Day 8: One Happy Island

Today’s prompt is to share a place you have traveled to.  I realized I didn’t share much about my trip to Aruba, so this is the perfect opportunity to reflect back on my trip a little bit.  I travel a lot.  My family and I try to go on an annual vacation, and then I typically take some time to get away with friends or to visit friends.  This year, my family and I went to Aruba.  We just wanted to be completely lazy and soak up the sun.  That’s exactly what we did!
My parents and I have traveled to many islands and Aruba may be our favorite!  In fact, at the end of the trip, we discussed that we may not go to another island again!  That’s a bold statement, right?  Here’s why:

1.    NO RAIN: Aruba is a desert so it barely ever rains.

We have been on too many Caribbean vacations where we have encountered rain.  Let me tell you, nothing is worse than going on vacation expecting to sit in the sun and on the beach all day only to be stuck in your hotel room thanks to torrential downpours.  A little rain doesn’t keep us away from those beach chairs. We don our bathing suits and brave the droplets that fall from the sky.  But, sun is sooo much better.  Aruba promises sun for the majority of the year. There is wind.  The wind can get intense, so you should pack a headband to tame that mane, but the wind will not keep you from enjoying the warmth of the sun and the beauty of the island.

2.    You can drink the water.  So often, we have traveled to islands where you have to use bottled water to brush your teeth because you can’t drink the water or you will get sick.  That also means you can’t have salad or raw veggies so you feel like you are getting fatter by the minute.  People often assume that it is OK to do whatever you want because you are in the hotel and the hotel wouldn’t want to get anyone sick.  There is some truth to this, but still in the back of your mind, you hope that everything is filtered correctly and you won’t get sick.  In Aruba, you don’t have to worry.  The water is the cleanest and it tastes so good.

3.    They speak English and take American money.  In fact, Arubans speak four languages: English, Spanish, Dutch, and Papiamento.   All fluently.  I was quite impressed and felt dumb.  I can barely speak two languages fluently.

4.    It’s clean and beautiful. Just look at this!

We stayed at the RIU Palace Aruba, which I would highly recommend.  It was smaller than the other RIU Palaces we have stayed at with only four restaurants that require reservations, but everything was beautiful and clean.  The food was also very good.  The drinks were loaded and these lightweights (my family) was often dumping a little off the top.  And, the Aquazumba instructor was a sight to behold.   (Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of him.  He did jump on top of me in the pool one day.  I didn't mind.)

One day, we weren’t lazy beach bums and took a Jeep Safari tour of the island.  It was amazing!  We went off-roading in the desert, were flying all over the place, and I even had my teeth covered in dirt.  Yes, it sounds gross, but life’s too short not to get covered in dirt sometimes.

We had a blast.

 Aruba truly lives up to its slogan of "One Happy Island!"