Tag: vacation
All of the guacamole, tacos, ceviche and margaritas, por favor!
What? Don’t tell me those aren’t your plans when you hit up an all-inclusive in Mexico! As if. Yep, that’s definitely what came to mind when I booked into my calendar my upcoming Cancun getaway thanks to the folks from Expedia.ca.
I’m off to Playa Mujeres after carefully selecting a vacation on Expedia.ca and as you know, all-inclusive resorts are all about that over-indulging life. I think we all fall victim to wanting to get your money’s worth, and become gluttonous fools when faced with open bar and a buffet.
So how to not let the all-you-can-eat buffet ruin your typically healthy and reasonable diet? I try to stick to the M.O. I do at home:
Start by assessing what’s being served at the entire buffet. If you just start at one end of the buffet, adding to your plate as you walk along, you may end up with foods in your plate you don’t enjoy as much as other dishes you come across later on. A quick walk-through (including the dessert table so you know if you need to save room for that) will prevent this from happening.
Serve yourself small portions. I used to take what would be a typical serving of, say, potatoes. But I often just want a taste of a dish, so I now serve myself one or two baby potatoes (meticulously scooping up just two as though I eat like a bird when I so don’t) rather than a ladle-full. It doesn’t make for a good foodie Instagram, haha, and I know I probably look like the kind of person who counts precisely how many almonds for a serving (it’s 23 almonds btw, these are the things you learn when you cover health and food…) , but if you only want a small taste, just a spoonful is just right. Also, if you want more, you can always get seconds. Better to take less to start with rather than over serving yourself and having it end up either in your belly because you’re mindlessly eating or because you feel pressure to eat your plate clean, or in the garbage.
If you don’t like it, don’t eat it. You’ve taken something from the buffet that wasn’t as tasty as you thought it would be. And maybe you were brought up to eat all the food on your plate, or maybe you feel rude or guilty with the staff seeing food that’s barely been touched on your plate, but that’s something you have to get over. I suppose it’s a bit like the Marie Kondo decluttering method but for eating; if it’s not bringing you joy, get rid of it.
Be as picky about what and how much you drink as you are when it comes to, oh I don’t know, who you date. Unless you’re a dating machine who swipes right all the time. Well, just be selective when it comes to your drinks, OK? We all know that booze is empty calories. And I remember my first few all-inclusive vacations, I drank sugary, frozen neon cocktails (because those were the only cocktails served) from morning til night even though I found them generically sweet with little actual flavour and quite unappealing. That same trip, we stopped into a chic boutique hotel where we sipped mojitos by the pool bar–a proper mojito with fresh mint and top-shelf rum–and it was so refreshing and delicious and such a difference from the cheap drinks I’d been downing. Quality over quantity. If your resort serves incredible cocktails, well, you can try the drink-water-every-other-cocktail trick to keep your sugar and calories lower than it’d be if you were steady drinking daiquiris.
You are on vacation, though. So don’t be so rigid with how you approach your meals and drinking hat it gets in the way of enjoying yourself. We all deserve a treat now and then. You know I believe in a healthy balance when it comes to most everything in life. Also, when I start to feel like I’ve been over-indulging, it’s just extra motivation to go to the gym before parking myself in a cause longue, or going for a long walk on the beach. And in the end it’s just a week; a week of relaxing when it comes to your diet won’t be the end of you.
And, besides, guac is made with avocados, which is loaded with healthy fats (but that doesn’t mean you can go ahead and eat a mountain-size serving! Remember, I said a taste or two that you truly enjoy.)
My Expedia.ca vacation is booked (check out my tips on how to find the right resort for you here) and, although I’ve flown into Cancun airport several times to go to Playa del Carmen and Isla Mujeres, it’s my first time staying in Cancun, and I’m looking forward to fun in the sun with one of my besties. Any Cancun recos? I’d love to hear about them, and about what your vacay plans are.
December 1, 2016
With what’s been an extra hectic year for me, I’m very much in need of some R&R . So when Expedia.ca asked if I’d be interested in going to Cancun, my answer was a resounding, “HELL YEAH!”
Even better, I got to choose where we’d stay so I chatted with my friend who’s coming with and we carefully went through all of the options on Expedia.ca. Here are some things you need to ask yourself when making your choice of an all-inclusive vacation so you can ensure you end up in the right place for you (as someone who’s been to many resorts in the Caribbean and often I’m the one tasked with doing the booking, I think I have a pretty good track record):
What’s the upper limit of your budget? You can have your realistic budget but decide whether you have more money you can pour into your vacation budget. In my experience, you truly get what you pay for, and since at an all-inclusive you’ll be spending more time on the resort than, say, when you’re in New York City where you probably just sleep in your hotel suite, you want something that meets your needs since it’s more than just being a place to crash.
How many stars do you want in your resort’s rating? If all you want is some beach time and you want to get away on the cheap, you can look at, in my opinion, three stars if you’re watching your pennies. But if you’re not willing to risk it in terms of food quality, interior design, beach, service and ambiance, I think you need to limit your search to four- and five-star properties. I’ve been lucky enough to stay at some incredibly beautiful properties, and well, you get accustomed to that (even though most of the place I visit for work are way beyond my means) and my goal for this vacation was to stay at a five-star resort, if possible, but we were both open to a four-star resort. While I have stayed at budget-friendly spots, we had a decent budget we had agreed on. Just remind yourself to have realistic expectations; you won’t have five-star service when you spend half the amount on a three-star property.
What are your non-negotiables and your nice-to-have features? We started out our search for an AI resort hoping for something chic and modern, boutique size, and adults-only. But upon comparing the various properties, and including the other factors above, our search, and yours, was quickly whittled down to a small handful of properties.
Thankfully, with all of the different ways you can customize the search function on Expedia.ca, it becomes a lot easier to find the right vacation for you. If you’re somewhat flexible on your travel dates, and want to save money, I found the Lowest Price Finder chart that’s at the top of your page of results a great help.
After weighing all of our options, we booked a trip to Finest Playa Mujeres by Excellence Group. I’ve been to Isla Mujeres a few years ago but never Playa Mujeres, however I have seen and heard great things about Playa Mujeres, and this property looks stylish and chic and while it’s bigger in size and not adults-only (which was on our initial wish list), there are plenty of pools (a dozen!) and extra fun things like a tennis court (along with complimentary lessons!) that makes us pretty confident we booked the kind of vacay we want. And we’re counting down the days…
With the cold weather here (and it’s only getting colder), you might want to start exploring your options on Expedia.ca for a sunny getaway now! It’s a simple but not a super quick process if you want to ensure you end up at a resort that’ll meet your needs. And if you’re curious about Finest Playa Mujeres, stay tuned to my Instagram and Twitter mid-December!
November 28, 2016
In the summer, I was invited last-minute on a fun “Escape and Discover” getaway with Ford Canada…in their Ford Escape (duh). Except a little road trip from Toronto wasn’t the big surprise. The dozen of us were told to pack only the small duffle bag we’d been given and although I think we all thought we were just driving up to cottage country, instead we were divided into four teams and all took off on flights that morning to different destinations in Ontario.
My team ended up flying to Ottawa, where I haven’t been since I ran my first half-marathon there in 2008. We got into our shiny new Escape at the airport and went straight to lunch at the very tasty gastropub Murray Street. I’ve been to Ottawa a few times but have never had a chance to check out its food scene much, and would definitely make a point of going back here.
From here, we wandered a bit then got back into our Escape to get around the city quickly, fitting as much as possible into our afternoon. First, a stop outside and then inside the National Gallery of Canada, and here by the Supreme Court of Canada. Then we popped over to Hog’s Back Falls, and I think this was my favourite stop. I have this thing with waterfalls, OK?
Then because we had an itinerary to stick to, we started to head to our evening destination, Kingston, but not before I insisted we stop that car to check out these adorable sheep! (Sigh. I had many more pics of these cuties, and of the rest of the trip but I lost all the photos from my smartphone recently, so this is all I’ve got left!)
With WIFI in the Escape, I got to catch up on emails and social media while one of my teammates drove us to Kingston. It was a smooth drive; having driven the Escape myself before, it handles well and this jaunt, I got a chance to take it easy as a passenger in the backseat and hello, loads of leg room.
Once in Kingston, we checked into the very lovely Rosemount Inn & Spa. Would you believe this is the first time I’d been to Kingston? I’ve driven by it a million times on my way back and forth to Montreal, but thanks to this Escape, I finally got the chance to check it out. We feasted on the lovely patio at Chez Piggy, and then, even though none of us were super early birds, we did want a chance to take the car out again in Kingston, so we met up at sunrise and checked out City Hall, parked by the waterfront and soaked up as much of this quaint city before having breakfast.
Then it was time to hand back the keys of our Escape and we were off to the airport to be flown home to Toronto. I spend a lot of my time traveling, and I’ve driven more this year than ever, and having an Escape to discover gems I wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to check out, well, that’s what I love most about adventures like this Escape and Discover weekend. Thanks, Ford Escape, for the opportunity to learn a little more about what cities in Canada have to offer (it was cool to see what the other three teams got to check out in cities like Sarnia and North Bay!), ones I haven’t taken the time to explore. And there were so many other spots in both Ottawa and Kingston I didn’t get a chance to check out in our whirlwind trip, so next time I’ve got keys to an Escape, I’ll be checking out that sandwich spot in Kingston, and will visit those sheep again, obviously.
October 10, 2016
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