Round the world with Renzo?

A few days ago, Renzo shared with me that his classmate Kaleen went to Disneyland in Japan, well that's how interesting topics among toddlers get nowadays in school. It's not just about Hello Kitty or Mickey Mouse anymore, they do share their travel experience and you will be surprised to find out, almost every one of them go for overseas holiday with their parents very frequently. I always believe overseas travel is an eye opener that allows children to experience different ways of life. And the great thing is they won't even realize just how much their little brains are soaking up, all without a book or classroom in sight!

Renzo went to Australia with us in 2008, when he was barely a 3 months old fetus inside my tummy. And at the time we brought him along to Phuket for his 1st year birthday celebration, he couldn't even walk on his own. Last August, he enjoyed a 2 weeks holiday with us in China, it was definitely a tough trip for us as he was trying to cope with a new life without his auntie AyeAye. He gave us all kinds of unreasonable requests from eating up a big icecream cone on his own (that's when he had his first taste of icecream), to opening windows in the plane (yes he meant literally opening the flight window, not just lifting up the blind). For the past one year, we have not been traveling around due to the arrival of our Baby Rynus, but we have been trying our best to arrange for Staycations at local hotel. And it seems that Renzo loves hotel stay even though it's not an overseas travel.

How do we know that?
He remembers which floor we were staying at during our last staycation, and when he commented that my office is NICE, he added, "But, my hotel is NICER, Ritz Carlton Hotel Mummy!!"

Daddy Chan and I decided immediately to keep our Marriott Vacation Club membership, which allows us to stay at more than 2000 hotels under Marriott worldwide (including Renzo's favorite Ritz Carlton of course), after hearing this comment from Renzo. Although we were pondering about selling it off initially since we do not have much time to travel with small kids.

So up next, where should we bring little Renzo to, for a better family bonding experience??

- The States? Most likely I am going there again for business trip next year so the family could tag along, but the 20 hours travel time is still my biggest concern..
- Bali? Our best friend is holding his wedding dinner there next April, but how to "drink, drank & drunk" with little Renzo around??
- Abu Dhabi? Renzo knows that daddy's brother and sister-in-law are there, we could have visited them together with my in laws earlier this year, if I wasn't pregnant with Rynus..
- Phuket, again? The villa under Marriott property is a great place for relaxation, I won't be surprised if Renzo could still remember that place..
- Australia? I have 3 cousins there so for sure we could get some "babysitting service" while enjoying our couple time, but wait, aren't we talking about family trip here? LOL...
- Taiwan? A place Daddy Chan and I both love a lot and maybe Renzo will appreciate the food there??
- HongKong? Well every time we plan to go to HongKong, I get pregnant.. so.. OUT!!


I realized that when mapping out an overseas trip with young kids, nearby countries are always favorable due to convenient location and comfortable weather.

And maybe, I should plan a trip to Universal Studios with a night stay at one of the RWS hotels, since not just Renzo, even Daddy and Mummy have not visited USS so far, LOL...