Birthday

When Lonely Planet was launched in 1973, the very first book Across Asia on the Cheap highlighted the way to adventure across the world in a budget manner. Another Lonely Planet’s book, The Best Things in Life are Free, reminded us that we don’t need a million dollars to enjoy ourselves. 

To celebrate my birthday this year, I picked the MacLehose Trail, which is free, open all year, 24 hours a day. My pick is the first two sections of the MacLehose Trail. The sun-kissed route with alternating peak and beach is stunning but pretty tough. This is even more so after the flooding from Super Typhoon Ragasa. 

I didn’t check my camera's memory card, which turned out to be nearly full. I knew it’s not worthwhile to waste battery life to erase old images, but I had to. By the way, our camera's memory cards and batteries have a way of going out when you need them most. I didn’t bring spare camera battery and my camera battery ran out before I finished my five-hour trek. Uh-oh.

Put simply, the lesson for me to learn, especially as I get older, is to remember a backup plan.