Looking back at our travels, I noticed that many of them were grouped within a certain time frame. As I thought back to those events, I recall three major drivers made traveling ideal. These included Piso Fares, low gasoline prices, and reasonable accommodation rates.
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Piso Fares
There was a time when airlines offered flights for just one Peso. And when I say one Peso, it was literally that, a buck. I was skeptical at first but after buying my first couple of tickets and actually arriving at our destination, ended up keeping an eye out for bargains.
View of the Flight to Boracay.
Thanks to these ultra low prices, my family was able to visit placed like Bohol’s Tarsier Conservation Area, Simply Butterflies Conservation Center, Blood Compact Site, Hinagdanan Cave, Aproniana Gift Shop, and the Chocolate Hills.
We were able to visit Palawan and stay in Puerto Princessa. We were then able to to view the Underground River, gaze at the Elephant Cave, drop by Mitra’s Ranch, go caving at Ugong Rock, look at the Palawan World War Two Museum, and watch the Monitor Lizards and Crocodiles at a Farm. Souvenirs were handled by buy souvenirs at Cora’s and Binatuan Creations. During the day, we’d visit Snake Island, Pandan Island, Starfish Island during our trips.
Cebu was another place for us to visit with the low fare, allowing us to finally see Magellan’s Cross, the Lapu-Lapu Monument, the Heritage of Cebu Foundation, and check out the instruments for sale at the Alegre Guitar Factory.
But like all things profit-making, airline companies appeared to notice that passengers were willing to pay for more than just a buck, so prices began to creep upwards. Still calling many deals Piso Fares or their equivalent, organizations began tacking on charges. Fortunately, prices were still far from the regular fares so I continued to take advantage.
This allowed my family to travel to other parts of Asia to see places like the Petronas Towers and buy pasalubong at Choc Boutique in Malaysia and visit Universal Studios, the Underwater World, and watched Songs of the Sea in Singapore. We were even able to stay in Hong Kong before setting our sights on Japan.
Unfortunately, prices just going up to the point where it just wasn’t feasible to use air travel anymore.
Low Gasoline Prices
During our local travels, I had all the elements that made driving ideal – a small car that made parking in tight spots a breeze, an engine that got great mileage, and low fuel prices.
Even if it took as much as ten hours of driving back then, Vigan is one of the nicer places to see. There is a wealth of places to visit, like the Bantay Bell Tower, Ruby Pottery, Crisologo Museum, Syquia Mansion, It also allowed us to ride a Calesa there and buy souvenirs at Rowilda’s Handloom Weaving.
1.3 Liter Capacity Engine.
Ilocos is another place I love to visit, even if it is far. When in the area, we usually stay at Fort Ilocandia before visiting places like the Hidden Garden, Saint Augustine Church of Paoay,
Baler was a fairly recent trip where we were able to visit the Sabang Beach and the Diguisit Rock Formations.
We eventually sold our small fuel-efficient vehicle in favor of something larger. And while I do appreciate the extra space, it consumes a heck of a lot more fuel than the old one.
However, it was not the more fuel-hungry engine that put traveling on hold, it was my return to school. Now that I finished and was ready to resume our trips, this pandemic hit.
Like just about everyone else in the country, I am eager to resume traveling locally. But with the current sky-high prices of fuel right now, I doubt we’ll be traveling very far in the near future. Sadly, my experience with fuel prices has me believing they will never go back to the levels I enjoyed in the past. Having said that, traveling by car will most likely be constrained for now.
Reasonable Accommodation Rates
Another travel driver for us was the existence of reasonable accommodation rates. Back then, PhP 4,000 was considered mid-level, which was a bit high for budget conscious travelers like myself. The price difference could be felt especially when a room with a bathroom could be rented out for as low as PhP 1,200 in the same time period.
Front Desk of Fort Ilocandia.
However, one of the things I learned after a while is that taking the lowest price isn’t always a good idea because of crowding. While I have stayed at good rooms and used great facilities at the lowest prices, I noticed that some, not all mind you, hotels and resorts try to maximize income through volume. For large, sprawling places, this isn’t a problem. But for the smaller ones, it can feel like one never left the metropolis.
There are quite a number of places that offered reasonable prices in exchange for great facilities and service, many of which are featured in this website.
Long before a pandemic was declared, I saw prices double, triple, and even quadruple that of what we paid for back then; and these are discounted rates already. Once this pandemic is over, I expect rates to go up even further as businesses try to recover from the loses brought about by multiple and prolonged lock downs. Hopefully, competition will eventually bring rates down to more reasonable levels.
Final Thoughts
While we have been discussing the three major drivers that encouraged my family and I to travel, I did mention that here was a different reason I stopped several years ago – school. As I mentioned in my essay entitled A Candid Look at Surviving the DBA Program, I put my life on hold in order to finish.
The plan was to resume after graduation but this pandemic hit before we could leave the metropolis. I had even contacted a few of my friends for road trip to a bunch of new places my wife and I were looking at. Unfortunately, the arrival of the Delta variant has complicated matters as it looks like this country’s lock down will take much longer than expected.
New Addition to the Family.
To complicate matters even further, my family has been blessed with a new addition. Now before you jump to conclusions, it is of a four-legged, furry variety. Yes, after going though a gamut of activities keep boredom away, like fixing stuff around the house, working with plants, and getting our websites back online, we finally got a puppy.
So how will this new addition affect my travels? Well, it means that there will be a fourth major driver of travel when this pandemic is over – Pet Friendly Places!
Man, I miss hopping into a car and driving out into the blue yonder! There is something about visiting a new place, enjoying varied dishes, and immersing oneself in a different culture that just cannot be garnered from a computer or television screen.
Here’s hoping that the three drivers of travel return to reasonable levels when we finally beat this pandemic. Till next time, keep your cameras ready, your eyes peeled, and your minds open. You never know where your next adventure will take you!
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