Lessons Learned, Jamaica

My View While Living in Negril

1). Don't follow rules blindly.

I left on a 6:30 a.m. flight. Because I followed the "get to the airport two hours before departure rule", I missed out on an earlier flight. The four people who had a 5:30 flight all got to the airport at the same time as I did.

It all worked out in the end because the early departure folks had to wait for the other few folks in Montego Bay. MOBay is a nice place to wait though...

2). Everybody struggles with what to pack. Props to Laura who got everything in a modest backpack. She said it wasn't easy but she pulled it off.

3). Bring more Larabars. With some items, be a minimalist but not when it comes to a filling snack.

4). Take a sarong instead of a towel. Towels take forever to dry in the Caribbean. And, on a similar note, take more than two swimsuits if you have them.

5). Dr. Bronner's... Julie brought along Dr. Bronner's for everything including hand-washing clothes. I also took a tip from Julie and started squeezing all the water out of my swimsuit then rolling it up in a towel to get rid of even more water.

6). Learn to quiet the party in your mouth*... While on vacation, I tended to wake up about 6:30 a.m. and didn't touch food until around 9:15 a.m. when yoga class was over. Seldom ate lunch as we were usually on the way to an excursion or in the middle of one. Also was not a snack fiend at night because I really didn't have access to excess food. In addition, I ate like a queen at breakfast.

7). Don't go to dinner in Jamaica at your hunger edge. Dinner takes a long time to make especially when you're dining with seven or eight people.

8) Don't forget to pack hydro-cortisone and lots of $1's.

9). Bring an adult coloring book like Julie. Looked like so much fun.

10). Take a Jamaican nap if you plan to party later on.

11). If you're hot and you're near the Caribbean Sea, jump in the water and stay there for as long as you need to.

12). If you need a travel partner, look no further than the participants of your yoga retreat. Many expressed a desire to travel more but didn't necessarily have anyone to accompany them on adventures.


*A Dr. Phil reference. Once when Dr. Phil was on Oprah, he said that some people like to have a party in their mouths.