The best way to discover other culture is to travel the world. I’m certain you agree with that. Though we can let our fingers take us to faraway places in just a click of the mouse, nothing beats immersing oneself in other nations’ culture and discovering sites firsthand.

Apart from a few local destinations, I have never really been able to travel and see the world for myself. My parents were always struggling to make ends meet and there was never any budget left for frivolities, let alone for travel. Now that I have a family of my own, travelling is something that I want my family to enjoy together. My children are aged three and four and would still be a handful to take on vacations but in a couple of years’ time, the entire family would already be able to enjoy exploring the world beyond together.  This gives me a couple more years to prepare for our very first grand vacation.

What exactly have I been doing while waiting for the children to be a little bit older and more manageable?  Aside from daydreaming, I’ve been doing these:

Reading Travel Blogs. A travel blog is one of the most reliable sources of information on places one wants to visit. Climate, population, and other demographics can easily be researched on online encyclopaedias but these are usually irrelevant to travellers. What helps them most in deciding which places to visit are candid recollections of actual experiences of travellers discovering foreign lands.

Saving for Travel Expenses. Aside from putting aside money for our retirement, for the kids’ education, and for unforeseen events, I am also squirreling money to fund our future travel expenses. This way, we’d have enough budget for travelling without having to dip into our savings account. I know it seems senseless to have separate accounts for them but I do tend to feel guilty withdrawing money from our savings account to fund our wants. Also, having separate savings for travelling would compel me to stick to a budget and not go overboard with the expenses.

Discovering the world together with my entire family still remains a distant dream now. Nevertheless, I shall sweetly enjoy this flight of fancy until time comes when I could turn it into reality.