Journal entry April 15th, 2017
Our first day in Barbados has not gone exactly as I had planned. In my mind, we would get off the plane, get into our rental car, take the 15 minute drive to our condo, and hit the beach before 4 p.m.
So why exactly are we just now arriving to our home away from home three hours after my spreadsheet specifically demanded?
For one thing, driving a car on the left side of the road with the steering wheel on the right, when you’ve been driving the opposite way you’re entire life, can prove to be quite difficult.
We pulled out from the airport parking lot, made a left, and immediately got a flat tire when we clipped a curb.
Mom: Oh no.
Dad: Yup.
Mom: Do you think we have a flat?
Dad: Yup.
My brother, who has some anxiety problems and isn’t big on traveling in the first place, immediately suggested we go back to the airport and buy tickets home. At least give it a day man! After five minutes of arguing, (a sign that the family vacation is going well) he agreed to stay and was able to change our tire. Tomorrow the rental company will swap cars with us at our villa.
Speaking of our villa! It is a breathtakingly beautiful place that it situated right on the beach.
We went back and forth on where we should stay, a hotel with no kitchen and a few miles from the beach ended up being around the same price in the long run as staying in a villa with two bedrooms, a full kitchen, and a living room. Bonus! We are literally steps from the ocean. To make up for it, we are going to buy groceries and limit the amount of times we eat out.
Back to our journey in and why it took so long. Turns out that for being such a small island, it is incredibly easy to get lost. I mean, it only takes 30 minutes to drive the entire length of Barbados, how is it possible to get lost for 3 hours?
No matter, with the help of some incredibly friendly locals and my mom’s unparalleled map reading skills, we made it to our destination eventually. However! From now on, I will always pay extra for the GPS.
This is the point of wanting an adventure. Not everything is going to go the way you planned, so you just have to laugh about it and carry on. We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful place to get lost. I can’t wait to see what other surprises Barbados has in store! Now, I’m off to eat some fried chicken from Chefette’s.
Welcome to The Explorer’s Notebook!
I hope you enjoyed reading about my strange first day in Barbados! Want to see what else happened during our trip? I’ll be posting every Tuesday and Friday so stay tuned!
Also coming soon:
Good Eats – Barbados
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The Explorer's Notebook 