Traveling with a baby in the Philippines

So, fair disclaimer, traveling to the Philippines with a baby is not for the meek, but it can be incredibly rewarding. We don't presume to be parenting experts, but we are savvy travelers and did our due diligence for making this trip a reality. 

Here's what we learned along the way. 

Testing the water

Our beautiful, calm 3.5-month-old Astrid seemed to be sleeping and eating regularly; she was hardly the delicate newborn from so recently. Our main litmus test for travel was a shorter cross country trip earlier that month to visit Jen's family in Florida and Buffalo. When she barely fussed on both legs, earning the high praise of a fellow traveler "I didn't even know there was a baby on the plane!" she proved to be a solid candidate for further destinations, so we took our chance. 

Plane Travel

It's a 12-hour red-eye flight from San Francisco to Manila and then another 2-hour flight to Panglao Island. From door to door, the travel was about 19 hours. 

We prepared ourselves by ensuring we got the bulkhead row on the plane that had a cradle attachment. The cabin lights were placed right in the cradle, so it was quite bright even an hour after take off. We fashioned a tent from a plane blanket, but in hindsight, we got lucky there was a bar to tie the blanket too, as we should have brought a method to secure a tent without tying it to a rail. Perhaps some tape, a binder clip or suction hook would work well to fashion a sleeping tent. 

What to Pack

We packed a diaper per estimated hour of travel in our carry on, but that was overkill as we only used half that amount. We are pumped one bottle of breast milk for emergencies. For our regular luggage, we made it work with two carryons and split the baby gear. 

The things that we could not have made this trip without were:

Our baby monitor, this was our hall pass to go and lounge by the pool, or have a long lunch while she snoozed in peace in the room. If she woke, we were always nearby and didn't have to second guess ourselves if she was up. We chose an analog audio monitor that held a good charge and didn't rely on WiFi or cell service and had a range of about 500 feet, despite the box saying 1,500... 500 was plenty to get to the beach and back. 

The mosquito tent, which came in handy for when we were sleeping in open air areas that couldn't be screened in. No one wants an itchy baby, not to mention the slim, but still possible malaria & Zika. 

A couple of hats for Astrid and a swim shirt that protected her from the sun when we went for dips. 

 Also, baby diaper disposal bags came in handy to keep any stinky things at bay before housekeeping could get to it. 

What we wish we did NOT bring

Extra Shoes - it's a sandals/flip flops only country, the sneakers were just for the plane, and I'm not above wearing socks and sandals on the airplane home to save some space next time.

Breast Pump - unless you are exclusively pumping (which is a whole other set of challenges while traveling) we only brought this in the case of emergency. We only needed to pump once the entire trip for Jen's scuba diving but the power had conveniently gone out just then, so Jen made do by manually expressing into a bottle. 

Making a Schedule

We did our best to stick Astrid to her usual nap schedule so that she wouldn't be over tired and fussy during our stay. Travel days and day trips made this tougher, but when she was well rested, she handled the rest quite well. Our goal was to limit any activity to 4 hours with travel time included, so we could have her down for a long nap during the midday heat and have a relaxing morning and afternoon when the breeze feels perfect. 

Accomodations

Moving a baby is a lot of work in itself, so we opted to spend more time in fewer places. In hindsight, here are three major requirements we learned made our lives significantly easier when selecting a hotel. 

Cooling: it had to have A/C or, at least, a great fan setup, as Astrid would get warm and then a little sticky on hot days. February is not the hottest month, so we were helped along with plenty of overcast clouds during the week, but the hours of 11-3 still proved to be our time to hang out indoors mostly. 

Quiet: everywhere you turn in Panglao & El Nido, there is construction going on, so we lucked out with a few places that were very remote. The last two hotels had near constant hammering and roosters crowing. 

Full Service: so there are simple hotels that offer room and breakfast for $30-50 and then for a little more ($80-100 and up for luxury spots) you can the resort experience which provides three meals, amenities, beachfront and lots of helpful staff. This convenience became handy when Astrid would go to bed at 7, and we wanted to grab dinner at the beachfront restaurant, which we could do with our audio monitor. Had the restaurant been down the street, the monitor range and distance would not allow us to leave her in the room. 

Getting Around

A lot of the places we stayed didn't have cars for hire, and the majority of the people get around on tricycles, metal sidecars for old Honda motorbikes. These bikes laugh in the face of a child or even adult safety, with no airbags or seat belts and drive along roads strewn with bumps and dirt potholes. However, we would slip Astrid into our carrier, and she usually fell asleep to the sometimes rough bumps that somehow always made her doze. The "trikes" never go above 15 MPH and there is barely any traffic. 

When we had to take small catamaran boats, we either used the carrier or sometimes laid her in my lap and shielded her from any splashing water with a towel draped over my shoulder. Must be something about the vibration of the motor and the waves rocking that always put her right to sleep.

Beating the heat

We already mentioned A/C and sun protection, but even just walking around the hot midday heat should be avoided for reasons of heat stroke, heat rash, and general discomfort. We walked in the shade when we could and made sure to keep the sun off her face as much as possible. 

We tended to keep any swims to the early or late afternoon when the sun was weak, or when it was extra cloudy. 

Filipinos Love Babies

Just about everywhere we stayed, the staff seemed excited to see a baby. Everyone said "hello baby or batha" and would smile and wave to Astrid. On more than one occasion, the waiter of a restaurant we were eating offered to hold her while we enjoyed our meal. She would then be quickly whisked away and adored by the staff, sometimes getting into group photos. Mom sometimes worried, but the culture is just very different here about handling babies and all the young men and women knew exactly how to hold and manage a baby, since many had children or younger siblings themselves. You can read more about what Mom thought here: http://www.travelfor2.blogspot.com/2016/02/wait-where-is-my-baby.html

All in all, it was an incredibly relaxing and rewarding experience with a couple of trade offs. It may seem daunting, but if you can manage the time off from work and allow yourself to adapt on the fly, you can find many wonderful experiences in the Philippines. 

Mom and dad were pampered with not having to do any cooking, cleaning, laundry and shopping. Which left a lot of time just to be active with Astrid and devote lots of time to loving and learning what makes her tick. For mom, she got some much-needed breathing space and downtime. For dad, I got to spend some serious quality time and discover this amazing little girl. 

Our trip to the Philippines was without a doubt one of the highlights of the year and will be treasured for years to come. It has given us the confidence to take Astrid anywhere, and we couldn't be happier. 

Wait, where is my baby?

One of the most basic rules about strangers babies is that you do not touch them. Well, thankfully the Filipinos didn't get this memo and their love of children was one of the most culturally enduring parts of our trip.

Not only are the women here enamored by a fresh little cherub, but the men are equally as excited to get a chance to hold some chubby baby legs too.

At our first meal in a restaurant, the waitress came to the table and said "come, come" quickly lifting Astrid from my hands and whisking her away mumbling something about enjoying my lunch. 

In a slight panic, I sat frozen, not sure of what to do next. Do I chase her down or maybe call for the waitress to bring the baby back?

In the 30 seconds it took for me to process a possible solution to my baby being abducted, a crowd of other restaurant workers gathered around Astrid. To my delight Astrid was smiling happily in the waitress' experienced and solid hold. She was being fawned over, happy toes being touched and belly being tickled.

Though my protective mother instinct was kicking in strong, I sat back, relaxed and started to eat. Of course, keeping a keen eye on where Astrid was being taken to next.

After this first run in with my baby being lifted out of my hands to give me a moment to eat, the following times this happened were less and less jarring. Eventually, if we had to hold her through a meal, Stuart and I became slightly disappointed. We wanted the help so we could have 20 minutes to chat and eat enjoying the little adult time we have together.

Yes, I was always concerned about germs. Yes, I was worried the ladies might not know how to hold her properly and yes I irrationally thought that they might take off in a full run never to see Astrid again. But slowly those fears disappeared realizing that people here just enjoy holding a new baby and getting in a cuddle. Most were even continuing to go about their jobs during their mini baby sitting session.

After chatting with each helper a bit further I found that many were missing their own kids whom they were away from for long periods of time. Almost all grew up with big families where babies were always around. They were always kind, reaponsible and knew how to handle a small child. They were all quite professional "yayos" (baby sitter in Filipino).

It became a relief to have some help, sit back and enjoy time with my wonderful husband. I figured the more exposure Astrid has to people, experiences and languages the more well-rounded and calm she will be in the future. It was a major cu!tural shift and one I will miss when I go back home. 

At the Bohol Bee Farm

At the Miniloc Island Resort

At the Dolarog Beach

Adored by Angel

Helping out at the front desk

El Nido, Palawan Island

Enough cannot be said about the natural beauty of El Nido. World famous Boracay is its southward neighbor, but El Nido has been protected from droves of tourists by the treacherous 6 hour trek over unforgiving roads. Only recently has a small airport been established near El Nido, and there has been an uptick in new business. 

We started our trip in the beautiful Dolarog Beach Resort with its stunning views and wonderful hospitality. Getting there has been a challenge since the website is less than helpful and contacting the front desk is always a challenge. Taking a tricycle to the closest spot we could muster and then waiting for baggage handlers to walk down the beach and pick you up was a new experience. When we arrived, we were surprised to find that this resort is one of the oldest in El Nido, being one of two eatablishments in the 80's that catered to scuba divers. The property was a series of palm frond roof cottages that were spread out in a garden of coconut and palm trees. 

The inside was fitted with a wonderfully comfortable bed and indoor plumbing in the rear. 

Since the place is so remote, it operates a full restaurant, serving 3 meals a day along with operating its own excursions. 

We kicked back and let the gentle breeze guide our choices. Plenty of naps, great seaside meals and lots of swims in the calm beachfront. 

We couldn't do any of the pre planned trips, as they would depart at 9 and get back around 5, so we opted to charter our own boat and do a condensed version, so we were home by 12. We visited the Snake Island (known for its shape, not inhabitants) and another beautiful beach, while admiring some of the amazing cliffs in the area. 

After 4 nights at the beautiful Dolarog resort, we chartered a boat to Miniloc island in the distance that we had been watching at our sunsets. 

This resort was home to those idyllic cottages on stilts and a private beach. The resort felt far more polished than our previous resort and was run with the type of efficiency you might find in a commercial hot spot like Hawaii. 

We fell right into the island rhythm, kicked off our shoes and savored our beachfront beds with white sand covering the entire resort. 

The next day, Jen signed us up for scuba diving and we decided to split our dives up. I would do the morning dive while Astrid had her morning nap, circle back to the resort, pick Jen and Astrid up, let Jen dive and then make our way to nearby Entalula beach for a fantastic lunch. 

Our stay here was only for two nights and we made our way back to the mainland. We stayed at a lovely little bed and breakfast called Treetops, situated on another stunning beach and a short walk from a number of delicious beachside restaurants and bars. 

While Treetops was a lovely B&B, we quickly realized that the resort experience offered a better chance for us parents to comfortably leave Astrid in the room while she naps and for us to enjoy our time outside the room nearby. The Treetops was comfortable, but sadly had little to offer outside of the bedroom walls, so we adjusted our booking and left a night early. We cancelled our next stay as it had a similar setup and found a wonderful resort on Matinloc Island for us to enjoy the remainder of our trip. 

Now, I know our readers feel our burden with the challenge of booking ANOTHER resort in a tropical getaway, but this resort took the prize for best place during our trip. The Matinloc resort was recently built, so had all the amenities of a full fledged resort, but hardly any traffic, had a lovely beach, infinity pool, amazing restaurant, and stunning views of the mainland. 

Astrid turned 4 months and we celebrated with a little impromptu photo shoot by the pool and in our messy bedroom. She gladly brought the smiles before crashing hard from a half day on the boat. 

Tomorrow, we leave beautiful El Nido to make our way back to Manila before an evening departure back to reality. It's been an amazing stay and surely ranks up with some of the best places we have ever been lucky enough to visit. It doesn't top Paros for overall experience, but it sure came close with its stunning beaches, amazing scenery and wonderful inhabitants. 

We will gladly come back another day should any of our dear readers be in the mood to visit. 

Valentine's Day

Jen and I aren't huge fans of the hyper commercialized holiday of Valentines, but the date of February 14th has played prominently in our relationship. 

It is 1 week removed from when we met and also reflects a moment when Jen realized she might really like me. 

It is the day I proposed to Jen in Washington square park after the previous day's that week had become unavailable due to work conflicts for Jen.

It is the day that we signed our marriage certificate at a court house in Palm Springs before our unofficial ceremony in Paros in August. 

And this year isn't as much a milestone, but a really great reflection of how lucky we are to be where we are and to celebrate our many moments that mark a relationships timeline. 

After getting some tips from the great staff at Momo beach house, I found that the 4 star resort on the other side of the island was having a Valentine's Day special, a prix fixe 5 course menu in a romantic setting. 

Jen gave me a lovely little token with pages of lovely memories. 

The food was amazing, but hardly Filipino like advertised. Oh well, we drowned our worries in champagne and chocolate truffle.

We had a lovely evening and Astrid kindly snoozed through most of it. We ended our night with an enchanting walk through the candle lit botanical park. 

Happy first-meeting/proposal/first-marriage-ceremony, my love!

 

To my batha

Dearest Astrid,

Today, we had an exceptional bonding experience.

It all started while we were in the Philippines when you were just three months old. Mom wanted to go scuba diving, but it would mean she would be gone from 9 am until late in the afternoon. Not to let your breast feeding schedule stop her from her love of scuba diving, she pumped several bottles of breast milk the day before and said adios to us as the sun rose.

The day started off with a swim and showing you how to splash in the water. I would wiggle my toes and you followed suit. 

A power nap while daddy did some flight bookings for the rest of our trip. 

A trip to the busy Alona beach to finalize a few more trip details was in order, so I tossed you in the sling and headed to town. In the busy Filipino town, we were turning heads everywhere, since I tend to standout in Asia, it's not every day you see a giant albino, but it was you that stole the show. You were smiling and giggling at all the people to the delight of many of the locals who were coming up to us to say hello little "Batha", baby in Tagalog.

After strolling, we stopped for fish tacos at a beach bar that had a nice shady spot for us. We camped out, played with an ice cube and watched the people go by. We were taking it all in and it was lovely. We each got a bottle to sip on, a beer for daddy and breast milk for you.

Our little outing was a short one, so I only brought one diaper and a bottle, but lo and behold you decided to up the stakes. While at the bar, you must have been comfortable, so you decided to deliver quite the #2 that pushed your poor diaper to the breaking point. Changing you wasn't an easy task since we were at a restaurant bar with a tiny bathroom and I had no wipes to clean you up.

Thankfully the bathroom had a large sink to give your bottom a little rinse and used the hand air dryer to make it perfect. You were as happy as could be and we headed home in a rickety "trike" cab where you continued to make plenty of Filipino ladies smile as you looked out on the world. The cab driver was all smiles as well, but this photo doesn't do him justice. These trikes are quite the opposite to the heavy safety standards of the US, but we travel quite a bit slower here due to the terrible roads and ancient motors.

As we got home, you snoozed away until mom returned to cherish your little face. I think she missed you, as she is rarely away from you for more than an hour or two. 

I hope this message finds you in a place that recognizes the beauty in a smile and focusing on the essentials of life. An easy going, kind and resourceful attitude will take you around the world and back many times over. Your mother and I know this well, and it seems you have inherited our love of travel, happiness and making the best of any situation.

To my little Batha who is now surely a woman in her own, today was special as you were my little travel buddy and my love for you somehow grew even stronger than before.

Here's to many more in the years to come!

Love,

Daddy

Heat & Breeze

We woke before dawn today with a wide eyed and giggly baby. I took her for a morning stroll and took in the brilliant stars and the early light peeking over the trees. 

We saw the morning fisherman haul in their nets and the stray dogs sniffing the exposed seaweed of the low tide. 

As the morning began, we had a wonderful breakfast spread of organic sausages, beets and waffles at our resort. My ladies were matching in their vibrant floral onesies and sun hats. 

Today, we took the recommendation of a fellow guest and made our trek to the Bohol Bee Farm, an under the radar travel destination that boasts a stunning seaside restaurant and organic honey shop. Jen couldn't resist and we grabbed a van right away. 

The lunch was truly outstanding with the most insanely delicious cassava bread with mango honey spread, some fish tacos served in a cassava cone and a delicious fish platter. All the while overlooking a beautiful bluff of emerald turquoise waters. 

While we ate, the waitress took a liking to Astrid who smiled radiantly at her every time she came by. We had heard about the Filipino hospitality and were ready for some baby adoration, so when Our waitress offered to hold her so we could enjoy lunch, she was whisked away and entertained aplenty. Astrid was soon smiling and giggling for plenty of group shots with the staff. We had to laugh and was extremely proud of how well she handled being held by strangers.

After lunch, the famed White Beach was nearby and we took a quick "trike" ride to the area. The trike is just a motorcycle with a metal shell wrapped around it. It barely seats two passengers, but is definitely the quickest way around town.

The beach was hot and Astrid was getting tired, so a quick swim was in order and then made a break for home before she grew too tired. She was a trooper, but we have yet to find a way to have Astrid nap well outside of the room. The Philippines is a hot, balmy region, with tropical, lush surroundings and frequent downpours. It's saving grace is a cool ocean breeze when you're by the coast. When the breeze dies down, everyone is sweating and keeping Astrid cool can be a challenge when we're not riding in an air conditioned van or have our hotel room handy. 

So now we're back to the room with a fresh, fed baby who is back to loving the breeze and snoozing in her crib. With the pool steps away from our room, Jen and I take the chance to go for a dip and beat the heat one more time before the night takes over.