Guest Post: Disneyland Hong Kong

Summer Guest Blog Series: Favorite Travel Memories
One of my favorite things about traveling is the personal growth you gain from the experiences you encounter. But truth be told, sometimes it's also wonderful to put all the personal growth aside and just have a great time! Disneyland is one such place that truly lets your inner child run free. Raghav shares his favorite travel memory of celebrating his daughter's first birthday in Disneyland, Hong Kong.

I think it's taken for granted that the very first international trip with my daughter is amongst my favourite travel memories. Considering that it was also to celebrate her first birthday, puts it right on top of the list.

Now, family holidays can pretty much go both ways. Traveling together after almost a decade, this one was going to be quite the experience. My parents, my sister, my brother-in-law, my wife, my daughter, and I, boarded a Cathay Pacific flight to head over to the magical kingdom of Hong Kong Disneyland.

What exactly made this a favorite travel memory? There was obviously the fact that we were celebrating something special. The whole family was there. Disneyland. Lastly, thankfully, because everything fell into place. There were no lost baggages. No missed or excessively delayed flights. Nothing.

I recommend Hong Kong Disneyland to everyone wanting to travel with a toddler. It is by far the most toddler friendliest Disney. My daughter was able to ride almost all of the rides and most of the trademark shows and events are all there.

Another reason why our trip to Hong Kong stands out is because just a month before our travel date Saanvi has started walking. That as you know is a huge landmark for parents, so watching her take tiny steps all around Disney always brought a smile to my face.

As a kid my parents took me all around the world. As an adult I always complained that I hardly remember anything from those travels. Being a parent now, I realise the importance of traveling with a toddler. They might not remember much, but as my parents said, "the joy and happiness you experienced at that time, be it that you don't remember it now, was worth the trip", and that was something I realised and wholeheartedly acknowledged during this trip.

Hong Kong Disneyland was also the perfect vacation because we decided to stay in the Disney complex in one of their two hotels. They are both kid friendly and be it playing "find all the hidden Mickey's" or eating Mickey shaped food, or better yet my daughter dancing on the table in the lobby with Goofy, memories like this are hard to come by.

You want to know a secret? If any guy tells you he hates shopping, trust me he is lying. We just hate shopping with women. Our trip to Hong Kong Disneyland could not have been a success without one thing; Shopping in Hong Kong. My father and I decided to break away from the ladies (my brother-in-law was doing the touristy things as this was his first trip), because if there is one thing for adults in HK, it's the amazing array of shopping available for all budgets. True, we ended up buying mostly for Saanvi (proof of which is in the picture below, as the carton has only her toys), HK is an amazingly vibrant and safe place to walk, shop, bargain, and simply enjoy.

After five days of tiring fun we were ready to head home and there was nothing that could possibly make this trip more memorable. Wait, do you think having an amazing look at the brightly shining peak of Mt. Everest on the way back from the airplane could be considered the perfect ending? I think so too. Unfortunately, we all were so tired that neither one of us has the strength to get up, open the overhead compartment, and take out one of many cameras that we had. Okay, I was not tired, but i'm a anxious flier
who prefers to stay put on the seat seatbelt and all.

Oh, well! You just can't have everything you want, can you!?!

Raghav is a 32-year-old avid traveler, a film enthusiast, an amateur photographer, a true Sagittarian and most importantly, a proud father. When work does not keep him busy, he can be found doing one of the above unless his wife has dragged him to the mall for some shopping which he despises. He recently started blogging and has turned into a semi-twitter addict. You can read his blogs at www.travelingticker.blogspot.com or follow him on Twitter.

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