Traveling is always an adventure. It's the weekend. My sister and I went on a trip to Cagayan, together with my aunts. Traveling with siblings is more exciting, especially when we get to do it without our parents. Do you agree? Well, that's the case when I had this trip with my sister.
We were thrilled to have this trip alone and make our own decisions. Little did we know that those decisions would lead us to an embarrassing moment.

Florida bus station
The main reason for our trip was to attend my cousin's wedding and my niece's christening. My sister and I, together with my aunts, were part of the preparations so we had many things to prepare before the wedding and baptism date. We travelled earlier than the rest of our family because of this.
Traveling with elders can be challenging at times, but they can make the trip memorable. This is the first time my sister and I had travelled to Cagayan by bus without our parents. We totally relied on my aunts' guidance as we waited patiently for the arrival of the Florida bus.

the bus going to Sta. Ana Cagayan
I took a picture of the destination and shared it with my mom. It's also as a reference, when I feel like going to Cagayan alone or with my sister in the future. When it comes to travel, I have a knack for recalling landmarks and directions, even after a single visit.
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We're gonna be on the road for 12-14 hours from the bus station to reach Sta. Ana Cagayan. My sister's a bit worried because she might get dizzy from the long ride.

the view from the bus window
The start of our trip was pretty chill. We were excited and we were chatting non-stop. Our aunts who are senior citizens and seated up front near the driver were engaged in lively conversations with the driver and his assistant. I enjoyed listening to their stories and watch them socialize to kill time.

another view from the bus window
However, as we got further into the trip, my sister started to feel dizzy. I told her that she should take a nap to feel better and get some rest. She eventually dozed off while listening to music. Along the way, we passed through these sceneries. I couldn't resist taking pictures of them.

Stop over somewhere in Tarlac
During one of our stops, we decided to have an early dinner. While some of my aunts chose to dine inside the bus, some of them convinced me and my sister to join them in the pantry area. My dad had packed us some bbq and rice for dinner so we can eat it during the trip. Since our aunts insisted on having dinner together inside the pantry, we ate our packed meals there.
After eating, my aunts went ahead to the bus while my sister and I looked for the comfort room. When we left the pantry, we saw this sign.

We laughed because it was too late! We didn't notice the sign earlier. We felt relieved though that no one scolded us for bringing some outside food!
We were still giggling as we stepped onto the bus. However, we got confused upon seeing strangers sitting on our seats.
I was about to ask my aunt if we changed seats but my aunts weren't there.
For a brief moment, my sister and I were anxious. We thought we had boarded the wrong bus and ours had left us.
We said sorry to those who we thought were sitting in our seats and left feeling embarrassed. We burst out laughing again when we saw our aunts on the other bus who were grinning!
They saw us coming out of the pantry and boarding the other bus and they just looked at us, waiting to be embarrassed.
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After the embarrassing incident, I remembered our youngest sister who couldn't join us. She let me bring her favorite squishy toy and I promised to take pictures of the squishy bunny with the view as if she was with us. I asked my sister to hold the squishy bunny as I take photos of it, which I immediately shared with our family group chat.

We were about to have another stop over, so to avoid another embarrassing situation, I quickly jotted down the number of our bus and saved it in my notes. GD136, I will never forget you! Lol.

It was already night when I noticed that we stopped for a while. My aunts got excited over a store selling gingers. We happened to pass by this store selling 5 kilos of ginger for only Php 100 or $2! We haven't reached our destination yet but they're already buying goods to bring home!

After 13 hours of travel, we finally reached our destination. Traveling with my sister and my aunts was fun despite the embarrassing moment.
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I realized that in this experience, the embarrassing moment actually made the trip more memorable. It taught me to be aware of my surroundings and pay more attention to details when traveling. Getting lost during a trip can lead to fun experiences that we can laugh about and share. Instead of sulking because of embarrassment, I learned to embrace the unexpected. Indeed, misadventures make a trip unforgettable.
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📸 All images are mine unless otherwise stated.
Cover photo edited using Canva