Unlike digital nomads who can travel to places without worrying for leaves, payday traveler’s days are of high value. Our first visit in Cagayan De Oro was fun but the 2nd was simply amazing. We not only covered CDO but the neighboring provinces of Camiguin and Bukidnon too. It was my first time to hop from place to place. I must have loved it so much because most of the trips that followed were patterned that way.
Visiting more places in a single trip can be hectic but can save you money on fares and leaves. Most of our trips were aimed to cover as much spots as we can. But that is a different story when it comes to trekking.
Here are some of our multi-province trips:
3D3N Northern Mindanao (CDO+Camiguin+Bukidnon) -> DIY trip
4D3N Southern Luzon++ (Batangas+Laguna+Baguio): DIY trip. See itinerary here.
4D3N Central Luzon (Pampanga+Tarlac+Zambales+Bataan): Packaged trip w/ itinerary
5D4N Bicol (Camarines Sur+Caramoan Islands+Albay): DIY trip
Interested to explore Northern Mindanao like this?
Here’s how we did it!
- Book an early morning round trip flight to Cagayan de Oro.
- Get on a ferry bound to Camiguin.
- Explore Camiguin in 1D1N and visit the following spots:
Sunken Cemetery
Walkway to the old volcano and 14 stations of the cross
Catarman Church Ruins
Sto. Niño Cold Spring
White Island
Ardent Hot Spring
Welcome to CDO!
Trippers!
City of Golden Friendship!
The sunken cemetery!
Jump shot with Mt. Hibok2x on the background!
Mandatory group pic!
Creative shots suggested by our boatman!
Walkway to the old volcano. It would have been fun to trek up but we had no time to spare.
One of my favorite pics of the trip. Migo & I contemplating about our future.😀
I might have grown fat and he…some flesh but one thing has remained unchanged – our devotion to wanders and our love for each other.❤
With the gang!
A cold, cold spring indeed!
Photo ops with Ann!
On the way to White island!
Colorful boats!
Aside from swimming and enjoying the powdery white sand, we were quite busy thinking of poses for our photo shoot.
It’s truly amazing that Camiguin has both cold and hot waters. Ardent spring was a wonderful treat after a long day of wander.
Pics with the girls!
- Return to Cagayan de Oro via ferry early morning of the 2nd day.
- Settle down and do the white water rafting in the afternoon of the 2nd day.
White Water Rafting
All in! Ann & I were missing. I decided to keep the memory of my earlier white water rafting intact by not trying it again. It was a great day to spend with Ann alone as well.
- Do a city tour at night and settle on the 2nd night at CDO inn.
- Prepare for a long travel to Bukidnon on the 3rd Day.
- Stop by at Divine Mercy Hill.
Divine Mercy Hill
Shorts are not allowed in Divine Mercy Hill. We were provided cloth as extensions.
Group pic! This was Migo & I’s 2nd visit. First time was in 2008. The chapel at the heart of Jesus is almost finished now.
- Continue the journey to Bukidnon and enjoy the following spots:
Dahilayan Adventure Park
Del Monte Plantation
Dinner @ Del Monte Club House and be in for a treat!
Superman zipline. It was quite a rush!
Too many nice views in Dahilayan for photo ops!
The exterior and interior odf this house is❤!
Mandatory group picture!
We were told to clip our hand if we were almost at the end of the zipline.
More pics!
Picture before flying!
Yay! We did it. We were given certificates as proof!
Just being Migo & Miga!
We were famished when we reached Del Monte Club House for dinner! But we didn’t really expect to be in for a treat. The size of their steak was just too much. Migo & I just shared one meal. If we only knew the size of the servings, it would have been a different story.😀
The Club House!
Stopping by at the center of Del Monte plantation.
Of course, this was mandatory for me.😛
- Go back to Cagayan de Oro and spend the 3rd night at the same inn. Leave at an early morning flight out of CDO on the 4th day. Not considered in travel day since you will be back at work by lunch time.
Estimated cost of that travel is around 8-10K! And digging in my old notes below, it reminded me that my boyfriend paid for the whole trip. Gosh! That and more makes me feel very lucky to have him – not everyone is blessed to find someone who spend his hard earned money just to be with someone he loves. Today we are married and more or less the setup is the same. LOL So yeah, technically, I wouldn’t be this adventurous without him.❤
Date: 10/26/2011
This got me thinking…. I was worried yesterday knowing the estimated money for our CDO-Camiguin-Bukidnon trip. I told Migo that he should just go alone. The expenses is around 8K. Actually he already told me before that he’d pay for everything but I was still worried. The amount is just too much to spend on travel. I love travel but almost always I wanted it to be fun but not pricey. The biggest amount I ever spent so far was last August when we were in Manila, around 5K. If I’m going to compare it going on this trip is covering 3 provinces already, it’s much cheaper and besides it’s not my money. But I still can’t get the hesitations out of my head. Then I found the article below in my old mails. Maybe I should just go. Hmmm…Source: Unknown
Money has no memory. Experience has. You will never know what the total cost of your education was, but for a lifetime you will recall and relive the memories of schools and colleges. Few years from now, you will forget the amount you paid to settle the hospitalization bill, but will ever cherish having saved your mother’s life or the life you get to live with the just born. You won’t remember the cost of your honeymoon, but to the last breath remember the experiences of the bliss of togetherness. Money has no memory… Experience has.
Good times and bad times, times of prosperity and times of poverty, times when the future looked so secure and times when you didn’t know from where the tomorrow will come& life has been in one way or the other a roller-coaster ride for everyone. Beyond all that abundance and beyond all that deprivation, what remains is the memory of experiences. Sometimes the wallet was full& sometimes even the pocket was empty. There was enough and you still had reasons to frown. There wasn’t enough and you still had reasons to smile. Today, you can look back with tears of gratitude for all the times you had laughed together, and also look back with a smile at all the times you cried alone. All in all, life filled you with experiences to create a history of your own self, and you alone can remember them all.
The first time you balanced yourself on your cycle without support
The first time she said ‘yes’ and it was two years since you proposed
The first cry, the first steps, the first word, the first kiss, all of your child
The first gift you bought for your parents and the first gift your daughter gave you
The first award, the first public appreciation, the first stage performance,
And the list is endless experiences, with timeless memory…No denying that anything that’s material cost money, but the fact remains. The cost of the experience will be forgotten, but the experience never.
So, what if it’s economic recession? Let it be, but let there not be a recession to the quality of your life. You can still take your parents, if not on a pilgrimage, at least to the local temple. You can still play with your children, if not on an international holiday, at least in the local park. It doesn’t cost money to lie down or to take a loved one onto your lap. Nice time to train the employees, create leadership availability and be ready for the wonderful times when they arrive. Hey! Aspects like your health, knowledge development and spiritual growth are not economy dependent.
Time will pass& economy will revive& currency will soon be in current& and in all this, we don’t want look back and realize we did nothing but stayed in gloom. Recession can make you lose out on money. Let it not make you lose out on experiences & if you are not happy with what you have, no matter how much more you have, you will still not be happy.
Make a statement with the way you live your life:
How I feel has nothing to do with how much I have.
so SEIZE THE DAY! LET’S MAKE MEMORIES! ;p
Filed under: 10 Northern Mindanao, Migo's Exec, Philippines, Travel Tagged: Adventure, Cagayan de Oro, Dahilayan, Nature, outdoors, Philippines, Photography, Scenery, Travel, White Water Rafting, Zipline
