Adpenture

Life Update: We just got back from our first trip as family of three! Yey! I couldn’t wait to share a few highlights with you to what I consider an amazing roller coaster ride.

While traveling is not a new thing for us, having a little one join us was a bit of a challenge that we did try our best to prepare for. But despite the little bumps, I can say that our Cebu trip is the best one yet. I’ll be sharing some of our itinerary in my blog soon—they’re the best tourist spots in the heart of the City we’ve tried!

Pre-Trip Prep

Months before our scheduled trip, I decided to create a digital travel notebook. It contains all of the information I need for our trip, including our itinerary, budget, checklists, and flight schedule.

At first, I was a bit hesitant in showing my tiny mom planner to my friends. But as it turns out, we’ve used my digital notebook almost all the time throughout our travel. A lifesaver, as I would call it and definitely the perfect thing we brought to our trip. I’m sharing more about it on my next blog post with a template that you can use!

Things I learned when traveling with a baby:

As a first-time mom, I relied heavily on Google, YouTube, and mom blogs. I also asked friends and family for any tips and ideas. I wanted to have an enjoyable trip without the hassle, especially during air and land travels. And I felt like we did make it work. Though there are still some hiccups along the way that I feel we could do better on.

One of them is not using a stroller. LOL. Gerson and I played pass-the-baby all the time just to give ourselves a bit of rest. Even with a carrier, the heavy lifting definitely put a toll on us. We thought bringing a stroller would be such a hassle as we have our baggage to take care of along with our baby. We also thought that renting was going to be a waste of money. But looking back, we really should’ve brought or rented one.

Another thing is not investing in portable bath tubs and toys. The trip made us realize that we have a little picky one who would cry a lot without his usual bath routine. I feel so bad for not preparing for this part of our trip and hopefully did not traumatize our baby. (I think he’s all good because as soon as we got home and gave him a bath, he didn’t cry anymore. I kind of think of it now as a fever dream. LOL)

I want to share more about my experience but I guess that would be for another blog post. So, here’s my next highlight:

Our Favorite Adventures:

Unlike the usual tour packages, we DIY’d our own tour with the help of my husband’s cousin (who was the purpose of this trip). We went to some of the go-to tourist spots in Cebu City and though just a few, it was still a fun and memorable experience. I’ll be posting more details on my blog soon. In the meantime, here’s my quick review:

Sirao Pictorial Garden. One of the best Instagrammable locations in Cebu that you should try. They called it “Little Amsterdam” of Cebu. The garden features replicas of iconic structures and windmills. It also has playful, toy-like houses and decorations. I kinda think of it as combination of Baker’s Hill and Yamang Bukid of Palawan.

Tops Cebu. Just a few kilometers from Sirao Garden, is another top tourist destination. The best time to be there is during the night so you could see the overlooking view of the city lights. We got there earlier though because of a bit of change in our itinerary. But the view was just as beautiful.

SM Seaside. I always thought SM Puerto Princesa was a large mall. However, SM Seaside humbled me with its vast location. I certainly surrendered myself to just visiting a small part of the mall and honestly, it wasn’t so bad. My little one got to explore the rooftop and we went back to our AirBNB as soon as our friends finished exploring the place.

10,000 Roses. Another one of the Instagrammable locations in Cebu, just right next to the port. There are glowing 10,000 roses that can make any date romantic and full of fun. They have a cafe and restaurant where you can fill your stomach as you view the really cute and enchanting white glowing roses next to you. But we didn’t stay there for long to eat as the place was packed with local and foreign tourists. We did enjoy taking lots of pictures and checking out the souvenir shop though.

Fort San Pedro. We also got to visit one of the historical sites in the City. A military defense structure built in the early 17th century and filled with exhibits and massive cannons inside the large stone walls where you can also do a bit of stroll. Its a perfect place for families and kids to learn more about history.

Sugbo Mercado. While we decided to save our food budget by not eating out that much, we definitely did not pass out on the tempting night market of Cebu. Filled with a variety of food stalls and entertainment right at the center of the City, we were able to taste the delicious feast Sugbo Mercado has to offer. My favorite, their grilled seafood!

Just One of Our First Family Adpentures

Our recent trip reminded me once again of what makes a family trip an memorable adventure are not the places we’ve visited but the laughter, quiet moments and little surprises that we’ve have along the way. Sure, traveling with a baby can be a challenge but the joy and excitement made it worth the trip.

I am grateful for the time we had to create stories together as a family and one that we can look back to for years to come. And with this wonderful experience, I am happy to say that we are eager to have more family adventures in the future.