Ruby Lai: Family trips create extraordinary and precious memories

Ruby Lai

News anchor Chen Haiyin is a happy mom, often sharing interactions and adorable photos of her daughter Xiyangyang on Facebook, and she also thoroughly enjoys the joyful time spent with her daughter. This year, she and her husband even took their daughter abroad to visit Guam and Japan. She said, "Family trips can create different unforgettable memories."

Photo / Provided by Chen Haiyin.

Chen Haiyin shared that when she first took her daughter abroad to Guam, she was worried that the air pressure during takeoff and landing might make her daughter’s ears uncomfortable, so she specially prepared snacks and cookies for her to chew on to ease the discomfort. However, unexpectedly, after safely getting through that, her daughter ended up having an upset stomach and had a bowel movement on the plane, which meant she had to clean and change her diaper in the small airplane restroom, leaving her feeling flustered and overwhelmed. (Recommended reading:)

She also mentioned that before going to Guam, while taking baby photos, she discovered that her daughter disliked sand and would cry as soon as she touched it. This made her worry that her daughter wouldn’t enjoy playing on the beach in Guam. Fortunately, after some time adapting, her daughter ended up having a great time on the beach, leaving many happy photos and precious memories.

Additionally, Chen Haiyin reminded parents to prepare some essential medications when traveling abroad with children, just in case. She said that during her first trip to Guam, she naively didn’t bring any medicine at all. Luckily, her daughter didn’t suffer from any discomfort due to the change in environment and everything went smoothly. But on her second trip to Japan, following a friend’s advice, she consulted her regular doctor beforehand, who prescribed common medications such as fever-reducing syrup, gastrointestinal medicine, allergy medicine, and anti-diarrheal medicine. She also brought her own ear thermometer, gauze, band-aids, and alcohol as extra precautions. (Recommended reading:)

She said that on a cruise, she saw a family where the child started getting sick within the first two days. Even after seeing the ship’s doctor, there was no improvement, and the sickness spread to the entire family, resulting in the whole family traveling while ill. It made the trip difficult and not as enjoyable. Therefore, she advises parents to always carry some essential medicines for young children when traveling abroad to avoid having the trip ruined by unexpected issues.

Regarding the itinerary planning for family trips, Chen Haiyin said that Guam and Japan offered completely different travel experiences. The former was an independent trip, with the itinerary mainly focused on staying at resorts and shopping—more of a fixed-location vacation with greater flexibility. Japan, on the other hand, was a cruise trip with family, where they disembarked at each stop to explore islands on land. The journey involved more travel fatigue. Chen Haiyin suggested that parents trying to travel abroad with their children for the first time could start with island countries and plan a fixed-location style of travel, which is more relaxing for both parents and kids.

Chen Haiyin said that apart from creating unforgettable memories different from everyday life, family trips also gave her a sense of successfully challenging herself. In the future, she will continue to travel with her daughter and create more precious memories.