The Art of Enjoying Your Holiday Travel

It's a very quiet Sunday. The sun was shining brightly this morning though it has turned to cloudy now. There is not much noise except for the whir of the fan and the typing on the keyboard right now. I'm in the midst of completing my assignment, but I'd like to take a short break blogging :) It has been a while since I wrote about general matters. Most of the time the entries I wrote were about my trips, family events and how stress I was with the assignments. Well, I think this entry is timely since the end of the year and school break is just around the corner where everyone will start thinking of planning for their holidays.

How easy or difficult is it to enjoy your holiday? I believe it is all about choices and we really, truly HAVE a choice. You have saved your annual leaves to go for a well deserved holiday (maybe even threat your boss to get the approval), you have saved up some money to spend for the holiday, you have your friends or family members joining you for a memorable holiday, do you want to end up NOT enjoying it? I believe not. You want an enjoyable holiday and you want to return inspired, have more zest and vigor to continue with your life, maybe even rekindle the romance with your spouse (like going on a second, third, or fourth, honeymoon). How then do you ensure you'll enjoy your travel and holiday? As I've mentioned earlier, you make a CHOICE and STICK with it.

- If the transportation is late, take it in stride. Cussing and swearing will not make your cab or plane come any earlier.

- If the room is lousy, calmly get the hotel to give you a better room. If that fails, get another hotel or the last resort, make do with what you have. At least you have some place to sleep. Write a true review of the accommodation to other travelers like in the Trip Advisor to let go of that unsatisfactory feeling. Then be done with it and enjoy your holiday.

- Have some bread, biscuit or chocolate to satisfy the hungry pang temporarily while waiting for your meal. Some food joints do take their own sweet time of preparing your food. Or maybe they are just not used to the big crowd at their place during holidays.

- If you are met with inconsiderate people anywhere during your travel, brush it off as one of your life's experience. Distant yourself from them, politely say you want to enjoy the sunset view for a while, smile and leave, change the subject, negotiate and be fair, etc. Do something about it, don't suffer in silence. Not good for your heart and not good for the holiday

- If you have kids and they are acting up, stay calm. Shouting over their voices will not accomplish anything. Make sure they are not coming down with something and the younger ones have taken their nap or are comfortable enough. Have some snacks or toys handy, or buy something to distract them, then stay calm and pray they'll keep quiet. I have seen how some parents have mastered the art of going away to somewhere calm and peaceful while their kids are crying or shouting at the top of their lungs. The people around them might feel uncomfortable with the kid's noise but the parents look oblivious and very serene in their own world. Go there. Master that art. You're going to need it. If it is not your kid who are acting up, and you don't even have your own, master that art too. If you have kids, maybe the same thing will happen too. So forgive the parents and put on that earphone.

- Take care of what you eat and have some charcoal tablets or antacid ready. You won't be enjoying your holiday on an upset tummy. Make sure you have plenty of drinking water too. We don't want you getting dehydrated.

- Take care of your important documents like passport, and wallet. You certainly won't enjoy your holiday if these goes missing. Also take care of your camera and mobile phones.

In short, think of all the investment you've made for the holiday and make a choice.

- Enjoy your surrounding.
- Watch people, culture and nature.
- Take a deep breathe and do some breathing exercise.
- Bring a book or magazine to read.
- Play that game on your smartphone or tablet but not too engrossed with it that you might as well not go for the holiday.
- Take photographs... the cheapest souvenir of any travel.
- Talk to people, you'll never know what you might learn from them. But, be vigilant and be careful.
- Be thankful.

So, have a wonderful time planning for your holiday and good luck in making sure you enjoy it. Choose to be nice and choose to be happy :) Don't be grumpy and spoil the fun with your family or friends. Hakuna matata...