Vacation After Five years
I just got home from a weeklong vacation with my boyfriend (aka husband of almost 19 years!) where we rode roller coasters at Six Flags Magic Mountain, and cruised to Ensenada and Catalina Island aboard the Navigator of the Seas Ship from Royal Caribbean. We had such an amazing time and it was a long over-do trip for the two of us. The last time we traveled in 2018 I believe (to Riviera Maya Mexico, a resort) we swore up and down we were going to prioritize taking a trip every other year together— and then life got busy and we built our home, lived through the “VID”, then built the gym shop and we just didn’t prioritize time or money for a trip like we had hoped to.
It was a reminder to us, that the things that are important to us, wont always be easy to navigate or easy to show up and do— but if we REALLY care, we have to find a way to make them work. Isn’t that the truth of life? Whether finances, fitness, travel, relationships, carreers etc, we can’t expect things to just “work out,” we must be willing to work, to make them “work out.” One thing Jared and I have really agreed on in our marriage together, is that time spent together, makes our life work better. We enjoyed connecting without schedules and life pulling us in different directions and we again said, “this has to be a priority for us every other year.” Jared and I are good at commitments, our almost 19 year marriage, his 24 years of consistency with his health and fitness, my 16 years commitment to that, our jobs of 14 years just about for both of us, prove that when we decide we want something, we will prioritize and juggle to make it happen so I can’t wait to tell you all about the next trip we book for 2026!
In the mean time, I thought some tips and tricks for this particular vacation might be helpful to someone, somewhere on the world wide web— so here it is:
Now that I have flown in and out of Burbank, and Long Beach, rather than the big airport LAX I can tell you that we definitely saved some money on flights and ubers, by researching and finding airports nearest where we were actually going to be. Here where we live, outside of Boise Idaho— there is one airport only to choose from, but traveling to a heavier populated area gave us opportunities to fly into nearer towns to where we would actually be! That was a win and a save of about 250$!
Six flags at Magic Mountain was so fun! Flash passes are a must, and they were quite a bit more expensive but because we were there on a Sunday and it was very busy, we would have been standing in line FOREVER, and only gotten to ride a couple of rides compared to the 10 ish we got in with the flash passes. You do have to use an ap, and thank goodness that was Jared’s thing so he navigated that and what rides we did. I was just following along happy to be riding rides:)
At Six flags— take a back pack, water and snacks! The food and drinks were so expensive! $8 for a bottle of water! We didn’t take this and wished we had. Because you get on the ride and off the ride at the same place we felt like a back pack would have been safe and TOTALLY HELPFUL because we didn’t want to spend a lot on gross food— we rathered to wait and spend our money at a yummy mexican restaurant down the road.
The cruise! It was so fun! We loved it this time and the last, and this was an affordable choice for us— the ship was quite a bit older (Navigator of the Seas 15 decks and 3990 guests) than the last ship we went on, (Oasis of the Seas has 18 decks and holds 5600 passengers), and quite a bit smaller is size. We felt the ocean MUCH more and although we didn’t get seasick taking Dramamine each day, we sure do have these “sea legs,” since coming home and are now thinking— maybe we aren’t cruise people. The food really reminds me of eating at a Golden Corral buffet everyday, and we aren’t drinkers— so I am just not sure the cruise is really up our alley for the future.
We went straight to the airport after we disembarked from the ship, and that was a good choice. We were home later that day and we were so happy to be home to our kids, animals and our bed but also so grateful for the time away.
I think Jared and I both really are reminded after being around so many people, (our community is pretty rural) we definitely enjoy the country, slower lifestyle we live— and we are grateful for the time we have taken to dedicate to our health and fitness TO BE WILDLY able to do anything we want, really, anytime we ask our bodies to. The vessels God has given us, surely have their flaws lol, but for the most part, we are really aware of the abilities and blessing we have because we have chosen to prioritize strength training, walking, eating healthy, and hydrating our bodies now for years with great consistency. As we looked around there was a big difference between those who were able to do the things, and those who weren’t— and it solidified even further, the FREEDOM we enjoy, because of the love and care we give our bodies daily now for years.
As I close my recap, I just want to encourage YOU, if you aren’t living the healthy way you wish you were, I want you to feel empowered THAT ANYTHING YOU REALLY TRULY WISH FOR, you can work to get. The best time to start, is today— because the time will pass one way or another, and that is as sure as the sun is gonna set tonight again, too.
You deserve health, vibrancy, and strength— and you can absolutely start now, to earn it.
