Trip Ko Lang

5 days to go before our trip to Iloilo… Yipee! It would be our first time to see and experience Iloilo’s well-known festival – the Dinagyang Festival… Thanks to Cebu Pacific’s piso fare last year we were able to buy really cheap plane tickets, I think our total airfare for 2 was only around 2,300php and roundtrip already…

Well, I would like to share with you our itinerary for 3days and 2 nights as well as budget/expenses breakdown and foodies…. Amounts are estimated and with allowances already so we would still enjoy our Iloilo stay even if we are on a budget…

Good thing there’s Ong Bun Pension House they have new Suite rooms and reasonably priced; to make our stay even better; strategically located and with the right amenities.. Will blog after our trip on our real feedback…

Another important thing in our trip is to take very good pictures of the performances/activities part of the Dinagyang Festival program. So it is really a must to have Media passes to get better spot on taking pictures… We now learned our lesson from our Panagbenga experience…

Transportations are by taxis or jeepneys. No tour guide needed as they say Iloilo is just a small city but still wish us good luck in this adventure…

You can also see in my blog the restaurants/coffee shops that I have chosen from different websites; I highlighted in blue the ones we will visit!!! So excited….

Also, I have prepared a detailed itinerary of our activities and places to visit basically; we want to have a tour of all the Churches in Iloilo and to participate in the Dinagyang Festival.  Boring?! Haha! But I think this would really be a challenge for us because we have a very tight schedule like leaving on Sunday morning while the Dinagyang parade will start at 8am…Whooo…oh well, this blog is just to show you the things we have prepared for our Iloilo Dinagyang Trip and will just blog later what really happened and the challenges/adventures we had…

Well, I really hope we can do all these activities and also to stay on our budget… Good luck to us! Aja!

By the way here’s our contact person for the following:

Ong Bun Pension House – Gerard Ong –ongbun@gmaildotcom

Dinagyang Festival Media Pass – Perla Lena –pearl376@yahoodotcom

They were both easy to contact; helpful and responsive. Thanks po!

Here are 5 things to do before going on a trip. I have gathered these useful tips based on personal experiences as an appointed planner of the group/initiator/adventure lover/eager traveller with my family and friends’ holiday trips.

1. Google it. Do online research on your travel destination. Google will provide you with good results from different  blogger experiences on hotels, beach resorts, how to get there, accommodation rates, places to visit and etc. You will get a more friendly and realistic reviews/comments and not just learning about it from the companies/businesses’ point of view.

2. Ask your friends. Tell them your plans and ask if they know something about the place. They might refer a good place to stay or suggest interesting things to do that can help make your planning a lot easier.

3. Booked early. If you have already finalized your travel destination, date for your trip and confirmed the people coming with you, then you can now booked your transportation (bus/plane/rent a van) and hotel/resort. It is always advisable to book early so you can avail of cheaper rates, you have time to save money and avoid any last minute change of plans.

4. Write down your Itinerary. Yes you have to put everything on writing, set a meeting with your group to discuss the things you want to do, sights and places you want to visit, food to try and etc. Include estimated time, how many hours will be spent on one place, give some time adjustments or make your schedule flexible in case something unexpected would arise during the trip. Don’t forget to consider your travel time in between places and available transportation.

5. Budget your expenses. The most important part in any trip, putting in mind your allotted budget, your actual expenses and how will you be spending wisely on your trip. But this depends on you; some would go on a trip to really splurge while others would go on a tight budget trip just to spend their vacation. Set your transportation, accommodation, food, and other expenses. Give allowances so that you won’t be short with money, ready for any emergencies and if ever you will still have money left after the trip then it will give you a good feeling that you didn’t go over budget and have spent reasonably the whole trip.

These are my 5 travel tips on planning before a trip, really helpful from my experiences, made planning easier and trips more enjoyable. Hope you can also make use of it and share it to your family and friends.