The beginning

So here I was...sitting on the sofa...surrounded by two cats and a crazy dog.
A new year has just started and I wasn't sure what did I want from it.
I turned 30, I had a relatively secure job, and I was singe again. I had a good life overall.
So it though it was time to take a chance and plan a big holiday trip. ON MY OWN.
No boyfriends, no friends, no agents, no pets...JUST ME.
I have always dreamt of travelling South America (who hasn't?), so that was my first direction. You know, the Ancient Indian Trails, hiking in the Andes, discovering the beauty of long lost civilisations...Machu Picchu, and all the natural beauty...Salto del Angel, Laguna Verde... I don't need to say no more.
Anyway that was my first direction to exploit, as it has always been my "place to be".

But this time I was not brave enough to choose this destination.

What I selected was quite the opposite side of the globe (!),
Vietnam here I come!!
Or maybe not quite yet.
I made my decision there and then, sitting on the sofa. Just few comparisons for safety, cost, overall level of difficulty and the tourism level. And Viet Nam seemed like the place to go for a beginner.

And so I booked the tickets.

Fortunately I leave in a capital city so I am not restricted so much by the travelling direction network. I was  also fortunate because the same year LOT launched new expantion program, look up info at Forsal.pl. They opened a direct connections Warsaw-Hanoi (!). But as you can read in the article (if you can read polish), their strategy meant competing with Russian Aeroflot. And so I checked also what our Russians friends have to offer...and I found it cheaper. Not direct though, but still around 120 € less amd with one stop in Moscow. Not a bad connection, with 13hrs there and 16 hrs return.

Already I recommend a wonderful application on iPhone, Sky Skanner, it works perfectly for European and not only connections. It is user friendly, trust worthy and very convenient. This is always my first information source for any flight booking. Sometimes I would go and check also the traditional flight search engines just to compare.. and very rarely there are discrepancies, Sky Skanner works every time! Then I go and check airlines that are not listed (like some local Asian etc.)

Because it was such an important thing for me to make the right booking, I spent quite some time scanning available flights, destinations (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh) and the most important - rates. I even took some effort and asked an agent to check out what's available, but it turned out I could get it cheaper through Sky Skanner.. So it was all working well.. Finally I made my decisions: 3 weeks in September/October time, Hanoi, Aeroflot.

Vietnam here I come!!!

But it was still only February when I booked it. Cost: PLN 1,880  / € 470 / $ 620.