Jamaica

Mat and I have decided that after this deployment, he and I are going to take the honeymoon that we never had. After 3 deployments in 6 years and another 9 month in less than a year (yup, we already know he's leaving next February and he's not even back from this one yet) we decided now was a better time than any. We knew we wanted some place tropical, but we didn't really care where. We were more concerned with the actual place we would be staying.

We started out by having our only requirement being that the resort be all inclusive. We don't want to leave the resort, we don't have to worry about transportation, food, etc.

I spent a few days looking at resorts in Cozumel, Cancun, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, and Riviera Maya as those seemed to be places that were more in our price range.

I looked at hundreds of resorts and they were beautiful. I couldn't believe that we would be making a trip like this, never in my wildest dreams could I have ever imagined that we would be able to afford such a trip (and honestly, we can't. We can, but we can't. Does that make sense?) The resorts were absolutely breathtaking. I drooled.

But then I got to thinking, most of these resorts have at least 100 rooms, that's the possibility of hundreds, if not thousands, of people and their kids running around. We want this trip to relax, have no worries and just reconnect with each other. Those resorts were not going to work for us.

So then we set a new requirement. Not only must the resort be all inclusive, it had to be less than 100 rooms and adult only. Not adult only as in nudity, but no kids allowed. We aren't bringing our kids on this trip and we definitely don't want to have to deal with other people's children.

So here I was with a small budget an almost impossible wishlist. I was feeling really overwhelmed and then I remembered a few years ago when Mat saddled me with a challenge; find an all inclusive cruise for 2 adults, 4 children, that stopped in Athens and Santorini for under $2000. I remember how many late nights I spent scouring the web looking for a cruise and all of my hard work paid of. I didn't give up. I wanted this trip more than anything in the world.

Here I was, on the website my friend suggested to me, looking at location after location. Then I put in Jamaica and the very last resort that was listed was absolutely perfect. Let me give you a little taste:

I started reading the hotel and I knew it was perfect for what we were looking for; 66 rooms, adult only, beautiful beach, all inclusive. But then, it came down to price. I just knew this place had to be out of our price range. I plugged in our tentative dates (we don't have block leave dates so we're waiting) and was completely amazed when I saw the price. It was in our price range! I immediately sent it to Mat and the handful of people who knew we were planning a trip. I kept reading reviews and they were all amazing, everyone had such an amazing and relaxing experience. I had to have it.

I had to wait patiently but Mat finally was able to look at it (go Afghan internet!) and he agreed that it was more than perfect. And that was that. The trip went from "maybe we can go somewhere if the price is right," to "as soon as we have leave dates, you book that shit and you book it fast."

I am so excited to sneak away with my husband and just relax, leave the cares behind. This has been a rough deployment for me, I have had to deal with more than I have on previous ones, and that says a lot considering that the twins were sick for 3 months and in and out of the hospital on the last deployment.

Here are a few more pictures of the resort and make sure you check it out here: Sunset at the Palms Resort