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Inspiration for the Road Trip

     I read an article online about a unique lifestyle of a family raising a daughter on a boat and how it made an impact. I shared a few lines from the article to my husband and he asked me something in the line of "how can we do the same for the boys?" Apparently, we don't own a boat or have the necessary skills to live that way but I think I understood what he meant when he asked the question. I think he wanted to know more about the ways we can provide risky yet meaningful experiences for our children, how we can foster the same enthusiasm for adventures, or how we can explore more and discover new things. We have been trying our best to provide a variety of activities for our boys where they can have first hand experiences with unfamiliar places, people, things, and events, but my husband and I felt an urge to push ourselves, as parents, further and with a small budget, challenged ourselves on a spontaneous road trip for a week, to explore Oriental Mindoro.

     But first thing, we had to prepare the things we needed. We were sure we cannot afford accommodation so it was either sleeping in our car or buying a second tent and having the old one repaired. The latter, obviously, seemed more logical, and we're happy it worked well (with a few adjustments later on). Another thing we had to arrange was the farm duties. We were very fortunate to have a friend, who lives near our home, who is always willing to feed the animals and house-sit when we are away. Lastly, we made a checklist to make sure we won't forget anything, especially something that might cause an emergency cash-out, and we assembled our bags, limiting our clothes to three pairs each person. We were also successful in talking to the kids about the things we might do during the trip, so there would be no need to bring their PSP.

     With only P7,000 in our wallet, hope in our hearts, and fun in our minds, we were off to an adventure! It was an Easter Sunday and also Daddy's birthday, a special day to start a week-long celebration of having him and each other as a family, as a team, wherever we may find home.

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