For us, 2018 was an incredibly adrenaline-laden year! From mountain peaks that pierce the clouds to coral reefs beneath the blue expanse of the sea, we had such an awesome time! Let’s take you back to the trips, adventures, and accomplishments we had during the Year of the Dog.
We warmed up for 2018 via a sponsored stay at the Danasan Eco Park in the hinterlands of Danao, Cebu. If you want to relax from a hard week’s work and experience exciting adventures altogether, then this is the place to be!
Danasan Eco Park has a great number of adventures for people who want an adrenaline rush. A hair-raising drop from more than a hundred feet, a race around a dirt track, an exploration of the park riding an ATV, a relaxing ride on a horse—we found them all here!
Wet and wild! We love getting wet, and Danasan Eco Park has the facilities that quenched our thirst for adventure! Rappeling down a waterfall, maneuvering a skimboard along a pond, kayaking around a lagoon—you’ll definitely love it here if you are a water baby.
It was great feeling when we encountered beautifully preserved natural areas right in the heart of our bustling province. The Talima Marine Sanctuary, located right at the fringe of a busy shipping lane, is a clear proof that man and nature can coexist harmoniously.
The Reef World Foundation proclaimed 2018 as the International Year of the Reef. As part of our advocacy in protecting Mother Earth, we joined the eco-warriors of Project BLUE during the Dive Against Debris annual reef cleanup.
One of the nicest things about living in Mactan, Cebu, Philippines is that we are surrounded by gorgeous coral reefs. We explored Dakit-Dakit, one of the old dive sites in Maribago and witnessed strange biological wonders and learned more about marine biodiversity.
Not all of our adventures end up with a smile. Our Cuarto Islas island hopping adventure was one that was worthy of a frown thanks to the unethical tourism practices of Inopacan. We recommend you skip this place during your trip in this area of Leyte.
But at least, what followed a disappointing Cuatro Islas island hopping tour was an amazingly fun overnight stay in Digyo Island.
The Philippines has over 7,000 tropical paradises to choose from. Having a hard time choosing one? We recommend Canigao Island in Matalom, Leyte. It definitely exhibits a stark contrast against Cuatro Islas!
One of our fondest wishes is to accomplish a long-distance hike. With the establishment of the Cebu Highlands Trail, we now have a beautiful long-distance trail right in our home island of Cebu, Philippines! We began this endeavor with a four-weekend trek to accomplish the first segment of the CHT.
We joined the Dolpo 2018 Summer Camp, organized by Camp Red and Bluewater Resorts. The camp is for kids and parents who want to learn and enjoy the great outdoors. Primarily, they get a chance to learn bushcraft, an outdoor discipline about surviving and thriving in the natural environment.
As always, we want Alexa to experience regional cultures and explore other parts of the country. We don’t intend to limit her education in the classroom, in books, or in the Net. So we took her to a cultural and culinary adventure in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Northern Luzon.
For all the complications we need in order to live in a contemporary society, it is definitely refreshing to indulge ourselves and bask in Nature’s beauty. The longing to reset ourselves from the complications of life is one of the reasons why we included an early-morning visit Marlboro Country in Sagada, Mountain Province.
Humble places are where you learn the most important things in life such as simple joys, peace of mind, respect for Mother Nature, and appreciation of tradition. We found all these and more during our adventure in Maligcong, Bontoc.
Under the sea are millions of mysterious creatures beyond our wildest imagination, a majority of which are still undiscovered. We saw some of them at Buyong Marine Station. We also introduced some old and new friends to scuba diving, and they were pretty stoked!
Have you ever wanted to sail around sunny, sandy tropical paradises on a sleek yacht? Well, we did just that with Seahorse Houseboats! Now, experiencing the yachting lifestyle without breaking the bank is now possible!
Our beloved fur-baby Polly left paw prints in our hearts. This blog post is a love-filled tribute to our sweet and funny furball whom we will sorely miss.
In the outdoors, nothing is as easy. That includes walking on concrete or dirt roads! That was what we had to contend with during our trek on Segment 2 of the Cebu Highlands Trail.
Even the most familiar places hold pleasant surprises. And even the most well-laid plans take a different turn. That’s what happened during a weekend practice climb on Manggapares Trail on Tagaytay Ridge.
Our grandest adventure for the year the mighty Bakun Trilogy in Bakun, Benguet in Luzon, Philippines—three difficult day hikes up three massive mountains in three days! Halourd, Sweetie, and I were filled with a mix of trepidation and excitement as we prepared to climb Mt. Lubo—the first of the Bakun trilogy.
At more than 15 hours of walking and climbing, climbing Mt. Tenglawan—the second of the Bakun Trilogy—this is perhaps the longest day trek we’ve ever done.
The battle between quitting and persevering was what we fought during our climb up Mt. Kabunian, the third and final mountain in our Bakun Trilogy.
Through a complimentary Cebu City tour package from Travel Cebu, we learned a lot about our proud Cebuano roots, history, heritage, and culture.
Sweetie and I joined Project Blue during the Scubasurero 2018 reef cleanup. This is our way of showing our love for the ocean and Mother Nature.
Hiking Segment 3 of the Cebu Highlands Trail is about honoring the men and women in uniform. These are the brave and unselfish law enforcers who are ready to give up their lives to keep us safe.
Traversing Segment 4 of the Cebu Highlands Trial exposed us to a very different side of Cebu. This time, we explored the vast northern part of our home island.
Milestones
In addition to our exciting trips and adventures, we had some awesome achievements that we’re really proud of.
As we mentioned earlier, hiking from one end to another on a long-distance trail has always been one of our dreams. This year, we’ve accomplished have of that. All in all, we hiked 200 kilometers of the Cebu Highlands Trail, which is roughly half of the total distance! That is one
Being Deuter product ambassadors was a great honor and privilege. It’s not every day that we get to represent a world-renowned brand. Thank you very much Deuter and Chris Sports for trusting your name with us.
We wholeheartedly support local businesses. As such, we continued representing Se7en Outdoor as brand ambassadors. Thank you Se7en for putting your trust in us.
Se7en Product Partner
" data-orig-size="668,720" sizes="(max-width: 278px) 100vw, 278px" data-image-title="Se7en Product Partner" data-orig-file="https://adrenalineromance.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/313446_224475547603728_5171022_n1.jpg" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" width="278" data-medium-file="https://adrenalineromance.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/313446_224475547603728_5171022_n1.jpg?w=278&h;=300" data-permalink="https://adrenalineromance.com/workwithus/313446_224475547603728_5171022_n-2/" alt="Se7en Product Partner" height="300" srcset="https://adrenalineromance.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/313446_224475547603728_5171022_n1.jpg?w=278&h;=300 278w, https://adrenalineromance.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/313446_224475547603728_5171022_n1.jpg?w=556&h;=600 556w, https://adrenalineromance.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/313446_224475547603728_5171022_n1.jpg?w=139&h;=150 139w" class="aligncenter wp-image-4704 size-medium" data-large-file="https://adrenalineromance.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/313446_224475547603728_5171022_n1.jpg?w=560" />We’ve always wanted to be part of something worthwhile and noble, not just “blogging.” Being stewards of the environment, for us, is the right path. Team Sweetie supported Green Fins, an initiative dedicated to preserve and protect the reefs through the implementation of eco-friendly, safe, and sustainable snorkeling and diving protocols.
Green Fins
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It’s official! I’m now a PADI Advanced Open Water diver! Wheeee! More dive adventures to come!
Sweetie’s story “Vertical Camping: A High Adventure” that detailed our Vertical Bivouac adventure in Bukidnon won a spot in Navigator Paper’s “Around the World in 80 Pages” international contest. This is the second time we won a spot in this amazing publication! Wohoo!
Around the World in 80 Pages 3rd Edition
" data-orig-size="1600,1200" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" data-image-title="Around the World in 80 Pages 3rd Edition" data-orig-file="https://adrenalineromance.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/atw-desktop-1600x1200.jpg" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" width="560" data-medium-file="https://adrenalineromance.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/atw-desktop-1600x1200.jpg?w=300" data-permalink="https://adrenalineromance.com/workwithus/atw-desktop-1600x1200/" alt="Around the World in 80 Pages 3rd Edition" height="420" srcset="https://adrenalineromance.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/atw-desktop-1600x1200.jpg?w=560&h;=420 560w, https://adrenalineromance.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/atw-desktop-1600x1200.jpg?w=1120&h;=840 1120w, https://adrenalineromance.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/atw-desktop-1600x1200.jpg?w=150&h;=113 150w, https://adrenalineromance.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/atw-desktop-1600x1200.jpg?w=300&h;=225 300w, https://adrenalineromance.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/atw-desktop-1600x1200.jpg?w=768&h;=576 768w, https://adrenalineromance.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/atw-desktop-1600x1200.jpg?w=1024&h;=768 1024w" class="aligncenter wp-image-6919 size-large" data-large-file="https://adrenalineromance.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/atw-desktop-1600x1200.jpg?w=560&h;=420" />TripAdvisor listed us as one of the top couple blogs in the world to follow! That is such a prestige!
We won several awards such as Promocode’s Travel Blog 2018 and Sparpedia’s Couple Blog Award. Feedspot also named us as one of the top 10 Cebu Travel Blogs.
For the third time since the inception of Adrenaline Romance, we won the Best Travel Blog Category during the 11th Best Cebu Blogs Awards! This award is for you—-followers, readers, fans, sponsors, supporters, and everyone who accompanied us in this awesome journey.
But we wouldn’t have done everything listed here if not for you! Yes, YOU who are reading this right now!
In this blog’s 6 years of existence, you are the most important person in our story, dear readers, viewers, and followers! As we always say, you are our inspiration. Thank you so much!
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Are you ready for another set of breathtaking adventures and cool trips? Well, those are what await us in 2019! Indeed, we already have booked tickets, planned itineraries, and bought new equipment in preparation for our sojourns. So let’s go! Come with us for another great ride in 2019!