Married, with Miles

One of my favorite things is if we can tack on a personal trip at the end of a business trip.  Two years ago, Rob met me after a week in New York and we toured the sites of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty for the first time in our lives.  It was late fall, cold, and windy out.  Ellis Island was one of my favorite tours, making me wish I could share it with my genealogy-obsessed Dad.  Just think, my great-grandparents could have entered the country hrough this hall.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend, to our US readers. 

We are currently planning a trip to Hawaii’s island of Kauai for later this fall and I revisit the first trip we took there, originally posted on She Has Moxie.  It seems like our recent Cancun trip, we were just looking to get someplace warm and beautiful!  It’s so interesting to compare the experience to our Cancun trip.  This is where Rob first learned to SCUBA dive and I saw my first ocean beach.  This post was written in 2003 and I’ve edited some of the details and locations, but it’s interesting how our perspective has changed since.

We had some money saved a year after our wedding, but not enough time to really plan a trip with many sites. So I remember just clicking a button on a travel website and telling Rob we were going to Hawaii for our first anniversary. The point of this is to say I had never dreamt of going to the beach and I didn’t ever dream of going to Hawaii, at least not then. But it was one of the most relaxed times that renewed me deeply.

We stayed on the west side of Oahu at a great resort- I will always recommend such a resort because it was very quiet, but more family oriented. Waikiki was so young and, well, fast. We felt much more at ease at Ko Olina. Oahu is an island of extremes, though, with Honolulu on one end, quaint towns and farms in the middle.

I remember the beautiful drives, along the North shore, where sand- and salt-washed cottages lined the road, and the waves crashed so brilliantly. There are such diverse ecosystems on the island- arid & dry to rain forest. I remember hiking in a rain forest full of bamboo and narrow mud paths, and a whole day walking along a the dunes at the Ka’ena Point and the albatross preserve.  There are extreme micro-climates, too, and a great way to get away from the bustle of the resorts and cities, having to leave the car two miles away from the point. 

One of the highlights was this restaurant, Chef  Mavro.  Either of us will probably always list it in our top five food experiences ever, and it started us on a real foodie kick for a while. The menu was all about the art of pairing wine and food, and we each had a different pre-fixe dinner. Pretty much every fancy dinner we have now is compared to that because it was elegant and we are still impressed at how balanced all the flavors were- rich but not overpowering. I’m sure the experience was amplified by the pampering they give you. Certainly, the waiter asking if we were restaurant professionals because of the questions we were asking didn’t hurt our egos or impression of the restaurant!

We also went to the Byodo-In temple,  surrounded by Japanese gardens.The temple is impressive. There’s a certain weight to it that accentuated the natural beauty around it. I remember ringing the three ton peace bell and wishing for something special to happen to us. I always think of that when I remember Rob being laid off about a month after we got home. But the meditation house and the garden walk resonated with my need for perspective at that point in my life, which probably also explains my need to wish on a bell.

For me, it was the first time being on an island, and really my first time near salt water at all. I came home feeling invigorated and rejuvenated.  I look back on this as a luxury vacation and a very pampered experience.  When I write about our Kauai plans in the coming weeks, I’ll highlight the shift in perspective since 2003.

Just a few reminders in case your weekend plans, or any travel plans, are taking you away from home:

• Take care with the details you leave on social networking sites, especially if your real name is attached to your profile.  You don’t want your home to be in danger because of a twitter message saying exactly when you’re leaving.
• Put the credit cards, social security cards, passports you don’t need in a home safe that’s locked by a key you keep with you.
• Light up your home inside and out.  Timers for indoor lamps and motion detectors outdoors are excellent investments for travellers.
• Ensure your digital data is locked up.  No passwords on post-its on your desk, turn off the computers you can, and make sure you have a backup in that home safe, too. 
• Make sure your house sitter or pet sitter is aware of who to call in an emergency.  Ask them to vary the timing of their visits if possible so anyone observing your home can’t detect a pattern.
• Contact your local police force to let them know if you’re gone for an extended period of time.  Ours will schedule extra drive by’s.  Similarly, they came out to help us identify any weaknesses in our home security like locks and easy-to-open windows.
• If you know them well enough, let a neighbor know you’ll be gone and who will have legitimate access to your home. 

Happy travels this weekend!

Let’s talk about camera ettiquette, shall we? 

Last night we watched the Marine Drum & Bugle Corps perform in our town.  For the last half, the Silent Drill Platoon performed and I heard the constant beep-click-shuffle-beep-click-shuffle of a high-end digital camera behind me.  Nice equipment.  Not a nice noise during a demonstration about precision and discipline, where the actions are slightly punctuated only by the percussion of gloved hands against bayoneted rifles. 

The woman behind us was taking continuous pictures, so that her camera was constantly beeping and making noises.  The man next to her apparently really couldn’t put up with her and politely asked her to cut back a little.  She refused and seemed indignant.  I don’t know why she was taking pictures, and I can imagine all sorts of valid reasons.  But the fact is, her reply wasn’t that she was with National Geographic or that her son was the fourth tuba on the right.  I think she got caught up in what we all can… getting a photo instead of getting the experience. 

I try to remember to be present when I travel.  When I’m excited about a shot and try to get a better angle, I try to remember to check behind me for people who are watching the same view I am.  When I get the chance to take photos in a museum, I’m aware of my flash settings and the sound of my digital camera. 

Try to remember that if you tell the story with words and one blurry picture, your friends will still believe you were there!  There are so many favorite places on our travels I don’t have pictures of.  I still remember them.

Twice in Mexico, I was on walks with my camera and spotted really interesting shots.  But my hands froze as I started to click the shutter button because they were shots of kids I don’t know.  I realized that, to me, kids aren’t attractions to be photographed.  At Chichen Itza, several other tourists would buy trinkets from the kids who hang out on the paths, and then make them pose for pictures.  There’s just something odd to me about taking home these pictures, no matter how artistic they might end up.  It’s partly the issue of being a privileged traveller in a place with economic problems, and taking advantage of the humanity of the people who live around these great sites.  I decided that’s just a line I draw.  I’m not a National Geographic photographer, either, and never will be. 

Now that we all get to be avid photographers with access to really sophisticated equipment doesn’t mean we have to use it, especially when it limits our own enjoyment and those around us.

We decided to book an all-inclusive, resort style vacation after a particularly stressful winter.  Normally we love to plan our own trips, but this year we were really more inclined to pick a place, press a button, and have a ready-made relaxing trip.  In hindsight, the all-inclusive route did just the trick.

However, I don’t think planning meals and activities from a central location is so difficult that an all-inclusive resort is the only way to have a relaxing vacation.  Being in a secluded place has it’s perks, but it doesn’t feel like authentic travel to me.  I couldn’t help feeling we were missing the real Mexico.  My mind always wanders to that place where I worry we won’t ever get back to a destination again, so I was worried for a second this would be my only Mexico experience.  I don’t want that to be the case, because the best parts of the trip were off-campus on day trips to Chichen Itza and Isla Mujeres.

I think these all-inclusives would be great for family vacations and reunions.  We chose one that was adults only, Excellence Maya Riviera, partly because we scheduled the trip around spring break time and because it looked like a nicer property.  I guess I didn’t quite realize how much of the culture around these is about drinking and hanging out at the bar.  I spent most of my time alone at the beach instead of the pool because I can go to a pool at home.  I really prefer the ocean, and there was also waiter service out on the beach. 

The resort was beautiful, the food was all right.  It reminded me a lot of the conferences I attend for work, which either means I get to do some nice business travelling, or it was only a so-so resort.  Unfortunately, all-inclusives do not seem to specialize in local or healthy food.  While there were ways to eat healthy food, everything felt like a mass-production and I find that disappointing as a food lover.   

I feel like we doubled our carbon footprint on this trip.  Plastic water bottles are almost a necessity even in resorts with treated water, towels and sheets get washed and changed so often, and all the beach-side drinks are in plastic cups.  This reminded me constantly that this trip didn’t agree with our travel ideals. 

When we travel, we are usually pretty active, loving hiking, walks, and cultural activities.  This beach bum vacation was great for catching up on my reading.  I read 5 books in 7 days and I loved the uninterrupted reading time and space.  (More about how I packed 5 books in another post!)  I didn’t get antsy, but we did arrange two trips outside the hotel, and Rob also spent two other days diving.   Activities were available through the hotel entertainment staff and we participated in some of that – a beach banquet and a pirate dance revue.   The most active travellers would feel antsy even with the beach volleyball, free kayaking, swimming, and free pilates classes.

One of my favorite things about staying at a resort is usually the spa.  Since I had to spend so much time without Rob on the two mornings he dove, I made sure there was  a lovely spa.  I think this was the nicest of any I’ve been to.   We scheduled our most relaxing treatments for the morning of the day we left.  Rob got a massage and I got a facial.  It was a good way to spend the last few hours on the resort before rushing off to the airport.

Many people claim not having to tip is a benefit of the all-inclusive.  I don’t believe in not tipping, and we had such nice service.  We are privileged to have this kind of trip, and I couldn’t imagine not tipping. 

I don’t think we’ll visit an all-inclusive again soon.  We want to wander a bit more and immerse ourselves in local cultures when we can.  If we do, we’ll find one that is environmentally friendly at least, and bring some friends.