Many resorts in Mexico, the Caribbean, Hawaii, and other beach destinations tend to require that you purchase all-inclusive packages that cover all of your meals and drinks for the entirety of your stay. While there are plenty of reasons that all-inclusive resorts are nice, we tend to think that it really favors the resort more than the people who stay there. A lot of it depends on your vacation style and whether the resort offers all of the variety that you are looking for.
Resorts Along the Beach
Generally speaking, we prefer not to do all-inclusive plans for several reasons:
We like to eat where the locals eat and not just sit at the resort all day and all night, so we feel like we’re throwing money away if we leave the resort to enjoy a local restaurant.
We’re not big eaters. Under normal circumstances, we’ll split meals or even just share appetizers rather than sitting down and eating an entire meal to ourselves. That means that giant buffets or full course dinners are overkill for what we’ll end up eating.
It’s just the two of us so even if though we don’t track everything that we’re spending on a trip, we have a budget and pay attention to the prices that we’re paying for meals.
You feel the pressure to get your money’s worth, so you end up eating and drinking more than you should or would normally do. The last thing you want to do while you’re sitting at the beach is to put on a few pounds.
The only activities included in the ones that we have seen are non-motorized activities, which generally aren’t expensive anyway. We tend to find the more interesting things that we want to do are not part of the all-inclusive package that the resort offers.
Sitting on the Beach
With all that said, we’ve done all-inclusive plans a couple of times. When we went to the Dominican Republic, we didn’t have a choice, all of the resorts that we looked at were all-inclusive. On the flip side, there really weren’t any local restaurants near the resort at Punta Cana, so staying at the resort was perfectly fine. The other thing that is nice about the all-inclusive plans is the alcohol. When we’re on vacation and don’t have to drive anyplace, we’re going to have a good time and part of that is having a few drinks, so not having to worry about that expense is kind of nice. Again, though, we don’t want to over-drink, so it is a balancing act of not feeling like you have to have one more because “you’ve already paid for it”. The other time we did the all-inclusive was actually the last time we went to Cabo a few years ago. We did three days of all-inclusive and four days on our own. That allowed us to go to the theme nights, eat and drink at the resort for a few days and then let us hit the restaurants on the beach and in town for the rest of the trip.
Dos Mai Tai’s at the Pool Bar
Regardless of what you think of all-inclusive resorts, chances are you’ll end up staying at one during one of your trips. If you have to stay at an all-inclusive resort, try to take advantage of the amenities without overindulging unnecessarily. The prices of all-inclusive resorts tend to be fairly expensive, but don’t assume that you won’t have other expenses or want to do things outside of the resort, so be sure to plan your budget accordingly.
There have been plenty of uncertain times with outbreaks of civil unrest, war, terrorism, and even acts of nature such as tsunamis, hurricanes or cyclones, and earthquakes. Nothing, however, can compare to the worldwide impact of the current coronavirus pandemic and the impact that it is having on not just travel, but on how we interact with other people. Regardless of your opinion of whether governments are overreacting or not reacting with severe enough restrictions, every day is bringing a changing landscape in the world of travel.
Acropolis in Athens
We happen to have a trip to Turkey planned for mid-April and our attitude at the moment is more or less to wait and see what things are like and what restrictions are in place when the time comes. It doesn’t really matter if you plan to travel locally or someplace around the world, the reality is that popular locations might be closed as well as celebrations and sporting events cancelled. Any travel, regardless of distance or borders, is basically being discouraged at the moment. It is as if we woke up one day in some sort of alternate world that is completely foreign to the one that we’ve been living in for all of our lives.
Halong Bay
Although we aren’t concerned about ourselves being infected as we are healthy and don’t have any underlying conditions that would put us at risk, we certainly don’t want to inadvertently spread the virus to others. Unfortunately, the current circumstances will likely lead to some long term impacts. Many businesses that rely on travel will not survive if the travel restrictions remain in effect too long, which is obviously sad to think about. It is hard to say what other changes may be in store when travel resumes and we are confident that we will come to some sort of new normal, hopefully in the not too distant future. Perhaps countries will leave some sort of health screenings in place for all arriving travelers or as part of some border check. Who knows if people will interact in the same way ever again, kisses on the cheek, handshakes, and hugs might become a thing of the past, although we hope not.
The Great Pyramid
We will continue to share information from previous trips until we are able to resume our travels. If we learn any advice on how to navigate in the new world, we will certainly share that as well, but things are changing so fast that a crystal ball couldn’t predict what will happen next. We will continue to take one day at a time and hope for everyone’s sake that the restrictions serve their purpose and allow health officials to get the upper hand on the spread of the virus.
Egypt is a destination that is on almost everyone’s wish list to visit at least once in their lifetimes. With so many incredible sights to see across many different cities, you will want to plan as many days as you can to make the most of your time in Egypt. We found our trip to be ideal in many different ways, but with any destination, if we had more time, we would have seen even more. What we have here are the locations and sites that we chose to make our priority during a full seven days in Egypt. Due to the length of air travel, the total trip was twelve days, but much of that time was spent in transit. Although we landed in Cairo, we left early in the morning to fly to Luxor and begin a cruise down the Nile River to Aswan and then flew back to Cairo where we spent the remainder of our time in Egypt. It would be easy enough to flip the trip around and start in Cairo, but we found that it worked out well to finish in Cairo. Here was our itinerary starting with our arrival in Luxor:
Entering the Karnak Temple Complex
Day 1 – After arriving in Luxor, we headed directly to the docks where we checked into our cruise ship, had some tea, and put our bags in our cabin before starting our adventure. We quickly left for the Karnak Temple Complex, which was an absolutely amazing way to start our time in Egypt. After spending several hours with our Egyptologist guide touring the temple complex, we walked amongst the lines of sphinxes that once lined a river connecting the Karnak Temple Complex to the Luxor Temple Complex. After another couple of hours touring the Luxor Temple Complex, we returned to the ship for dinner. Our day wasn’t done as we returned after dinner to the Karnak Temple Complex where we enjoyed a lighted show that took you through the history of the temple and gave you a view of what it must have been like thousands of years ago.
Empty Tomb in the Valley of the Kings
Day 2 – After a good night’s sleep, we rose early to have breakfast and start our day. Most days started early in Egypt due to the heat of the afternoon, so it is definitely a place where getting up early pays off. Overnight the cruise ship had made its way from the east bank of the Nile to the west bank. Our first stop of the day was at the famous Valley of the Kings where many of the pharaoh tombs are located, including that of King Tutankhamen (King Tut). Truly an incredible experience. After visiting the Valley of the Kings, we went to an alabaster factory where we saw how alabaster products were made and we were able to buy some items to take home with us. We then continued on to the Hatshepsut Temple at the base of the mountain. Finally, we went to see the Colossi of Memnon before returning to our cruise ship to enjoy an afternoon on the water as we headed towards our next destination.
Statue of Horus at the Temple of Horus
Day 3 – Overnight our cruise ship had arrived in Edfu. We started our day taking a horse-drawn carriage through the town of Edfu to see the Temple of Horus, which is another amazing temple. After a couple of hours touring the temple, we were back on the cruise ship where we continued down the Nile to visit Temple Kom Ombo. We spent the late part of the afternoon walking through the temple grounds and learning even more history from our guide who was with us throughout our cruise. We were then back on the ship for the final leg of our cruise where we saw amazing sunsets on the Nile River as we made our way towards Aswan.
People in the Background Provide Scale to the Obelisk in the Quarry
Day 4 – Our first stop of the day was to visit an ancient quarry where the giant obelisks that we had seen in Luxor had been carved in single pieces out of the granite. There is even an obelisk still in the stone that had broken and therefore been abandoned, but it remains there in the quarry even after thousands of years. We then took a boat out to the island of Philae and the Temple of Isis. At this point, all of the temples were starting to blend together. Finally, we went to see the High Aswan Dam and learned about the alligators that are famous in the region. We then flew back to Cairo to start the next part of our adventure.
The Giza Plateau in Egypt
Day 5 – Our first full day in Cairo was certainly memorable as we went to see a variety of pyramids in the Giza Plateau. Our first stop was in Dahshur where we saw the Bent Pyramid and were able to climb down to the burial chamber inside of the Red Pyramid. We were pretty much all by ourselves, which made it an even more incredible experience. From there we went to the Step Pyramid in the Saqqara Necropolis, which is another interesting architectural site where we were able to climb down to the burial chamber. We then stopped for lunch before heading to the Giza Plateau to visit the Great Pyramids and the Great Sphinx. Seeing the Great Pyramids is certainly the highlight of any trip to Egypt and to Cairo. We also rode camels around the pyramids, but that was more touristy and not actually our favorite part.
Cavern Where the Holy Family Stayed
Day 6 – We spent the morning exploring the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, which is quite impressive with all of the historic relics on display. We then went to the shore of the Nile River where we boarded a felucca to leisurely sail around the heart of Cairo. It was a relaxing way to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city. We then visited Abu Serga Church where the Holy Family stayed in what is referred to as the Cavern Church. We also visited Ben Ezra Synagogue, which is located on the site where legend states that baby Moses was found. We then visited the Church of the Virgin Mary, also known as Hanging Church, which is one of the oldest churches in Egypt.
The Streets of the Old City of Cairo
Day 7 – Originally it was our intention to take this day and just relax before heading home, but we decided to take a tour of Old Cairo and see the important Islamic mosques. One of the highlights was visiting the Mosque and Madrassa of Sultan Hasan where our guide explained the history of Cairo and the influence of Islam on the region. From the historic mosques, we went into the heart of Old Cairo where we visited one of the oldest Ottoman houses in Cairo. Finally, we visited the famous bazaar in Old Cairo, which is quite busy with hundreds of vendors selling everything from silk to hookahs.
Mosque in the Citadel
Needless to say, it was a very busy seven days with exciting and fascinating sights on every day. There are certainly more places to visit in Egypt if you have more time, but if you are limited on time as we were, these seven days will not disappoint you. It took us months after returning home to truly absorb everything that we saw and learned during our time in Egypt. It is definitely one of those trips where you need to plan and prepare in order to make the most of your time.
