Don't look now but we're down to 2 weeks! Gah. Seemed like the past week just swooshed on by. So, did I finish everything on my 3-week-until-the-BIG-trip to-do list?

Here's the low-down:

I have NEVER, ever, saved up for anything my whole life. Some people call it a rainy-day fund. I ask: What rainy days? I dance myself silly on days like those. I revel in the rain! What's there to save up for?

Tsk. Do you see where this is going? I was a fashionista, a shopaholic, a party girl and a constant traveller. All of these equal to an absurd amount of money to sustain on a monthly basis. It's a bad combo especially if you want to save up 100,000 pesos worth of escape fund. In less than 6 months.

So, how exactly did we (especially ME) manage to cough up 100 grand for our escape fund?

Let me share 5 more tips that got us closer to our escape:

This is Part 2 in Lois' Misadventures in India series. If you haven't started the journey in Agra to see the Taj Mahal,click here.

We arrived in Jaipur late in the evening via sleeper train from Agra. We were too tired to argue with our driver and conceded to staying at the guesthouse he recommended. Apparently, in India, all rickshaw and taxi drivers has a brother/uncle/cousin who owned a guesthouse in the city.

 

Parents are the most cautious beings on the planet.

Of this breed, none are more cautious or crazy-paranoid than the Father who was lucky (or unlucky) enough to have 3 darling daughters to take care of from infant to toddler to blushing teenagers and into adolescence.

I should know, I have a father who is exactly like this.

Photo by Rodrigo Amorim

You see, I'm the eldest daughter in a family of 3 girls. I've had my share of being told what I can and can't do, 12-midnight curfews, being fetched by my Dad to and from wherever I was going and zero overnight parties or out-of-town trips with friends. This went on until I just about graduated from college.

Pretty tough loving huh? That's my Papa Bear for you.

When I spent last weekend in Sagada, some things happened there that you shouldn't ever ever, i mean NEVER, tell my over-protective Papa Bear. Else he'll be like Don Vito Corleone on you. And believe me, my Dad can do a Marlon Brando better than anyone you know.

So, do you promise not to tell him? Do you swear on your backpacks? Pinky swear?

By now, you've heard the rumors right? Yes, we quit our jobs to go on a 6 month backpacking trip that will take us around Asia.

Ballsy eh? You might have also guessed that it's expensive, too. Like Php100,000 ($2,272) expensive, give or take a few pesos.

How in the hell do I get that money? Where in the world could I find a trust fund baby (preferrably with abs like David Beckham) who will love me enough to hand over this much dough? Is there a Dummy's Guide to Robbing a Bank somewhere?

 Really? India? Oh you'll hate it. People crap in the streets!