The Gift of Travel

Off We Go!

One of the many beaches we've lounged upon

We've been traveling for years during the winter holiday season.  Not being religious, I figured it was better to get out of town, avoid the cold weather, skip needless shopping for stuff people don't:
a) want
b) need or
c) like and will therefore have to return while fighting the throngs of after holiday sale shoppers
and head to the Caribbean for a week+ of warmth and merriment of our own making.

 [Side note: Our parents lived on the same street and it was too chaotic shuffling back & forth so we just gave up, which was way easier than dealing with the family holiday madness.]

Wilma was a Cat 5 storm.

I should say this originally started when we were taking a trip in October that Hurricane Wilma forced us to 1) postpone and 2) find a new place to visit after it wiped out Cancun.  The NOAA hurricane central website helped find an island that had not been destroyed in recent memory. [See my post on Like Amsterdam But in Pastels for the full story.]

This tradition started when our child was a baby. As she's gotten older we've asked if she wants to stay home and 'celebrate' and repeatedly we got the 'No," so I've stopped asking and now we just go.

We have 12 days until we leave for this year's trek. Two weeks in a condo on the beach. But let me tell you, each year it gets harder and harder to plan. It seems there are more people who have taken to the gift of travel instead of giving unwanted/needed/liked gifts.

 

 

Our planning process 

This is our actual airline confirmation. Notice the date: May 20!!!

In May we start thinking about where we might want to go. Generally I look for a more 'off the radar' type of island.  But for some reason, this year I zeroed in on a well known destination. Typically  I start the process of looking for a place to stay on TripAdvisor. After looking at hotel rates (GASP!) I opted to find a rental through VRBO or FlipKey.  Thankfully I found a reasonably priced place and I booked it stat!  [When we started this tradition I could get a 4-5 star hotel for $179/night. This year I was faced with $750+/night!??!  Clearly this whole run-away-to-warmer-weather-for-the-holidays has caught on.]

Then I started looking at flights. Much to my surprise I was FORCED to by airfare because the flights were already practically booked - in MAY? We're talking for a December flight seats were filled and some totally sold out! Maybe it's the island we picked? Guess we'll find out in less than two weeks.

Since flights were already crammed, I figured I better book the rental car at the same time.  So at least all the big logistics were out of the way.

The spouse and the kid are scuba divers. For the past two months he's been saying 'I need to contact the dive shop.'  Finally he did. Guess what? First choice dive shop was booked. As in for the entire two week trip. [Again, people are catching on to this non-holiday thing.] Plan B - go with the cattle class dive shop. Stay tuned to see how that shakes out!

Part of the planning of the location/accommodations MUST include: beach access, pool, bar, spa, and ability to prepare our own meals or at least a mini-fridge and microwave. The first three go without saying, but the spa is all me. This is where I'll be spending lots of time...

This is what I really look forward to while not celebrating a holiday.

Moral of the story?

So, moral of the Gift of Travel post? Book early if you want to go somewhere you read a LOT about. Consider renting a flat, condo, house, villa if you can't find a reasonable hotel rate. Then hope everyone else decides to stay home.

Happy Travels!