Abbott's Adventures

12/14/2021

I’ve been reticent about posting because there is still a lot going on in the world. I can attest to the ease of Covid testing at the resorts I have stayed at in Cancun, Riviera Maya and now Punta Cana over the past three months. While I still won’t say “it’s safe” to travel, I will say I have felt very comfortable traveling since June and believe it is a decision every person/parent has to make for themselves.

Some resorts have covered the testing and some have charged a nominal amount (in my opinion). I can truthfully (and if you know me, you know I am always truthful) say I feel comfortable bringing my family back for our planned trip early next year.

I will also say it has felt so good to feel some sense of “normalcy” after the past almost two years of something I can hardly describe. I have missed traveling and am thankful to have had the opportunity to go to both Mexico and the Dominican Republic this fall.

I am 💯 % ready to come back and hoping to plan a girls’ trip for a long weekend very, very soon. The sun, the energy, the ability to let it all go…it recharges my spirit and soul.

Let me know if you would like recommendations of places I’ve been recently and would 100% recommend. I think I have a little something for everyone in my recent experiences.

12/13/2021

I have the pleasure of experiencing Karisma’s brand new Margaritaville Island Reserve Cap Cana this week and it is amazing! I would highly recommend upgrading to the villas. Incredible experience and so peaceful.

10/14/2021

I arrived early in paradise to review an amazing resort for you before attending . To say I have been pampered and able to fully relax over the past three days is most definitely an understatement. It has been blissful.

It is a privilege to be invited to and I am grateful for the opportunity. This conference provides three days of learning about the travel industry and experiencing various properties to share with you. It is no secret the last months have been a challenge for the travel industry and I’m excited to learn about how the industry has adapted and overcome to be back and better than ever!

Follow along as I share more about the journey and my experience being here as well as all I learn at the conference.

It is SO good to be back!!!

10/13/2021

Today was a big day.

In March of 2020 we agonized over whether to take our long planned Spring Break family trip to Hawaii. We ended up being the very last family to leave Pearl Harbor as we spent every last possible minute exploring the Battleship Missouri Memorial before it’s gates were closed for many long weeks, our ability to learn from our past closed off due to a pandemic ravishing our globe. We woke up the next morning to our resort pools being closed, the fitness center locked and our luau canceled. Our last few days were spent eating all our meals in our resort rooms and like many others, I spent hours on hold with a third party vendor trying to change our plane tickets home.

Today was the first time I traveled internationally since we returned home from Hawaii and began the stay at home life we all faced in those early days. While I have flown domestically several times over the past eighteen months, my passport has remained locked in our safe, newly renewed and oddly void of the stamps I’ve grown to love collecting. Like so many others, we have booked and rebooked the same trip multiple times always optimistically hoping it will be the last time we have to adjust our plans and make last minutes choices for new locations.

It’s been a day filled with emotions. My cavalier travel attitude of days past was oddly missing and I found myself more agitated than I had been while traveling in many years. My resort has been a welcome place of solace filled with peace, quiet, time to collect my thoughts and the opportunity to spend a few blissful hours reading for pleasure on the terrace of my suite while a cool wind blew against my skin and the sound of waves crashing soothed my soul.

I’ve questioned so many things over the past months. Travel has been a difficult industry to be part of and I’ve struggled with seeing people lose money and experiences because of situations completely outside their or my control.

Stayed tuned for more as I spend the next eight nights exploring three resorts and sharing my experiences with you along the way. My colleagues say travel is back. I’m here to see for myself and share the journey with you. I long for days filled with new experiences for all and the ability to travel in ways we took for granted before our world was turned upside down. As always, my dedication to being truthful about the journey remains.

I found peace and contentment on this terrace today and for that I am grateful.

10/09/2021

I remembered to pull out my passport holder. Next up, airing out the packing cubes and choosing what to take.

How do you stay organized when you travel?

10/09/2021

Exciting posts coming! I’ll be traveling to Cancun and Riviera Maya over the next two weeks. This will be my first time out of the country since we returned from Hawaii at the very beginning of the pandemic and subsequent shut down.

Always transparent, I’m nervous. Travel has definitely changed and I look forward to sharing the experience with you. As always, I promise to be completely truthful in sharing my experience.

I’ll be staying at three different resorts with three very different target audiences/vibes. Be sure to follow along!

09/03/2021

Keep calm and make a travel checklist for 2022.

09/03/2021

I’ve been far too quiet on this page all summer (especially given the amount of time we have spent traveling). I have made it a point from day one to be incredibly honest in my business and I’ve struggled over the past eighteen months with when to travel, how to travel, what feels safe, what doesn’t and what am I comfortable possibly suggesting to others. It’s left me in a strange void of sharing less. I don’t have answers and honestly we evaluate every trip up until the last minute to decide how it feels for us at that moment. I continue to strive to be very honest with my clients and promise I always will.

It was a monumental summer for our family filled with graduations, retirement, job interviews, cross country trips, airports, more cross country trips, a beach week, graduation/send off party, cross country trip…you get the idea.

My husband and I decided to spend two nights away just the two of us to reflect on all the changes. I always want a trip to include water, sun and relaxation. He likes woods, hiking and more adventure. I only wanted to drive two hours max to any destination. Prospect Hill Bed and Breakfast in Charlottesville, VA provided exactly what we needed.

We have more adventures planned for our family and I’m scheduled to leave the country for ten nights in October and hopefully will be featuring three new all inclusives resorts with a little bit of something for everyone.

I hope you enjoy these pictures from our time at . It was amazing and again, exactly what we needed. We love history and the property and buildings date back to the 1600’s. There was a pool on property (which we had to ourselves for hours), a nature trail through the woods (which we hiked and even found a herd of deer frolicking), breakfast was delivered to our room each morning and we even visited Miche Tavern for lunch one day and Keswick Winery for flights and a snack lunch on the way home. It was a quite literally the perfect weekend.

09/03/2021

Looking to unwind? Virgin Voyages offers relaxing spa services and rejuvenating fitness classes to help you get the proper dose of Vitamin Sea.

Set Sail the Virgin Way >>>MORE

09/02/2021

When in Vienna, Austria visit the Spanish Riding School to watch these Lipizzaner horses demonstrate the 'Haute École' movements of classical dressage. Not for everyone, but if you love horses…

09/02/2021

Can you think of a better way to spend summer than sunbathing in the Mediterranean on a Celebrity Cruise? We can’t either.

Drinks, Wi-Fi, and tips included on every sailing, in every room, every time. >>> More