Have you ever booked a trip then cancelled it anyway?

I have. 3 times.

Thailand 2008

I and a HS friend were always thinking about traveling to Bangkok. Buy clothes and accessories there then sell them here. So we booked our flights a year before the planned date. It was supposed to be my first travel with only a friend because I always travel with family. It was exciting to prepare for a travel on my own terms. But when Red Shirt Protest Rally broke out in Bangkok, number of security issues were all over the international news and travel prohibitions were raised in most countries. My friend backed out. 

Peace-ing out!

Malaysia 2010

I was supposed to visit Kuala Lumpur with college friends. We booked our flights just because the airfare was in a promo  (around P2,000 roundtrip all-in). I backed out after few months because the planning became stressful. Although I love the idea of traveling with friends, travel was able to still bring out some more worst things from us. Haha. (Sorry guys! Bleh.) We had not yet listed the places we would visit but we were already having disagreement on how much should be our budget. Haha! 

Nightlife Lights

Boracay 2011

We suddenly booked our flight to Boracay one day and then planned out the rest very well. We already had promo plane tickets and discounted room reservation. Everything was going ok. What went wrong? Our schedule happened to fall in my finals exam. So I backed out few days before our scheduled date. To make things worst, a strong typhoon went in the way of our well-planned vacation. No one was able to go to Boracay in the end.

What’s up, dude?

So, what is my point here?

When I reflected back on all the cancelled trips I have, I realized only one thing: We can be so impulsive at times when we learned a new airline promo. We book a flight regardless if we really have an intention of traveling or not. “It is a promo, why pass the chance?”. We always think that the promo fares are good opportunities to travel cheap. But booking without even having an intention beforehand is more expensive.

Well, this concern is nothing if you are ready to pay what impulsive traveling will cost you.

1st Photo from Bangkok, Thailand last 2010 

2nd and 3rd Photos from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last December 2011