How I feel about the fact that I'm no longer on vacation.

This year was a true vacation. We went to Turks & Caicos after I read on TripAdvisor that it was one of the top 10 beaches in the world, and I'm just gonna throw it out there that YES, it was incredible!!! The water was like pool water!

Turks & Caicos is still pretty low on the travel radar scene, it was only in 1985 that Club Med built a resort there and it's been expanding ever since (most people go to Grand Turk when they're on cruises, but we stayed on Providenciales). So there really is not a lot to do there. Which, was just fine for me.

Anyways, on to those blues . . .

 ^^ full disclosure: that's my sister not me but how cool is this picture??

 Somehow I got roped into eating the "spine" of the conch, fear-factor style . . . also, doesn't that background look fake??

 THAT WATER THOUGH!! They told us they do victoria secret shoots out here . . . well, duh!

 Oh, paddleboarding? Not my jam

 it was better on my knees. (#twss?)

 I wish I didn't look like I had a lazy eye in every snorkeling picture I tried to take!

 View from our beach

 Our room was the bottom left!

Don't make me go back!

The biggest thing T&C has going for it (as opposed to other islands in the Carribbean) is that it is not overrun with tourists (yet). There were plenty of opportunities to take pictures and relax on the beach without seeing anyone else around!

The only cure for this post-vacation depression is a netflix binge . . . up now: Friday Nights Lights. 

Have you ever been to Turks & Caicos? Where's your favorite vacation spot??

A Tale of Two Airlines

I would say that I travel frequently and have flown probably hundreds of times (despite my fear of flying). 

So let me break down for you how ridiculous (and unnecessarily so) this trip to Turks and Caicos was (so ridic that I'm typing from my phone so I won't forget my impassioned injustice)

First of all, American Airlines and US airways have "supposedly" merged. That's important for this story. I have a US Airways CC so I can get free first checked bag + priority boarding. I booked my and my sisters flights on orbitz, but it wasn't like a "change airlines" thing, it was just: my first flight is American Airlines (really American eagle, AA's regional provider), second flight is US Airways. Everything from picking seats to checking in online was a mess. I would go to AA and it would only let me check in/pick seats for my first flight. So then I go to US airways to pick my seat:check in and it says it's an aa flight so I have to go to aa and it will redirect me. Mmmmmk.

Bottom line: I was never able to check in for my second flight. Whatever, I'll do it at the airport bc I'm checking my bag anyway (btw, the online checkin never asked me if I was checking a bag, but I looked and it said that international flights were free first checked bag.)

I get to tallahassee airport brigt and EARLY and there are like two checkin counters there - delta and us airways. I'm like, okay, us airways should be good, especially bc te sign when you walk in had BOTH company logos on it. I tell the guy (after waiting in line) that my second boarding pass (which is actually on us airways) wouldn't print. He tells me I have to go to the AA desk. What? There's an AA desk?? Yep. Sure enough, behind where you have to drop your bags off. This line is massive. I wait in that. Explain the situAtion. Get charged $25 to check my bag. Excuse me? This is international plus I have this credit card. No, technically it's not international because were going tally to Miami 😳. Okay, whatever, I'll write a letter later. then he tells me he can't print my boarding pass and I have to go to the us airways desk in Miami. What the actual fuck.

So, I get to Miami, go to the desk, the guy tells me he'll help me an hour before the flight departs. REALLY? You can't just print my boarding pass?? So then my sister and I go to the bar and when I go back right before boarding and ask him to print my boarding pass, he gives me a kind of knowing smirk and says "soo, what happened to your boarding pass?"

Oh no he didn't.

Now my flight is mega bumpy y'all. This is a good distraction. This is what I wanted after all..: for my flight not to get cancelled / delayed as I fly into a tropical storm.* No big.

Okay, but with a view like this, I almost (almost!) can't complain!!

Xox,

Kimbo

* were not flying into the trop storm ( at least not yet) but there was a trop storm warning in Turks and Caicos and it hit yesterday.