Category Archives: Travel

Being in a relationship is beautiful, but going solo sometimes reminds you of the things that you tend to forget when you are committed. Travelling alone every once in a while is like looking at yourself in the mirror and broadening your experiences in ways you never thought you can do.

1. There’s no need to compromise.
When you’re in a relationship, you always consider your partner in every decision you make. Travelling solo is the only time in your relationship life when you’re able to decide only for yourself. No need to compromise to meet other people’s wants and needs. You’re free to decide whether to stick to an itinerary or just go with the flow, move at your own pace and go to places whenever you want to. When you’re travelling alone, you just can have it all.

2. You get to know yourself more.
Dating can take away your sense of self, especially in the early stages of the relationship. You may be easily influenced by your partner, and in result lose your individuality unconsciously in the process. However, when you travel alone, you get the chance to just be yourself fully and even discover more things about yourself in ways you cannot do when you’re tied closely with another person.

3. It makes your relationship stronger.
When you survive this, your relationship becomes even stronger. Letting your partner travel alone is the ultimate test of your love, loyalty and trust or each other. The biggest worry people have with travelling solo is that it gives room to temptation and infidelity. Trust is essential, and travelling solo is a great way to cement this in your relationship.

4. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
This isn’t just an old adage; it’s actually supported by researches. In fact, according to the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, couples in long distance relationships have healthier communication, more intimacy and better overall relationship satisfaction. Well, that’s no wonder, though. Missing someone surely fuels up the fire.

5. There’s someone waiting for you to come home.
This one is self-explanatory, and perhaps is the best one in this list. Having someone waiting for you at the airport—ready to welcome you home with hugs and kisses—is something to look forward to at the end of your trip, doesn’t it?

Doing things alone doesn’t mean you no longer want to be with your S.O. In fact, this could mean the opposite: you want to cultivate the love and trust you share with your partner to strengthen and encourage growth in your relationship.

Private islands for rent are exclusive for the rich, right? Wrong! Although most private islands are usually in the range of rich and famous, there are still many less pricey options out there.

If you and your gang are looking for a place to enjoy the sun, sea and sand, consider these affordable yet majestic island destinations.

1. Tahiti Island, Nicaragua
This beautiful island destination features a fully-furnished home, a pool and an amazing terrace that’s perfect for R&R and cocktail nights. You can own this island for $205 (S$291) a night with 10 of your friends. Do the math, and you’ll be surprised how cheap it is if you break it down per person.

2. El Nido, Philippines
Situated near Palawan, Philippines, this small island has the essentials if white sand beaches, a forest, hiking paths and a breathtaking view of the vast turquoise ocean are your idea of a summer getaway. The island includes a house that can accommodate 10 persons, with a nightly rate for as low as $381 (S$540)—that’s around $38 a head!

3. Ilha Grande, Brazil
Live your luxurious dream of owning two islands for the price of one. For just $971 (S$1,376) a night, you can own Ilha Grande islands connected by a bamboo ridge. The four-bedroom house in the first island and the two-bedroom house in the second island surely make plenty of room for your squad of 10. Price seems too steep? Whittle it down by diving it with your party.

4. Petit St. Vincent, Grenadine Islands
For about a thousand dollar (that’s around S$1,400), you can already explore the pristine waters and stroll in the white, sandy shore of the island. Petit St. Vincent is a paradise of greenery, clear blue water and pearly white, sandy beaches. Rent the paradise with nine of your friends, and forget for a while the hustle and bustle of the city.

5. Vesteroy, Norway
This Norwegian private island is perfect for couples who wouldn’t mind living off the grid for a few days. You and your beloved will surely have some quality time with no internet connection in the island. But don’t expect modern amenities with $120 (S$170) a night. The cute home, peaceful view and quiet atmosphere will give you the tranquillity you want.

This summer, you might want to try something new. Instead of going to tourist laden destinations, explore the serene beauty of private islands and give yourself the peaceful R&R it truly deserves.

Regardless if you call it a bucket list or a to-do list, we all want to keep track of the things we want to do and see at some point in our lives – be it attending a colour fun festival or seeing Mount Fuji in person. Yet, not all worthwhile dreams and pursuits need to be far from home. While international trips are extremely fun, there’s also a lot to be said for touring your own city. If you’re still unconvinced, here are some reasons why having a local bucket list can be a good idea.

1. It Encourages You to Be Adventurous

It’s quite easy to say, “I’ll visit that soon,” if you live near a particular tourist spot, but this kind of mind-set is what actually causes you to never visit that particular sight. If you have a local bucket list, however, you’ll be required to get out and tour your own city – even if you are living in the place indefinitely. If you decide to move out eventually, that list will help you savour your last days in the city instead of forcing to visit the places you’ve put off in the last minute.

2. It Helps in Keeping Things Fresh

Most of us tend to fall into the habit of frequenting a particular coffee shop or restaurant, thus neglecting other potentially great places in the area. While it’s completely okay to support your favourite local shops in Singapore, you should also consider dining or visiting a new place each month. If you drink coffee on a daily basis, visit a new café once a week; if you tend to treat yourself less often, simply adjust your plan according to your schedule.

3. It Prompts You to Be Grateful

The world is a big and beautiful place, and enjoying a culture that’s nothing like your own will certainly be an invaluable experience. However, we often spend a lot of time dreaming about our next destination that we forget to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us. Creating a local bucket list is one way of correcting that and practising gratitude for all the great things that we have even without boarding a plane.

4. It Trains You to Be an Excellent Host

Creating (and completing) a local bucket list provides you with amazing ideas of the things to do when your family and friends visit you. While it’s fun to show your local favourites to your visitors, you can also use them as an excuse to try out something new. Also, if someone visits you quite often, then he or she would surely want to experience a little novelty every now and then.

Having a local bucket list is one of the best ways to discover new things about the place you’re living in, as well as to appreciate your own culture. So be sure to create and complete one before you start travelling internationally.

As much as we want to travel often, the circumstances will not allow us – or so we thought. There are few Singaporeans who do not let circumstances hinder their inner “wanderlust”. There are many places to see and many things to experience. It would be a waste to just stay here in Singapore and be contented.

The world is waiting. We have to honour it by traveling as often as we want. Traveling need not to be costly (if that is what we are after) for there are many ways we can maximize our money. We have to remember that the experience will be nothing compared to the monetary value we spent. So, what are we waiting for? The first step is to book plane tickets.

For seasoned travellers, there are some tricks for saving more on plane tickets. We just need to hear them out and hopefully we can get something from them. Seasoned travellers would always tell us that getting the best deals is all about timing. We have to know the right time so we can get the best deals. Thankfully timing is not that difficult if we know two tricks.

The two tricks for saving more on plane tickets are as follows:

• For nearby destinations: Booking as early as possible is the best thing that we can do. Now, the question is – how early? According to experts, for nearby destinations, the ideal time to book air tickets is forty six days (or one and a half months) before the travel date. If we practice this, we get at least 9% savings compared to flights when booked one month (or less) in advance. If we decide to go to Australia, we can get cheap airfares by booking at least two months before departure to get at least 18% savings in airfares.
• For remote destinations: For remote destinations, we have to book our tickets at least two and a half months before our travel date. Remote destinations include Caribbean, Africa, Europe and the Americas. According to KAYAK.sg, if we book two and a half months in advance for a European tour, we save at least 13%. In the case of the Caribbean, if we book two and a half months in advance, we get at least 20% savings. This sounds promising, eh?

These tricks can help us with the booking. We have to remember that booking on the exact day of the travel is expensive and rash. Traveling needs careful thought and more importantly, timing. Enjoy booking and bon voyage!

Thais certainly know how to have fun, and travellers from all over the world flock to its islands to dance, make new friends, enjoy a couple of shots, and just have fun ‘til dawn. Want to know where to experience great beach parties in Thailand? Look no further than these places.

1. Koh Phi Phi

This is the beach that was featured in the movie The Beach in 2000. Though it was ravaged by a tsunami in 2004, Koh Phi Phi remains a breathtakingly beautiful island. Once the sun sets in this island, the seaside heats up with fire jugglers, fire eaters, and fire dancers, as well as people sitting on low tables and sipping Thai whisky and cola. There’s no shortage of bars so you can bar hop each night of your visit?

2. Koh Phangan

The full-moon parties of this island are legendary, attracting tourists and backpackers alike. The colourfully painted bars along the beachside rocks to the sound of trance, house, hip-hop, and drum n’ bass; and the party, it never stops until the sun comes up. Although it’s called “full-moon”, don’t think the partying is limited to only once a month as there are also half-moon and black-moon parties. Aside from such parties, every bar has their own event every night, so you can be certain there’s always fun anytime.

3. Phuket

The nightlife in the island is centred at Patong Beach, where pubs, clubs, bars, and a restaurants borders the Bangla Road. Whether you’re looking for classy cocktails in a lounge or a cheap drink in a beer bar, Patong has it all for you. If you want to drink light, check out Baya beach; but if you want lots of alcohol and some serious partying, Tiger Club is pumping with great night events.

4. Koh Chang

Also called the “Elephant Island”, Koh Chang is a low-key destination for party-goers. In this island, it’s easy to find places away from the crowd, where you can have a quiet dinner by the beach with a couple of drinks after wards. The scene here is more about chilling with friends to some reggae beats than getting wild to hip-hop and trance music.

5. Koh Samui

An island of opulence, Koh Samui is the place to go if you fancy partying in luxurious clubs and want to get close to some of the country’s A-listers. Though slowly becoming an expensive destination, you can still find affordable accommodations and party venues in the island. The Green Mango Club, a converted warehouse blaring out techno, house, and hip-hop music all night long, is the place to be if you want to get loose and dance the night away.

Not so many places can rival the legendary Thai beach parties—with its glorious beach views and notoriously epic nightlife. Dubbed as one of Asia’s prime destinations for party-goers, there’s no doubt Thailand is among the world’s best party destinations.

Airports can make a difference for flyers. It will distinguish our experience before and after the travel. We have to know that the Airports Council International (ACI) in Montreal surveyed 550,000 flyers in more than three hundred airports around the world. This is in search of the best airport in the world that provides total passenger satisfaction.

ACI named the award Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards. According to the results, Incheon International Airport in South Korea got the highest score for passenger satisfaction. The criteria include check-in, access, dining, airport facilities, retail and many more. Here are the results of the survey:

• Seoul Incheon
• Singapore
• Beijing
• Shanghai Pudong
• Hong Kong

We saw that Changi airport took the second place. However, a similar survey conducted by The Guide to Sleeping in Airports revealed that based on factors like convenience, comfort and cleanliness, Changi Airport is the number one.

ASQ also gave commendations to other airports. In North America, best airports include Indianapolis, Tampa, Jacksonville, Sacramento and Ottawa. In Europe, best airports include Keflavik (Iceland), Moscow Sheremetyevo, Porto, Malta and Zurich. In Asia Pacific, best airports include Seoul Incheon, Singapore, Beijing, Haikou and New Delhi.

For land travellers, this seems not important but for frequent flyers, the airport can make or break their travel (apart from the airline of course). It is useful to know this so when it is time for us to travel, we will know what to expect and we will be excited about it. At the end of the day, what matters most is the place where we are going.