Not too long ago, maybe just a year or so back, I would have thought a lot about it before I went ahead with the purchase.
However, my mentality has changed quite a lot since a year back...
So... I just booked my tickets to Germany and 3 nights hotel stay. It's a really short trip. With only 2 full days. The arrival and departure dates are basically almost useless cos I arrive very late and leave very early.
The train tickets were really expensive cos we booked really really late. I'm leaving in 3 days time. So the price of the tickets were already jacked up due to the Christmas season where people travel around to go home to visit their family.
So, what were my options.
1) Don't go.
Going Germany isn't a need. I could just not go for the rest of my life.
2) Go in the later years of my life.
I could go when I turned 50+ when we have more time to travel around and explore Germany.
3) Go now.
Well... I said this before.
If I travel to Germany from Paris. The train and hotel is just S$1,272.
If I fly from Singapore, I'll need to take a 13 hour flight AND the flights will already be $1,500 per pax.
If I fly from Houston, I'll need to take a 10 hour flight and the flight will also be expensive.
So I decided that, at this point in my life, this would be the most economical way to visit Germany.
Sure, it would be cheaper if we had booked this 2 months ago, but... 2 months ago, things were really different. So as things change, we have to adapt to it.
Now... Do I really really want to go to Germany? No, not really. I do want to get a flavour of it. Just go and hang around, maybe take a day trip out to see a castle and drink some German beer and maybe eat some pork knuckle.
So a short trip there suits me. It's really expensive if I look at it from a per day point of view. But it's one of those things.
I reckon that if I didn't do it this round, I'll probably never go to Germany in my life, so I thought might as well do it. Since it's going to be a once in a lifetime thing.
My view of visiting many countries is pretty much good to have. It's nice to have been there once to see a little of the place. But if I don't get to go, I'm pretty ok as well.
I think it's somewhat important to go and explore other countries to see first hand what the country is about.
There are many people who think China is a third world communist country. But those who've been to Shanghai and Beijing know that China is fast catching up.
Similarly, people think of Japan as Tokyo and Osaka, but a whole bunch of Japan is farmland.
So it's really good to go overseas and see the place and understand the people.
Well... I think it's pretty amazing how have changed though the years.
I think if I look back, 2 years ago, I wouldn't have gone for this Germany trip. I'd have just wanted to stay still and not travel. Cos the €848 expense is considered pretty high.
Which made me remember what one of my old colleagues tell me. She's quite a matured lady. Not too old. But old enough to have seen people come and go, or grow up and change within the company.
She told me... "After working so long, you see a lot of things. People will change. Some people will remain the same. Some people will become nicer, some people will become not nice, some people who are frugal at the start may start spending a lot, some people who used to spend a lot may end up becoming very frugal as they grow older."
So... hey... who knows right... one year after this post... I wonder what other changes will happen in my life.
Even now as I read my old posts. It's intriguing the person I once was and the changes in my mentality just 1 year, or 2 years ago.
<<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>>
Did you like this post? If so, could you "blanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls.
You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right.