Our Caribbean Christmas

Let me start by saying I do enjoy Christmas. But maybe I’m not like everyone else (understatement) when it comes to holidays. What I enjoy about Christmas is the meaning, the gathering of family, and the always wonderful food. What I don’t like about Christmas is the superficial gift giving tradition. People get all stressed out trying to find the perfect gift for others. Parents spend money that they don’t have on the latest electronics and fads. Most of the time people give gifts that others don’t need or want. This year I decided to give my children some uninterrupted quality time and memories for Christmas. I do believe this is our new Christmas tradition.

We had our family gathering the week before Christmas (Never a dull moment there!) The day before Christmas Eve the kids and I boarded a plane and flew to Orlando, Florida. From there we spent the day in Coco Beach (that was an adventure for another blog). The following morning we headed to Port Canaveral and boarded a cruise for the Caribbean. We had no plans, no itinerary, and for the next eight days – we had no worries. I had one rule and one rule only. We had to have dinner together each night. (I still have not gotten over my fear of eating alone in a restaurant.)

Within an hour of boarding the ship the kids had found their friends (from the last cruise) and made new friends. They spent the time on the boat relaxing, dominating the basketball court, dancing the nights away (usually until 5am) and they never stood me up for dinner. I spent time on the boat reading, talking to strangers, meeting amazing people, and most of all relaxing. There was no stress. There was no talk of health issues, no work related issues to deal with, no cell phone service, no expectations and no one needed me for anything. I can’t explain how peaceful that time was.  We left the rest of the world behind (well almost, but lesson learned!). I feel like I should add here that we had an incredibly hott waiter from Russia. 

 We visited Costa Maya, Belize, Honduras and Cozumel. We had no pre-planned excursions or itinerary. We just got off of the boat and wandered. We visited with locals, tried the amazing food, enjoyed the beaches and the water sports, and laughed and smiled more than I can explain. The weather was absolutely perfect. I honestly forgot that it was winter. We shopped.  We enjoyed lots of very tropical fruit and healthy food. (Bub HATES coconut water.) We walked a lot and then walked some more. We fell in love with the atmosphere (and the accents) all over again. We participated in a rain dance ritual and I kid you not that the weather changed right in the middle of it. We met people from all over the world and look forward to seeing lots of them again soon. I still have no doubt that Honduras is the place for me and have become obsessed with finding a house there.

“Michelle – what are you thinking?? The economy is the worst ever, you are facing serious health challenges, you are awaiting the announcement of a multi – million dollar contract, job security is not what it was last year. Are you going to just leave the country? This is so irresponsible to you. Your decision making is flawed.” Yep, I heard it all. Guess what? This was by far one of my favorite decisions ever made. The quality time that I spent with my children was priceless. The health benefits of disconnecting and relaxing cannot be measured. The trip wasn’t even as expensive as just buying superficial gifts would have been.

Making memories with the people I love is one of my top priorities. There’s no price tag that can be put on that. Everyone outgrows and gets bored with gifts. We waste money on things that we can’t even remember that we bought or own.  Making memories is never a mistake. Memories last beyond our lifetimes. You can bet that next year we will be skipping Christmas again to travel to another country. And you can also bet that I will be looking forward to sharing that experience with all of you. I’m off to start preparing for our non-traditional Easter and Spring Break. Stay tuned…..this one is going to be quite the adventure!!

As always – if anyone has any questions about any of the places we go, please do not hesitate to ask. I’m always happy to share any information and suggestions I have. If you ask me for advice I will just say….Don’t make any time restricted plans – don't let anyone stop you - don't make excuses - just go make memories!!

XOXO -Michelle