Shared Travel Memories

On January 11, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Travel Tips11 Comments

It has been interesting reading the various travel blogs over the past several months since we started our own site. One theme that we’ve seen quite often is talking about how people should try traveling solo and what a great experience it is. First, let us say that we think everyone should travel in whatever capacity that is possible. So, by all means, travel, whether solo, in large groups, small groups, or with a companion. For us, a travel memory that isn’t shared jointly by the two of us, just isn’t the same. We love recanting those “remember when we” moments that we’ve shared throughout the years.

As we said before, we’re not trying to say that those that travel solo aren’t enjoying an incredible experience, based on the posts we’ve seen, they definitely are. And we can certainly see how having the freedom to make impulse decisions, define your own agenda, go as fast or slow as you like are all great benefits, not to mention only having to pay for one. We kind of feel that we have the best of both worlds. We’ve been together so long that we basically travel as though we have a shared thought process. So impulse decisions, agenda, speed, are all things that we agree on and neither of us ever seems to feel like we’re “not getting our way”. On the flip side, when there are travel challenges, we have each other to lean on, support each other, and usually laugh about it since there is often nothing we can do about it (sometimes the laughing comes later though 😉 ).

Travelling is such a great experience, changing the way you view your world and the people who share it with you, that we definitely encourage everyone to travel. We hope that everyone is fortunate enough to one day have a travel companion, friend, spouse, family member, that they get to share those special moments with. Every trip, no matter how monumental or seemingly inconsequential, has the potential to create one of those life altering memories. In fact, many of those memories might be more about the people who you are with than the location that you’re visiting. Having someone to recount that memory with later makes the memory that much sweeter. For now, we’ll just count our blessings and look forward to making as many new shared memories as possible.

Villa Del Palmar in Cabo San Lucas

On December 11, 2015 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn MexicoLeave a comment

We stayed at the Villa Del Palmar during our recent trip to Cabo San Lucas. This is the sister resort to the Villa Del Arco, which is where we bought our initial time share. We have also stayed at the Villa Del Palmar in Puerto Vallarta. All of the resorts that we’ve stayed at that are part of the Villa Preferred Access Club have been wonderful. They are part of the larger Universal Vacation Club and have great locations with friendly and helpful staff.

All of the rooms at the Villa Del Palmar have ocean views and are clean with up-to-date furnishings. Even the rooms that are considered to be studio rooms have a full kitchen as well as a couch and lounge area, they just aren’t separate from the bedroom(s) as they are in the suites. All of the rooms also have a balcony with at least a table and chairs. Grills are also available by request.

There are several pool areas at each of the resorts, each featuring their own unique features. At the Villa Del Palmar, there is an adults only pool, a family pool with a slide shaped like a whale where you shoot out of its mouth, a small wading pool with a hot tub, and a pool for small children. We have to admit, though, that we missed our pirate ship from the Villa Del Arco, which we were able to use during less busy times of the year. Every day there a variety of activities in the family pool area including pilates, water aerobics, volleyball, and dancing. There was also a trained hawk that flew throughout the resort during the early afternoon, which was quite beautiful. Although we didn’t join in on any of the activities, people certainly seemed to enjoy themselves.

There are also multiple restaurants at the resort and you’re also able to go to the restaurants at the Villa Del Arco. We decided to go ahead and do all-inclusive for almost all of the days, so we definitely took advantage of the food at the resort. As you would expect, the food was fantastic, fresh, and delicious. Even the buffets had an excellent variety of offerings, plenty of fresh fruit, and multiple cooked to order stations for things such as omelets, waffles, quesadillas, etc. As you would expect, there are also plenty of bars around the resorts as well as the pool staff who took care of everyone sitting around the pool.

Bird that Joined Us for Breakfast Everyday

We may be a little biased since we own a timeshare with the resort, but we’d highly recommend either the Villa Del Palmar or the Villa Del Arco to anyone who is travelling to Cabo San Lucas. Their prime locations, friendly staff, and well-appointed rooms make them an ideal vacation destination. We will definitely be going to some of other properties that they offer, but we absolutely will be returning to one of the Cabo San Lucas properties very soon. These resorts are a lot of the reason that we have fallen in love with Cabo.

Plenty To Be Thankful For

On November 30, 2015 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Travel Tips7 Comments

If you’re asking yourself “where do I want to travel next” instead of “where is my next meal coming from”, then, like us, you have an awful lot to be thankful about. Neither of our families travelled much when we were younger, which is probably the main reason that sharing travel experiences with our children was so important to us when the kids were younger. Now that we’re older and are fortunate enough to be in a position to travel, we often think back to the days when we struggled to take time off, let alone go anyplace for vacation. We’ve come a long way from the days when we worried about getting food on the table, but we’re well aware that life can change in a heartbeat, so we never want to forget how far we’ve come.

With the hectic day-to-day life as well as planning another trip, it is easy to forget how blessed we are to have the opportunity to see the places that we have. We often see other posts from sites that we enjoy and think to ourselves, “wow, I wish we could go there”. It is easy to get caught up in travel envy instead of simply being thankful for the experiences that you have been able to have. More importantly, for the opportunity to share those experiences with the ones that you love.

We recently purchased a digital picture frame where we’ve loaded pictures from places that we’ve travelled, concerts that we’ve been to, and special occasions and holidays with family. It was really eye-opening to see all of those memories in a single place. It really gave us the opportunity to look back and think about how fortunate we truly have been. And that only includes the places we’ve seen since we entered the digital age, there are still photo albums filled with pictures yet to be scanned and added to the library.

Hopefully we’ll do a better job throughout the year of being thankful for our opportunities. It is easy to be thankful during the holiday season when it is forefront on people’s minds, but it is something that we want to remember the whole year-long. Hopefully next year will provide as many travel opportunities for you as we hope to have for ourselves. We truly are a lucky couple.