In anticipation for my week-long beach vacay in Turks & Caicos (leaving Saturday!), I thought it would be fun to do a little Travel Throwback Thursday (maybe a repeating trend while I get my travel page fattened up!) on one of my favorite beachy vacays: Akumal, Mexico.

We (my three girlfriends and I) went in October 2011 - over Columbus Day weekend. We got a living social deal and it worked out to $90 for each of us for THREE NIGHTS stay in a BEAUTIFUL condo, right on the water, in México! Those deals are no joke!!

We flew into Cancun, rented a car and drove about an hour to get to Akumal. It was pretty painless. One caveat though, and I'm sure if you've ever rented a car you know this, but ESPECIALLY if you are traveling just females, make sure you make note of any problems with the car beforehand. They basically tried to tell us we had to pay for four new tires when we turned the car in because one tire was flat. I was like, NO. Put air in it! But the rental place is not attached to the airport, it's down a dirt road and you have to take a shuttle there, so you could be screwed getting back to the airport if they really decide to be jerks.

It was pretty easy to check in, and we also got a day-trip to some "eco-adventures" thing. I've gone ziplining in Costa Rica and Panama, I've done the rapelling thing and all sorts of stuff, so I think in retrospect I didn't need to do this tour. I should've just stayed on the beach all day. The other day we did go snorkeling (I got seasick), then hung out on the beach all day.

The town was ABANDONED because it was October, and October is low-season for Mexico (everyone from up north wants to escape the cold winters!). We went to "our" restaurant - La Buena Vida (The Good Life) and ordered guac every day. YUMMMMM.

It was just a really nice, relaxing long weekend getaway with girlfriends and I'd love to go back! Now, some pics!

 the view from our back patio!! unreal!!

 getting dragged over the rocks. -_-

 a view from inside our condo. there were two bedrooms - one with two twin bed, other with a king.

 back patio

 "our" restaurant. blurry, but the floor is sand, and swings for seats!

 nom nom nom get in my belly!!

Have you ever been to México? I really want to go to Cabo!!!

xox, kimbo

Preparing to Leave the Country

So, I'm heading out on Saturday morning (my first flight leaves at 7:20am. WAHHH) to Turks & Caicos. Every year my sister and friend Steph and I (and sometimes others) go on a trip that centers around August 4. The past trips have been London, Ireland, and (last year) Iceland. For my 30th birthday -- which is next year -- I want to go on an African Safari! #bucketlist. So, the idea was that this year we would stick close to home. I saw on TripAdvisor that they did an article on the top 10 beaches in the WORLD, and Turks and Caicos was on the list!

I didn't even know where Turks and Caicos was before I started researching this trip. Turns out, it's right there in the Carribbean.

So, what started out as a sticking-close-to-home-to-save-money trip, has basically turned into possibly the most expensive of all the trips we've taken!! I can't believe it. But, t&c is pretty abandoned, in terms of, it hasn't been overrun with tourism yet (win!). We got an oceanfront room, so I'm veryy excited!!

But, before I go on a big trip I have a few things that I ALWAYS do, no matter how much I try to resist.

#1. ONLINE SHOP like crazy

I cannot seem to stop myself from buying everything that I think I might actually possibly maybe need/use.

This time, I bought a Lo & Sons bag. The MOST expensive bag I have ever bought, and I am REALLY hoping that it lives up to the hype. And by hype, I mean my own research that I did about it. The biggest perks of it are the strap on the back that lets it easily be attached to your rolly luggage + all the pockets!

I also went on an old navy shopping binge. I got enough clothes to wear something new every day. Soooo I might have gone overboard.

Victoria Secret bathing suits. Ahhh. Unfortunately the bottoms are too small, (i think?) . . . it's hard to tell with bathing suits bc I feel like if you get a size that feels good, when it gets wet, it falls off, and if you get it a little smaller then you're like, why is my fat being squeezed out of me.

#2. Get my nails did!

Haven't done this yet - I think I'm gonna go Friday and get NEON EVERYTHING!!

#3. Pack the night before or the day of (depending on flight time). 

I really don't understand these people who are packed like a week before they leave. What if you need the stuff you've packed? I'm actually a pretty good packer although I ALWAYS bring one or two things that I NEVER wear. I'm gonna try to beat that this year.

#4. Charge all the things. 

Cameras, iPad, eReaders, phone, portable battery stick. Nothing worse than your charge dying, ESPECIALLY on the cameras.

#5. Obsess over TripAdvisor

If you travel and don't use TripAdvisor, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG. Seriously. That is the best wesbite/app of all time! Unfortunately, I am always really bad about actually writing my own reviews, but it is absolutely the best resource for what to do, where to go, when to eat, etc. I spent hours the other night looking at people's photos from the resort we're staying at!!

BONUS #6 - Panic about flying. 

You'd think with the amount of times I've flown (100s, if not 1000s), this would not longer be an issue, but no. I'm semi-excited this time because I've been working at it with my therapist so we'll see how it goes. I think I make myself out more scared than I am, and usually I go to the airport bar before the flight so it's not a HUGE issue, but still, it would be nice not to think the plane is going down every time there's turbulence.

(A hilarious post that I swear I could have written -- esp. #12 -- about what freaks out nervous flyers)

& there you have it. All the things I do to prepare for a trip! What about you??

AMERICA! F YAH!

My favorite song y'all!

I love the Fourth of July and I couldnt really put my finger on exactly why until I read Juliette's post and said she likes holidays that are about presence, not presents and I was like BINGO! that's EXACTLY it! I also LOVE St Patty's Day and it boils down to = themed dressing. What's not to love? If you missed my America nails that I posted on IG and in a previous post this week, go here.

So today I woke up and went running on my old stomping grounds. I forgot how absolutely incredible it is to go running and have an OCEAN BREEZE on you!! Whyyy cant I have that in Tallahassee??? 

#home

Then we went the pool in my parents' "community". AKA Old people village. There are so many rules it's insane. 

it's normal to read books in the pool, right?

Then I got a pretty brutal headache so we came home and I took a nap, now we're watching fútbol, and later we're going to some breweries and then to watch fireworks, because what's more American than breweries + fireworks??