Here's what I learned.
I had somewhat of an unconventional Spring Break. My mom and I took a girls' trip to Punta Cana for three days and I learned a lot. First of all, my mom is actually pretty cool and funny. We had a great time together. I also learned a lot about beach vacations and the Dominican Republic.
Lesson #1
First of all, blonde hair + blue eyes = sunburn central. I knew this. What I didn't know was that the Dominican Sun is VERY powerful. I wish I would have known this sooner so I could have applied sunscreen every hour on the hour, rather than every two hours.
Lesson #2
I learned that I should have packed a little differently. Going from Winter to Summer made it quite difficult for packing. What I wore on the plane to and from was jeans, slip on shoes, and a t-shirt. What I should have worn was a pair of exercise leggings, the slip on shoes, and a cami with a pull-over sweater or cardigan. In other words, layers!
Lesson #3
Pack cold medicine and tissues. The extreme weather changes, coupled with the stress my body has been under at school, really took a toll on my body. I was sick the whole time we were in the D.R! I should have anticipated this reaction, so the next time I go I will be adding cold medicine to my Vitamin Sea (get it).
Lesson #4
Stay hydrated...with water. Since we stayed at an all-inclusive resort, everything was already paid for and taken care of... including the alcohol. Naturally, we wanted to get our money's worth of fruity drinks, but that meant we sort of forgot to drink water. The only time we really had water was at meals. That would probably explain why when we returned home from our weekend getaway we drank water like we had never had any before!
Lesson #5 - the most important lesson I learned
It's okay to give yourself grace and allow yourself to just DO NOTHING. As a college student, when I'm doing nothing I feel like I'm either procrastinating, being lazy, or some other form of negative feeling and I feel bad about myself. I'm not usually one to just do nothing, especially on vacation. I'm the type that wants to see and do as much as possible, have an adventure, not sit idly by. For example, the company we booked this vacation through, Vacation Express, had an informal meeting with us and they advertised a number of wonderful excursions. One excursion in particular sounded amazing to me and so I asked my mom if we could go. She had to remind me that we were only there for 3 days and the whole point was to RELAX. I will admit I was irritated by this, but when the day came that we would have gone on the excursion I was thankful for the chance to do nothing. Now, I have something to look forward to when I go back!
Lesson #6
All-inclusive resorts rock. Don't even get me started on the all-inclusive resort. WOW. Now that I've done an all-inclusive I never want to go back! You actually start to feel like royalty. At one point, a server came up to us at the poolside and took our drink orders. I highly recommend it. I feel like all-inclusive resorts are the way to go because you really don't have to worry about anything, and you get more bang for your buck! We were able to have this island getaway on a college student's (who saves up a small travel fund) budget. No seriously. We found a deal for $550 (flights + hotel + meals + alcohol) only 2 weeks before we went. To put that in perspective, typically a roundtrip flight to Punta Cana in and of itself is either pushing or over $500. Plus, the only money we needed to bring with us was for snacks in the airport, tips for bus driver's and bellhops, and souvenirs a total of maybe $40. It is important to note that excursions would be extra, but if you're looking to just escape to the beach for a few days without breaking the bank there are ways to do it! My mom and I are proof.
Overall, Punta Cana was absolutely gorgeous and the weather was perfect. It was a beautiful, warm 80 degrees everyday, with very little humidity. When it rained, it lasted approximately 2 minutes then went right back to blue skies. The ocean was a beautiful light aqua blue. If you haven't been, I would definitely suggest adding it to your list of places to travel. It's a very versatile destination. You can go there with a group of college buddies and drink/party your hearts out, you can go for some much needed TLC with your mom, you can have a romantic getaway with your partner, or you can take the whole family to make new memories; it's really a destination for anyone because of how much there is that you can do and take advantage of. As for me, I think the next time I return it will be either with my boyfriend or my BFF and we will soak up some sun and adventure!
xx,
The Blue Eyed Bostonian
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