The Value of Vacation

By now, you might be sick of me talking about the vacation we took. Sorry about that. Before I bring that topic to a close, I wanted to share some thoughts about the true value of a vacation.

Plane tickets. Hotel rooms. Dining out. New swimsuit. Attraction tickets. These are all the hard costs of a vacation that can be found, often, on sale. Travel companies, hotels and airlines slash prices and draw us in with limited time deals and pictures of sun and sand in the middle of December. No matter if your vacation costs $500 or $5,000, there is an inherent value to vacation that cannot be measured in dollars.

It's the priceless experience of seeing something amazing for the first time, like a sunset over the Indian Ocean. It's sharing a moment in a place that you could previously only imagine, like stargazing in the Middle Eastern desert. It's holding hands with your husband as you walk through the streets of London knowing the rest of the world is so far away from you in that moment.

To me, vacation is essential for so many reasons. The relaxation and the escape it brings are well worth the money. But on our latest trip, I felt so connected to Scott in a way that I haven't in previous vacations. I think it was the sense of adventure; the two of us together in foreign lands and places. I love all the memories I have with him and I'm thankful we were able to add a few more unforgettable moments. 

Worth the Journey - The Magical Maldives

This one will be short and sweet because my phone is almost dead and we will be boarding soon. We're on our way to London. I think our feet were confused when we put socks and shoes on for the first time in a while.

The Maldives, particularly the island our resort was on called Haddahha, is an incredible place. I will let some iPhone pics show you the water and the villas but even our good camera won't do it justice. Each morning our personal host asked us what we wanted to do that day like a tour, boat trip, etc. We wanted to scream "Ummm have you seen the pool? Have you seen our room?! That is what we'll be doing today, thank you very much!" So we are leaving relaxed and a little sunburned. :-)

Lots more to share when I have our pictures downloaded but here are a few highlights:
- hearing "have you heard of a Portuguese Man of War jellyfish?" on our first day...and then me getting stung by a stray tentacle not even attached to the damn thing.
- not wearing shoes to dinner because it is in a sand restaurant on the beach.
- Scott sucking down a "flaming Lamborghini" with a Badger fan who now lives in Australia. This was a flaming drink that melted two straws!
- Some of the best people watching EVER!
- Champagne cocktail hour with traditional drummers and a BBQ dinner under the stars.
- Sunset cocktails from our water villa with a perfect view of the horizon!

Xo!
D & S

Dubai bye!

I am trying the Blogger mobile app for the first time so hopefully this post looks okay.

We are at the Dubai airport (which is AMAZING by the way) waiting to head to the Maldives for the second leg of our trip. Dubai is a very cool city - a cross between Vegas and Miami with a whole load of outrageous architecture thrown in. Everything here is huge and things are very spread out. We spent the first day taking in the views from the Burj Kalifa which is the tallest building in the world and checking out tourist hotspots like the Dubai Mall and fountain as well as some souks (shopping areas). Emiratis love to shop and it is very clear. They even sold duty free items on our flights via a little cart!

Day two was "old Dubai". We went to the old gold souk which sort of reminded me of Jewelry Row on Wabash except outside and with lots of shop owners trying to sell you gold. Then we walked around the creek and saw all the importers doing their thing. Then it was desert safari time. In random order, our safari experience:
-rode a camel
-watched a belly dancer
-got Indian henna on my foot
-smoked hookah
-Scott held a falcon
-watched a 10 minute falconry show
-had a middle eastern feast
-went "dune bashing"
-star gazed in the desert

It was touristy but in the best way. It was such a well done tour. I can't say we've ever experiences such a nice tour. Pictures and stories to come!

Yesterday we hit up a private beach club and laid out. We had a great lunch there. It was on The Palm Jumeriah which is the 8th Wonder of the World. It's this series of giant man made islands with hotels, apartments and luxury homes on it. Atlantis is at the very end of The Palm. As we were laying out, a huge boat came up and started shooting sand at one of the "fronds" of the palm where they are building some other amazing building. It is just crazy!!

Now we are off to our villa in the Indian Ocean. We tried to buy some duty free booze to ease the pain of what will surely be an expensive menu but they don't allow it! These islanders are smart and know the way to our wallet... :-)

That's all for now!