Traveling is one of the best points it is possible to possibly do. It generates relationships (it’s how Tony and I met), pushes you to understand an incredible quantity about yourself, stimulates you to step out of the comfort zone and expands your understanding.

Over the past year, I produced a commitment to visit more. To start to see the world, other cultures and to just relax and revel in lifestyle. Everytime I come back from a vacation, I am rejuvenated, full of ideas and a bit more ambitious. Lucky for me personally, my job allows me to visit and share my encounters with everyone!

Most recently We continued a 7-day time cruise towards the Eastern Caribbean with Princess Cruises I’ll have a few posts within the next month writing my encounter menudo with pigs feet recipe everyone. There were so many different experiences, it becomes quite difficult to thin it right down to just one post.

We left on the Sunday from Fort Lauderdale and collection sail in the bright blue ocean. This is my first time going on a cruise liner, so I actually got no idea what things to expect.

We arrived at our rooms to get two twin beds, a shower and a beautiful balcony. I believe we ate more food than we could handle too… but I’ll show you all the food in part 2 of this post.

First let’s get right to where we went and what we did!

Princess Kays, Bahamas

Our first stop was Princess Kays in the Bahamas; we appeared the day directly after we still left the US. The elements was outstanding and I hadn’t keep in mind seeing water that obvious since I visited Australia this past year.

Since my mom and I both LOVE staying active on vacations, we thought we would do a kayaking excursion while there.

P.S. It’s wise to do active excursions while on holiday, especially if you know you’ll be eating your fair share of dessert.

The beautiful part concerning the kayak is that the bottom was actually transparent; even though water was obvious, we didn’t observe any fish. OR SHARKS.

After our trip to Princess Kays, we returned and recieved massages from their beautiful Lotus Health spa You can have a 360 degree tour of their spa to get a sense of how gorgeous it really is. I acquired a bamboo therapeutic massage which is much like deep tissue.

I am having some neck and back problems lately, so the massage was such a good treat to take pleasure from.

We enjoyed fabulous meals every evening and had a great time having Mom & daughter period together, especially since I live in Chicago and she’s in Minneapolis.

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

We spent a day at sea and arrived at St. Thomas; the weather was warm and individuals were kind. We’d a hiking, kayak and snorkel led excursion and fulfilled our guides at the interface. It was a straightforward process and once again, I adored feeling energetic and experiencing all of the island’s natural beauty.

The kayaking was beautiful and smooth. The guides spoke regarding the jellyfish, the vegetation, algae and particular fish we would find. The water was a pale, clear blue and I was conveniently able to discover jellyfish within the lagoon.

We paddled to some separate part of the isle, then left our kayaks and went for an instant hike. During the hike, we learned about perhaps one of the most poisonous plant life on the planet and also discovered hermit crabs with the hundreds. It was amazing!

The crab ended up pinching me! That jerk.

We followed the hiking path down to a pebble rocked walkway close to the sea where waves were crashing on the stones. I literally had no idea how beautiful St. Thomas was, but now I can realize why we halted there. Have any of you been? Inform me!

After our hike, we snorkeled and noticed a few rainbow fish, barracuda, and plenty of coral. I’m glad my Mom was able to go through the snorkeling; it was her first-time and she was a trooper.

Before we got back within the ship, we grabbed lunch at Barefoot Buddha Recommend if you’re ever in St. Thomas!

St. Maarten

I spent your day in St. Maarten with Lee from Suit Foodie Sees and her sweetheart, Blake. We had been supposed to go on a catamaran but both sensed like we wanted to get a feel for the isle and scope out some of the food.

We stopped by way of a Caribbean restaurant and I ordered bruschetta along with a Caribbean chopped salad with poultry. It wasn’t anything crazy delicious, but since Lee and I acquired both went 3 mls that morning, we needed fuel in our bellies.

AND DESSERT, obviously.

Also happy on the subject of running those three miles, because I believe I finished up having dessert that night as well. I told you.

My only regret is the fact that I wasn’t able to spend more time at St. Maarten. The annals of the isle is pretty interesting, as half of it’s French as well as the spouse, Dutch. I am hoping to return some day to check out some of the food and lifestyle from both edges.

Question: Have you ever gone to these areas? I’d love to hear everything you did and any recommendations for others. It certainly is fun to listen to about delicious eats or actions!

I’ll be back again with component 2 soon and showing you my intense body shred workout in the ship! xoxo.

Monique-

I continued that exact guided hike/snorkel/kayak adventure in St. Thomas and I loved it! The guides had been great and I always tell people I’d completely recommend that in an effort to see the isle!