Jewelle Tan Personally

Recently, a friend and I were discussing about another friend who seemed to be going on a lot of holidays abroad - despite being a government officer in Malaysia.

We decided that the government department where this person is working is a clear indication of how he is able to spend thousands of dollars on those holidays.

But at the same time, I also think that it is a question of priorities.

A lot of people do not go for holidays not because they cannot afford to, but because they do not want to spend money on holidays. I know many people around me who earn big income or those who retired with fat bank account but are content to stay home because to them, holiday is a waste of money.

Yet, there are folks, such as our government officer friend who may not seems to have that kind of money and yet are able to travel probably because, he makes holiday a priority and plan for it.

The other thing is of course, being smart about holiday planning.

Gone are the days when one are the mercy of travel agencies. These days, as long as you are IT literate, you could get plenty of amazing deals on the internet from free seat flights to free room stay. In fact, I bet these people who likes to travel make it a point to check out every travel site that appears in the internet such as this newly revamped portal for cheap flights based in Australia.

Apparently, this site has been around for years but lately they have been aggressively marketing their specialty service which is flights sourcing from airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Qantas and United Airlines.

The difference about this site as compared to the other travel sites is that it focuses on the Asian and Oceania market so for most of us who can only travel within the region, we are not distracted by names like Houston or Zurich but we’ll straight away see destinations like Bali, Bangkok and Hong Kong.

Anyway, when it comes to the questions of who can actually afford a holiday - I say all of us are. It’s all a matter of priorities and smart planning, don’t you agree?

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