For the past several days, we have been in Negril, Jamaica attending a destination wedding. We stayed at an all inclusive resort. It’s kind of like a cruise that doesn’t cruise. In other words, you pay one (slightly exorbitant!) price, and that’s it. At the resort, all food, drink, and activities are covered. Even tips are included. You never need to sign any receipts, or even show a room key. Your stress level melts away once you settle into the “all inclusive” mindset.
Sadly, our all inclusive resort did not “include” wifi. So we’ve been off the Internet for the longest stretch of time in more than a decade. While at first I suffered a few withdrawal symptoms, it was probably a blessing in disguise. We felt a little more removed from the outside world.
Although our Long Long Honeymoon website is dedicated to RV travel, how about some island globetrotting pics?
Air travel’s got nothing on RV travel. The airport experience has steadily declined in glamor and enjoyment over the years. How can I phrase it delicately? Oh yeah… IT SUCKS. Although we live less than three hours from Jamaica by plane, the total process of getting to Negril takes more than 10 hours! This is the travel time once you consider travel to the airport, check in, one connection stop, a change of planes, multiple security checkpoints, x-rays and body cavity searches, baggage collection, customs, and a steamy, bumpy 90-minute bus ride to the resort. WHEW.
Our flight departed at 6:30 AM. Do the math: we started our day at around 4AM! We caught sunrise from above the clouds. We were struggling from a severe case of Not Enough Sleep.
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But once you finally reach the resort, it’s really nice. You’ve got 4 and 5-star dining experiences pretty much anytime you want. Typical breakfast: gravlax with croissant, cream cheese, capers, onions, tomatoes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and just for fun, some French toast too. A distinct upgrade over my usual lonely cup of coffee! Sheer civilized decadence. When you finish your meal, you just stand up and go — no paperwork to sign.
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The waters in Jamaica are incredibly warm — warmer than the swimming pool. At our resort, they were also calm. The bay was dotted with fishermen, wave runners, and privately owned boats.
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The resort staff did a wonderful job tending to the property. The sand was soft and the beaches were raked daily.
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Beach chairs at the ready! No reservations required, mon — just pick where you want to sit. Grab a fruity drink and you’re all set. Our room was located in those small yellow buildings on the right.
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This is one of the main swimming pool areas in our resort. If you look closely, you can see bar stools in the water around the central bar area. The swimming pool bar was fantastic!
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I must admit, it’s pretty fabulous to swim up to the bar for a “free” drink. Our favorite new drink was a hummingbird, which tastes like an alcoholic smoothie. It’s got a real banana in it, so I’m sure it’s, um, healthy.
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We love to snorkel, and snorkeling was an “included” activity at our resort.
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Kristy, the brave snorkeler!
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Here’s a glimpse of what we were seeing under the sea. We saw fish, stingrays, sea slugs, sea urchins…
…coral (or is it some sort of disembodied alien brain?)…
…and the occasional starfish!
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When you go to Jamaica you spend a lot of time underwater. I only surfaced for gulps of air and fruity drinks.
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Am I the only person who takes photos of food? This was an entree of Jamaican jerk chicken. It’s basically a grilled chicken served with a spicy Jamaican sauce. As you can see, the resort did a nice job with food presentation.
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Kristy seems to be enjoying her dinner. Wine is also “included” so long as you stick to the perfectly fine house brands.
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We did venture off the resort. This photo was taken at Rick’s Cafe, a famous local hot spot. Rick’s offers fantastic views of the sunset, and ongoing entertainment as amateurs and pros engage in cliff diving. This poor girl must’ve been drunk, or working on a book titled “How NOT to Cliff Dive.” She did a 40-foot “dive” in an almost horizontal position. The loud “POP!” sound when she hit the water elicited groans from the audience. Although it’s treated as casual entertainment, cliff diving is actually quite dangerous and plenty of tourists have been injured. Some call this place “Risk Cafe“…
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We also had a few fruity drinks outside the resort. Here’s a drink of planters punch at Ricks. They say this stuff is “a way of life” in Jamaica. Yo ho ho, and a bottle of rum…
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When we first started documenting our travels online (before we bought our Airstream), we were focused on international travel. We may someday launch a sister site to Long Long Honeymoon that explores this side of things. Or we’ll just create an “international” category right here.
Sure, this “all inclusive” stuff is over-the-top indulgent. Most of our travel has been of a much more modest, budget conscious variety. Ask Kristy about that one-star hotel in Milan, Italy with a shower so dirty she refused to set foot in it! Someday I’ll tell you about the hostel in Krakow, Poland, I departed due to fleas. And the first time we camped, we didn’t have an Airstream — we had a $35 tent from Walmart!
The point is that travel is rewarding, whether you are experiencing a flea-infested Polish hostel or a five-star Jamaican resort. I cherish those moments in Europe just as I do the ones we shared in Yellowstone. Now we’ll add Jamaica to the list. Domestic travel and international walkabouts are complementary experiences. If you are a person who enjoys exploring our planet and its inhabitants, why limit yourself?
The world is a smörgåsbord – sample a little of everything!
Why? Because life should be a long long honeymoon… 🙂
Nice post.
And I just have to say on the subject of airports…..well, I certainly don’t say this to my wife any more, since she doesn’t want to hear it, but there will come a day when we won’t HAVE to take an airplane ever again. (well, unless we really really want to, like to go some place really warm, say)
It’s just become so tedious. I know they’re doing it all for my “safety”, but when the security guy asks what’s in your pocket and you reply that it’s “my wallet”, and then he has to examine it like he’s just found the lost treasure of the Sierra Madre? What’s with that? If it didn’t show up on an ex-ray, and I don’t beep when I go through the magic looking glass, then that should be the end of it.
I just wanted to say, “Dude, those are credit cards, you mean you’ve never seen one?” ( And no, I’m not making this up.)
Of course, better not do that or you’ll then get the anal probe.
On the other hand, at least in Vienna you can sit on the other side of the screening area and watch the rest of the hapless twits do all the obviously stupid things. (hello! Take your belt off….put it in the tray thingy!)
At least that part makes for some entertainment, but that’s a stretch.
Nice to see you’re having a fabulous time.
Play nice.
Best to you and Kristy.
Bob.
P.S. Just for fun, I have to mention I was delighted to discover Vienna has a host of free wifi “hotspots”. Tried the one at the “cafe cosmopolitain” and it was actually pretty danged good. Sometimes the free ones can be better than what you pay for. Can’t figure that out.
http://www.freewave.at/en/hotspots
Warm waters, snorkeling, fruity drinks and sunshine…oh how I long for that right now! We just barely survived our recent drive through frozen Kansas. Looks like you had a great trip! Thanks for sharing the wonderful pictures!
Thanks Bob, and yes, airports and air travel are a huge pain. While I love being in different faraway places, the process of getting there isn’t much fun.
It’s usually complicated for me because I carry on camera gear and a laptop. When we approach the security checkpoint, I have to remove the laptop & place it in a bin, remove my shoes & belt and place them in a bin, remove my backpack & keys and place them in a bin, and then maybe remove certain camera items and place those in a bin…
In Jamaica I had a similar experience to what you describe. I left some clip-on sunglasses in my pocket. Of course this required a thorough examination by the security guard.
I know they are doing it for our safety, but the existing measures just suck the fun right our of air travel. It has become an endurance test.
BTW, good to know about the free wifi in Vienna. In the 90s I taught English in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia which is a short 45-minute train ride from Vienna. I always enjoyed visiting Vienna! It’s a nice city.
Cheers,
Sean
Hey Lani! I have been keeping up with you guys. Wow! Those are some cool (literally) pics on your blog. I am fascinated by the cold weather camping you have been doing. We’ve done a little winter camping in our Airstream but nothing that lasted very long. I think it would be quite fun, actually. Be careful towing on icy roads!
Yes, Jamaica was really hot & steamy. On the hottest day, temps were definitely in the 90s. It’s a very tropical environment with lots of humidity, conditions that are best countered with frozen fruity drinks!
ahhhh lets see… told you so 😉 😉 beer has now been replaced with rum
As to the star fish.. ever wonder what it see’s when your under water? wonder if it is saying.. oh darn here comes another one of them rum toting two legged things again…
As to the airport… well that can be fixed … and no more run to meet the plane…
Just go take flying lessons… get a GA plane… and with a good map.. point the pointie side south .. keep the greasy side down and the prop turning… talk about getting their being half the fun. Wait till you toodle around to the OTHER great islands… oh my… indy what next… 😀
90’s wow that means the gals are all in them bekinnieeeeesss .. ouch that hurt hun… after all a american male has to keep up his immmmmaaaagggeeee.. wow that one looks.. dang hon… I can’t see if you keep poking me in the eyes…
Of course you need to take the DOG… whisper in its ear.. go over their and steal that rag off the gals back… then explane to the young lady whos top just got ripped off by the dog.. … bad dog… sorry.. here is your top back… he is always doing that… (what a ice breaker) and of course don’t be too hard on the dog.. or he won’t do it again… OUCH!… hun thats going to leave a mark… 😀 😀
And you have to get into the swing of things with the local languageeeeee MON— 😉
Have fun.. the pix are great… the D300 is working well… or is it?
And here I thought you were just video talents! GREAT pictures! I guess a photographic eye is the same in any media. We enjoyed the post. It brought back some memories for us.
We are off on our RV adventure (5 months) starting this Wednesday. We hope to make a Flying J in Ohio Thursday morning. (We are leaving at 10 pm to get through Detroit and Toledo without too much traffic) Looking forward to posing with our LLH shirts for the first time while on our RV adventure. We’ll be thinking of you guys!
N & M
Thanks GMAs… Actually, I DID drink the rum…. one problem with that strategy: the ice! Sure enough, I have come home feeling sick. Why can’t I leave the country without contracting some sort of illness? This has been a weird one. We have been home several days, but I can;t seem to kick this bout of illness. It makes me pretty much worthless during the day (not that I was worth much to begin with). There may be a doctor’s appointment in my future, and I never go see doctors…
I brough some of my gear to Jamaica… Some of those pics were taken with a Nikon, some with the Panasonic waterproof cam. I must say that I am smitten with the little waterproof camera. I never really had an underwater housing before, so this is allowing me to take photos and video in new places.
I have followed the reviews for Amelia recently. We do intend to see the film. While it’s getting some mixed reviews for story, I have read several praises for the cinematography! I look forward to seeing your work on the big screen.
Hey restless! I’m excited to hear that you are getting set for your RV adventure! It must be getting cold up your way by now… time for you to migrate!
Please keep me posted on any pics you take. I would love to see you guys in your LLH shirts. 😀
Thanks for your comments about the pics. I feel that I am getting better as a still photographer. It’s true that there are similarities between still and video, but there are also many nuances to both. I’ve attempted to improve on the still side over the past year… Getting better, but still much to learn.
Safe travels and “smooth sailing” on the road!
Remember when you were up in Canada… and we said we’re just their… well… guess what we were doing?? then… but we normally don’t say anything about the location.. till its over… Dunnville Airport, Dunnville, Ontario, Canada and other places… down on the dark cont’n…
Hope you enjoy it…