Travelling

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

I like travelling, seeing new places and meeting people, learning knowledge that I will never ever have the chance to learn except by experiencing it myself. Probably that is the only reason that I like about travelling, other than that I don't really like travelling.

First, I always get travel sick, especially on a stuffy bus. Worse, if it is a bus that stops ever so often or travelling on journey that requires constant braking, like lots of traffic lights, curvy path, etc. That's why I always prefer train though it's a bit more expensive but at least I can rest properly on the journey or have the pleasure to enjoy the scenery.

Second, to arrange the transportation and accommodation. It is easy and fun if I have the budget to do it. But when it is a low-cost trip, everything has to be done only after extensive research to find the cheapest and the best, and worst of all to book or buy in advance so that a low price is secured. This is the one thing that takes away my excitement to travel. If I am not sure if I want to go at that time, if I need that accommodation, if I have better choice to stay at a friend's rather than B & B, if... it is very difficult to decide the booking & purchasing. I hate the refund policy. It is like a kind of punishment to potential customers, especially the poor customer like me.

This issue comes into my post today though I am in a midst of stress completing my thesis and not sleeping the whole night because I am sorting out a few trips. I want to let you know that I am off to Athens this Sunday until Thursday for a conference. Fortunately this one is partially sponsored, so it's not a big stress to make the arrangement.

I am also organising the accommodation for a trip to the Lake District in June. It was such a hassle and I have been speaking to quite a few number of caravan parks to check the availability and to get the cheapest rate. Alhamdulillah, it was sorted after 1 month but now we are going to think about actually preparing food there, activities and transportation. I'm glad that I am not the person in-charged of these, only helping.

Next, in July, I am going to another conference in Paris. This time, I have not secured any funding from anyone cause I have exceeded the limit of funding that my faculty has ruled out for each PhD student. Also, I am not sure if my college will be happy to give me any more funding cause I have just been granted one last term to Athens, but I applied anyway, who knows, if ALLAH willed. So, this trip is a bit more head-ached than the Athens. Eurostar is so expensive inthe weekend and cheap ticket in the weekdays is only available in crazy hours like before 7am or after 7pm from London, not Cambridge, mind you. I have no funding to go to this conference in Paris, so to book a B & B is too much for me. There's no way that I can save on transportation but there is way to save on accommodation. Though I am tempted to stay at a friend's friend's friend's house to save money but since I have never met the sister and already I am going to stay at hers for FREE, I take this as very rude though I know that the sister won't mind the trouble but still I am very reluctant to be the reason for people to feel uncomfortable or unhappy, if I misbehaved while in their hospitality.

After speaking to my supervisor, he is happy that I should submit my thesis in August. So I am not going to do anymore travelling like this until September where there will be another conferece in Edinburgh. This time, the organiser is going to give grant for a few selected students. I pray that I will get it. If so, I will not have to worry much about money factor. Moreover, the accommodation of this conference is arranged by the organiser, so I don't suffer the head-ache in arranging this trip.

See, I like travelling if I can be sure that I will have a pleasant journey to and back, as well as MONEY to make my bookings. Many ask me if I am excited going to Athens this Sunday. My answer is no because I am loaded with the pressure to complete chapter 4 of my thesis and all these troubles to arrange the logistic of my trips in low budget that I completely lost the 'appetite' of travelling. Anyway, I pray that everything will go well, that I won't get lost in Athens when I can't even understand a word of Greek! Also, my presentation will go well and paper will be accepted for publication. And finally, I will at least enjoy the trip.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.