The month of January cues the first quarter of the year anywhere in the world. And while many of us may still have a little hangover from the recent holidays, not a day is to be wasted during this time especially if you’ve decided to make this year one of meaningful travels. But aside from that, here are other reasons why January is classically the finest time to plan your travel goals.
1. You get to plan your long weekends ahead
If you haven’t found out yet, the government is blessing us with a total of 13 long weekends spread across 9 of 12 months this year. These cover 10 regular holidays and eight special non-working days which leave us with only three days of Vacation Leaves to file for! As early as now, you can think of which weekends you prefer to go on your dream trips.
2. Vacation Leaves are reset
Speaking of leaves, the standard policy that we know of requires our Vacation Leaves to be reset once we welcome the New Year. Naturally, that would mean being able to distribute these lucky days exclusively during the year, so don’t you worry just yet about running out of them.
3. You are a better accountant
Planning your travels ahead not just makes you a wise spender of upcoming weekends, but potentially of the money you will need to have to fund your trips. You can plan your travels first and save accordingly, or you can also set your entire budget for the year before planning the trips you’ll be able to afford with it.
4. A thirst to fulfil life and travel goals
Beyond the practical, don’t you just love the feeling of starting fresh at the beginning of a new year? January is when people come up with and start embracing their personal resolutions to become better versions of who they are, or simply to best spend the year. Travellers are no different.
5. Year-starter seat sales
Airlines like AirAsia and Cebu Pacific are known to have HUGE seat sales during the holidays that extend to the early weeks of the year. Seats can go as cheap as ₱200 for domestic flights and around ₱1,000 for international flights to nearby countries, and if you’re lucky (and have enough money), you can have your own booking spree that’ll serve you well for the rest of the year.
6. More experiences in store
As they say, the sooner, the better. Planning during this time of the year will give you more opportunities to actually execute your plans for the coming months. It goes without saying that you’ll have plenty more places you can visit and inevitably, way more experiences.
7. Your plans seem more tangible
Think about it, when you were sitting in a cafe a few months ago and planning a trip for this year, there was that idea that it’s going to be an entire year of waiting for those travel plans to happen. Compare that feeling to planning at the very first month of the year and having that trip within the next 11 months. Sounds more exciting, right?
Also read: Travel Opportunities Filipinos Can Look Forward to This 2018
So once you’ve given yourself enough time to recover from your holiday hangover, take the next few days to think about your travel plans for the year. And when you feel like they’re all set, make the necessary preparations, financially, physically or even emotionally – and start making them happen!
