midway" which was literally halfway between Iloilo and Roxas City.  It is a fresh market of sorts selling fresh farm produce (fruit & vegetables) and a restaurant stop where travellers can take time out for meals and snacks or even just a coffee break before proceeding with their travel.  “Midway” is open from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm, all the days of the week except Monday’s.  It is a nice cozy place which managed to combine modern design concepts yet keeping the warm farm ambiance.  Guests enjoy the fresh country air breezing thru widely opened french doors overlooking the highway at the front section and the organic vegetable & fruit farm behind the restaurant.  They have clean restrooms which is what I always check-out in places I go to.  Clean and nice smelling restrooms always leave a good & lasting impression on me.

“Midway” also has a convenience and "pasalubong" store, in case you want to grab something to bring for your host and friends.  What impressed me most however was the pleasant and friendly waiter, named Leo, who surprisingly still remembered my husband as having come thru and ate here even thou it was just my husband’s first time and that is was already four months ago!  I kidded my husband and said that he must have either given a big tip then or must have said and done something unforgettable to be remembered like this! LOL!!!  It always feels good to be remembered and welcomed in any place, right?

After taking a few pictures, we were back in the car and continued our travel.  We arrived in Roxas City a little over 4:00 pm and checked-in at SkyGarden Hotel, a new hotel in the downtown area just across a Gaisano Mall.    We settled for a room with twin beds (P1,400 including breakfast for 2) since all the rooms that had double beds were on the “noisy side” of the building facing the main thoroughfare.  The hotel was nothing fancy but I must admit that it was clean.  Linens smelled freshly laundered, pillows where soft, the room was spacious and most importantly the bathroom was clean and immaculately white.  The other great thing about it was that it had wifi internet connection in the rooms.  We took a good three hours rest before meeting up with my husband's clients who invited us out for dinner. 

We met up with our Hosts at Coco Veranda . A seafood restaurant by the sea. I was looking forward to an evening of sumptuous seafood dinner and I was not disappointed.  We had steamed lapu-lapu with oyster sauce, clam soup, baked oyster, seafood vegetable mix and fried rice.

While it was a business dinner meeting for my husband, I actually enjoyed it because our hosts, Manong James and his son Gara, were really nice and interesting chaps.  I could see their sincerity and humility, and cannot help but admire the unique “father & son” relationship that they had.  Absolutely “no air” in them despite of their wealth and business success.   I could not help but pray and thank God for who they were, that God may continue to bless them in their enterprise.  The evening ended with the promise of a new business opportunity and a box full of live crabs for us to take home!  A present from our hosts

The following morning was a lazy day for me. I stayed in the hotel to catch up with sleep, while my husband attended a business forum where he was asked to make a presentation on business opportunities related to his project. 

We took a quick tour of Roxas City and felt that I just had to take a picture of the famous Roxas Family Residence and the beautiful seascape fronting it before heading back to Iloilo City.  While travelling back, I found myself savouring the moment of peace and contentment.  Taking a snapshot of this time together with my husband reflected that this all started from friendship....... our differences and similarities bared, now we are grounded on our commitment to each other to last our entire lifetime.  I am indeed extraordinarily blessed to know that my friend is someone who loves and adores me.