The Travel Impulse

Hey there! Welcome to my travel blog! My name's Jasmine, I'm 19 and hail from sunny Sydney. Search bar is there so search what you like (obviously) or just hang around and see what I've got :) Enjoy!

[ultimate-passport]

Marrakech - Morocco

[thetravelimpulse]

You don’t actually realise exactly how big the sky is. I mean, you know it’s big because you learnt about it in school science and you see it everyday, but when you live in cities and suburbs you only see parts of it. You hardly look up at the sky because you think ‘What is there to look at?’ (despite checking the weather), you can’t see the skyline because it’s blocked by so many buildings and houses and telegraph poles and trees.

And then you’re sitting in the middle of a plain and you can see the skyline from one end to the other, and it really baffles you. It’s hard to grasp just how big the sky really is. It’s the same feeling you get when you’re on an airplane. You think that you’re so high already and you can’t possibly believe there’s any more room to go up and yet the plane continues to go up up up. 

Sitting in this plain in the countryside of Siem Reap, Cambodia and looking up and admiring the sky and sunset, I felt for the first time in my life that I could really breathe. I felt free’er than I ever felt before. I had no problems plaguing my mind. No stress about work, no fear for my future and deciding what I want to do for the rest of my life. I felt like I could stretch my arms and they would continue to stretch and expand forever. 

Unfortunately I couldn’t stay there forever, no matter how much I wanted to, and reluctantly traveled via ATV (Quad bike) back to the ATV company and then back to my hotel. Now that I’m back home in Australia, I feel really cooped up at the moment. I wish I could go back. 

I suggest that everyone just try to find the most open space of land that you can and just lie there, staring up at the sky and breathe, Forget about your problems for a couple of minutes/hours. It can surprisingly have a positive effect on your soul.  

[thetravelimpulse]

My First Steps On Going On A Big Trip By Myself (Sorta....)

STEP 1: THE PLANNING.

In order to start planning your holiday you first need to decide where you want to go (obviously) unless you’re one of those extreme spontaneous people who just show up at the airport and catch the next flight going out.

You can decide in various ways for example,

1.       Picking a continent that you want to visit

2.       Or pick a continent then a country

3.       Or just a country

4.       Or pick a tourist destination that intrigues you

For me, I really wanted to see the Temple of Angkor Wat (one of the biggest ancient religious monument in the world) ever since I saw it on the movie Tomb Raider, starring one of the most famous people of our generation, Angelina Jolie; and I was so so so jealous that my Dad had visited the Temple without me at the start of the year without me and he knew that I wanted to go really badly. So once I saved up enough money and knew that I had no prior commitments I started the planning process. I knew where I need to go, Siem Reap in Cambodia, and planned my holiday around that.

Since this was my first trip without parents or friends, I didn’t really want to be travelling all alone through Asia which is known for some of its shady parts, even though I had visited some of its countries before. I decided that I would do a Contiki tour, which can be a bit expensive or cheaper depending on where you are staying and what you’re doing, so I could make friends and have the reassurance that I would be safe. So I booked through a local student travel agency called STA. My travel agent was super helpful in answering my many, many questions about visas and the cheapest days to fly. She went through the Asia catalogue they had in store and helped me pick out the INDOCHINA DISCOVERY TOUR by G Adventures. This was a 30 day tour that included Thailand (excluding the South and islands), Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos which included Angkor Wat and a lot of guaranteed adventure which is what I was also after with people around my own age.

 STEP 2: VISAS

Because I’m going into multiple countries, I obviously had to get certain visas here is the following that I had to get,

Thailand: Being an Australian, I didn’t need to get a visa. They let you stay in the country for exactly 30 days without a visa.

Cambodia: I travelled from Thailand to Cambodia over land and visas were available at the border.

Vietnam: You are not allowed to get a visa at the entry points in Vietnam so you have to get one in your home city or at least before you travel and arrive in Vietnam

Laos: I flew from Vietnam into Laos was visas were obtainable through the airport.

 STEP 3: TRAVEL INSURANCE

Travel Insurance is ESSENTIAL before travelling overseas. You can travel without one but most tourist attractions (depending on their level of danger) won’t let you participate. Plus, if you end up in any accident, hospitable bills can be very expensive and you might have to extend your visa depending on the seriousness of the injury.

STA does offer money but it was like AU$200 so I decided to save a bit of money by buying my travel insurance online through WEBJET Travel Insurance which for my kind of trip, cost me around AU$120.

 STEP 4: PACKING

I also had a lot of help from my dad. Especially with the packing. I had packed wayyy too much, so much so that I hardly had any room for any extra shopping that I might do overseas. He made me re-arrange everything. In the end I only ended up taking 5 shirts, a pair of jeans, 2 skirts, 2 typical tan tourist trousers, swimming costume, a towel and underwear. This was great because I had a lot of space left over, but sometimes during the trip I felt like I had been wearing the same outfit 3 times in the same week. It’s also good to get a sturdy and colourful suitcase/backpack. While waiting for my luggage I noticed that there were plenty of black bags that looked exactly the same, and because mine was purple I could see my luggage from a mile away.

 After doing all this, you are all set to go off and have an adventure! So go! What are you waiting for? Have fun!! xx

[thetravelimpulse]

In relation to my post: Outside The City Walls

This is a video that I took the last time I was in The Philippines (about 2 years ago), traveling in a jeepney on the way to my family's province. Mind you the quality isn't the greatest as it was filmed on my ipod nano and I had no idea that I would be using it now. 

[thetravelimpulse]

Outside The City Walls

For the newbie travelers, one of the key tips in traveling is:

Not all the culture and adventure you seek is restricted to the capital cities.

I mean sure, they have their allure: bright lights, tourist attractions, skyscrapers etc. but in most cases there are a lot more adventure and culture to be had and found outside the city walls. I'm not saying that large cities such as Paris, London, Rome or New York don't have these things. Heck, I want to see these cities myself and experience them. But it is your own courage that is stopping you from leaving walls and experiencing authentic culture. 

The reason I'm talking about this topic is because of the conversation I overheard at work the other day. Now I'm currently 19, not studying anything and in my second gap year; so you should know that I have the glamorous job of being a check out chick. So a couple of days ago I overheard the conversation of one of my senior co-workers with a man around late 40s/50s and how he just returned from his holiday from the Philippines.

As you can tell, this piqued my interest as I am half Filipino and have traveled to The Philippines countless of times. He recounted how his holiday wasn't as good as he'd like it to be; how the city was horrible and dirty but the people were charming. I had to agree with him on this point. It is true, the Filipinos are very friendly people but their city... It's a second world country for a reason. Think New York with less skyscrapers and more dirt, garbage, homeless people, pollution etc And in my opinion of what I've seen and done in Manila, there's only 2 main attractions to see, Star City and Mall of Asia when there's no festivals happening. But note that there most definitely are more things to discover in the city than from what I've just seen.

The Philippines is a prime example of exploring outside city walls; and I don't think that this man realised that. This country is renowned for its 7107 islands for a reason! It's the beaches and the stunning countrysides that lure in the tourists, It's the people and their culture! So I hope that any of you who want to visit the land where its always sunny learn from this one man's mistakes and get lost in the landscapes!

#ItsMoreFunInThePhillipines

[thetravelimpulse]

First Post!

Okay, I know what you're thinking. Not another travel blog; but first just hear me out.

My name is Jasmine, I'm 19 and hail from Sydney, Australia. And I too have been bitten by the wanderlust bug. But that wasn't by coincidence or chance. I was lucky enough to have been brought up travelling thanks to my mom, who was born in the Philippines, and my dad with his adventurous spirit.

Now, although I have not traveled to many places, all of which reside in Asia and mainly to the Philippines to visit family, I know that I am lucky enough to have traveled to a different country at all since majority of people probably wouldn't have traveled outside their hometowns. Which is understandable for many reasons such as various commitments, the lack of money, and fear. When I was growing up I couldn't have imagined leaving such a great country or such a beautiful city as Sydney was; but now that I have and have learned just how much the world has to offer: art, music, culture... it has overwhelmed me and has increased my need to explore every inch of it. 

So that's basically all you need to know about me. I'm not going to go on and on and tell you how much different and better this blog will be compared to others and why you should follow me, but I will tell you this. This blog is mainly me enjoying what life has to offer and sharing it with the world. It will be my about travels and experiences. If you like what you see, that's great! If not, well... no one has the same tastes. 

Just one point before I go. Before I do any recent travels overseas, I will try and show you guys what Sydney has to offer for both local and foreign people. Happy traveling!!