Hello, World!

Much has happened the past weeks. I don't even know where to begin. But I guess, I'll start with the news that we now have two feral toddlers to keep an eye on. 

Our little girl, Isabel, turned one this month. And I know I have already said that we won't be traveling until she turns two. But here I am, creating a toddler-friendly itinerary for our next out-of-the-country trip.

I am sure no one is going to disagree when I say that traveling with a toddler is a pain in the ass. I've seen it, experienced it, and proven it an understatement. Yet, we find ourselves turning a blind eye to the thought that with these feral two in tow, we may never be able to relax—which defeats the purpose of a vacation.

Bakit nga ba namin pinapahirapan sarili namin? Ever since, I have been questioning myself why Jan and I always subject ourselves to pain and exhaustion. 

Back then we would go on regular hikes where we'd temporarily lose a knee, a limb, or a toe; then we trained Muay Thai until our bones literally cracked and broke; later on we plunged into the stress of parenting children with close age gap (I love my kids but parenting? I'd take a broken bone anytime); and now, we're taking this parenting to a whole new level of inconvenience, chaos, and frustration as if it was not hard enough.

We still have three months to prepare ourselves mentally, though I know there's not much we can do about it. By the time we embark on this medium-haul flight, these feral two will still be very hard to reason with. They will throw a fit when they want to and will do some theatricals 35,000 feet above the ground to show everyone how we are failing as parents.

But of course, that's only how I play the scenes on my mind. I ought to be an overthinker prepared just in case.

Anyway.

I know most people have a different idea on traveling with little children. Hold it off until they're old enough to remember, they said. 

But nah. 

Surely, kids won't remember that we cuddle and kiss them every night. They won't remember the books we read them nor the times we took them to the parks and playground. But we still do it anyway. I don't see how it's different from traveling.

They won't remember, yes. But the smiles we see on their faces when they experience something new? That will forever be etched on our minds.

This is going to be the beginning of us seeing the world together and I. CAN'T. WAIT!

Still wondering how can we take good photos though.