Deja vu

What's the most awesome thing that could happen when you come back to work after a long trip? Having more travel opportunities, of course. And with that I meant free airplane tickets! Yay yay yay! :D Remember last year I've written about me winning a pair of plane tickets? It happens again, just a few months earlier this time.

I reluctantly came back to the office on Monday, hesitant to open my email containing bitchy comments from one particular client, reminders about meetings, and  production schedules of different publications I was working on. At 10am we gathered at the pantry for the usual weekly editorial meeting, and one of my colleagues was so excited about the possibility of me coming back to Australia. "You should go to Darwin this time," she said. A little bit confused by her reaction, I asked her why she was so excited, and since I've just arrived from Australia, I could not yet fund another trip back there. "Aha, nobody told you?" "Told me about what? Is there a press trip?" And as if on cue, all of them mentioned something about forgetting to tell me that there's an office lucky draw while I was away, and yes, that I've won two return tickets this year! Imagine me with a wide grin on a Monday morning. That's one precious moment right there.

So yes, the same rules apply: I could use the tickets to any of the destinations of a certain airline, and I should fly before 31 December 2012. I've already decided to use one return ticket for Davao, where I could take a domestic flight to Manila for Christmas break. As for the other, I'm still torn between (a) destinations I've never been to and (b) those where I've been but wouldn't mind visiting the second time.

The lure of going to a place that I've never stepped into is very strong: how about Siem Reap for Angkor Wat? Or Danang for a short trip to Hue and Hoi An? Or Hanoi for pho? I will forever love Thailand, so Phuket and Koh Samui still have a chance. I've already dismissed any Indian destination because it's far, and China, just to avoid the complications of getting a visa. No more Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia for me this year, so at least I'm making progress in eliminating some options.

The two destinations on top of my list are Chiang Mai and Cebu. I have been pining for Chiang Mai Yi Peng Festival since five or four years ago, and though I was there last year I missed it. I could easily call Tourism Authority of Thailand, ask for the dates and book my tickets. But there's a probability that I would be going alone and I'm not sure if I'm willing to do that this year. Cebu, meanwhile, would be a very good destination as I could take a domestic flight to Cagayan de Oro and meet my friends, go to Camiguin, come back to Cebu and ask my parents to fly there and meet me. Sounds like a very good plan. How could I resist family and friends? And as they say, it's more fun in the Philippines.

So it's now a toss between my Chiang Mai lantern dreams and family/friends in the Philippines. Why does it have to be so tough a choice: follow your dreams alone, or come home.