6 months to go!

So near yet so far.
My planning is basically 60% done. Flight tickets, hotel bookings and rough itinerary.
Planning for travel trip is fun actually, I never realized it.:P

But since I never planned this further in the future before, I do have some concerns,
(well 2 major ones)
1.what if my boss did not approve my leave?
2.what if I got so deep into a project that I myself didn't have the heart to take leave?

An then another very daunting question,
-what if its not like what I hope it would be?

My option is just to lower my expectation as low as it can be and see what happens.

Still got a lot to think about but I'll leave that to next year. Now I need to focus on work.

But I can sum up 4 VERY important points to note during planning.

1. Timing
Make sure you are going in the right season.
Most of the beaches/islands in South East Asia have 2 seasons, dry and wet.
Dry is somewhere around  Dec-May and wet season is somewhere between June-Nov. (may vary depending on countries). But generally March/April is the hottest time when the sea is clear and you can enjoy the beach without the risk of heavy rains and strong tides.
But, these are also summer time for the European tourist to come and visit these islands.
So if you decide to avoid crowd, might as well take your chances during the shoulder season.

2.Local holidays.
Take note on what are the festive holidays in the country you're visiting. For example in Philippines, they have Christmas/New Year and also Holy Week (Easter holiday) on April which the locals get 1 week off and went for holidays. So avoid buying tickets on these time (next year it will be around 2nd-9th April) because it will not only be crowded with tourists but local as well.

3.Accommodation
If you are taking bus/train/ferries/flight or anything early in the morning, make sure your accommodation is in walking distance of the bus station/ferry terminal/airports etc. If it's not, make sure the hotel you're staying provides transfer service to the terminals and make your schedule beforehand.
I don't like to have to depend on something and take risk, so I'd say find walking distance accommodation so you can go to the bus station/ferry terminal/airports by yourself.

4.Backup plans
Every plans you make MUST have a backup plan.
What if I missed my flight/boats/bus? what if my passport/wallet got stolen? what if its raining the whole day? What if the accommodation are full or unbearable to live in?
And all these backup plans requires backup CASH. So save enough to cover all this backup expenses.

I hope everything goes well.
InsyaAllah:)