BULA! (Welcome in Fijian!)
its true, we are headed to Fiji. I have never been out of the country (except Mexico, which barely counts) for a vacation (I did get to go to Hawaii for vacation, but its STILL the USA!)..and my beloved is taking us to a place where we can only bring 15lbs of luggage and can't, LET ME REPEAT: CAN'T wear shoes.
I mean, any sane person would question these tactics of my future husband to challenge both my shoe fetish and my staggering ability to pack EXACTLY the allowable baggage weight limit into my suitcase. HOWEVER: I can not WAIT.In all the pictures of this exotic locale - people are smiling =) God, I am a sucker for marketing. But really, I plan on smiling the entire time, so why shouldn't they? Apparently, Fijians are very accommodating and so incredibly friendly. Which we are counting on...well, this journey..has a journey to tell:
Jeff and I both felt that this was to be the vacation of our lives. We knew - that because we are both in sales and are planning to have a family, that 2 weeks vacation before we retire would be, well - not likely. We wanted sun, sand...scuba..and something different. Some place that going for a week would be hard to do...so we looked to the South Pacific. Without going into the ENTIRE decision making process, we ultimately decided on Fiji (Did you know that English the is official language?!). We also wanted all inclusive. That narrowed our choices down a bit. We also decided we needed a travel agent who could give us the "411" on the places - after all - they ALL had pictures of smiling people. We had a REALLY hard time finding a good travel agent - we had several we talked to who just didn't answer our questions. We finally actually contacted the resort we thought we wanted to go to, and asked them to put us in touch with an agent. She was great - and immediately, she looked up the location where we thought we wanted to be and told us two things: 1) that resort does not have beaches per se, but rather volcanic rocks that are beautiful and great for hiking. Not so great for the beach bunnies though. 2) She also told us that there was some kind of conference there that week for people who were "cleansing their bodies" read: longingly watching us while we ate and drank our fill of "all inclusive".
So - we axed that choice. We then narrowed it down to a couple of other choices, and it came down to price; we really couldn't spring it for the 1st choice. But our second choice was pretty rocking..great beaches, great snorkling - highly recommended with great reviews. BUT - we did NOT actually make the reservation or book the tickets. This was in October.
In November there was a military coup in Fiji. Yep. Who even knew there was a military there?! I giggled and said "it will be over by the time we go" In December, many countries issued travel warnings to Fiji. I frowned a bit, but said, huh...maybe we should look elsewhere...or maybe we could get a DEAL. We sat on it a bit. Actually, I furiously searched for other places that would compare. We kinda had our hearts set on Fiji.
In January, we called our travel agent, who discussed our options with us and told us that she has had people there all along, and everything has been fine. And then sent us this deal: buy your flight for about 50% off each ticket, and stay 4 days FOR FREE at that resort you couldn't afford. Ok - that did it - we are booking this week! And betting on a knowledgeable travel agent and friendly natives.
I have faith in the Fijians. And really - what's the worst that can happen? We have to stay longer?!
Are you curious yet? Here is the resort: Vatulele
And, we promise that in our luggage will be a camera. No shoes. But a working camera. No computer, cell phone or fax...but a camera. And we might even bore you with the slide show when we come back!! =)
