Our Jamaican Honeymoon
Can you just read that title one more time…. I would have never imagined being able to go to Jamaica for my honeymoon, let alone stay at Sandals Royal Caribbean for an all-inclusive stay for my honeymoon. What a dream come true! My husband and I had a jam-packed week full of adventures and some much-needed R&R. Now I am typically someone who, when on vacation can’t sit still and wants to do all the sightseeing and do all the experiences. But after a whirlwind of events between our wedding and this honeymoon. I was glad to be forced to sit and do nothing.
Before I get too far into everything we did and what life was like at the resort, I really want to take some time and talk about the importance of relaxing and taking time off. Something that this trip really opened my eyes to. For the past two years, I have been tackling running and growing my business, working full-time, adjusting to a move, becoming a step-parent, and most of all growing up into an adult and figuring out life as an adult. It has been crazy, and I never noticed how heavy my shoulders felt until I intentionally packed away the laptop, turned off the notifications, and just existed. I knew about burnout and its effects. With the new rise of being aware of your well-being and taking care of yourself, I was informed of it(sort of). However, I did not really pay attention to my body telling me to slow down. Now I took “self-care” time, I tried to unwind but I always found myself doing something else. If I wasn’t working my full-time job, I was working on my business, if it wasn’t my business it was cleaning the house if it wasn’t cleaning it was being with my family (which is a good thing don’t take this the wrong way). But my “self-care” was never self-care, I would distract my brain with social media and doing “research” for my business, I.E comparing myself and filling my brain with ideas. I literally could not turn it off. Ever. But being on my honeymoon and being forced to take a break (with the help of bad wifi and no reception) I really realized how important it is to unplug, for real. I slept more than I have slept, my dark circles improved, I lay in the sun and I just took time to see the world around me. Plus there is something to be said about the Jamaican slow way of life. Like really what is the rush on some things? It was a very appreciated eye-opener to actually take time to do the things that make me feel rested, whether it be reading a book, laying out in the sun, sleeping in, or just being with people who aren’t exhausting. It’s amazing what unplugging can do for a person and how healed someone can feel after a week of not worrying about work or what you have to get done.
Okay, now unto the fun stuff. What a dream trip honestly. I do not even know where to begin to describe the incredible place Jamaica is.
Our journey started out with a very long travel day, we departed Minneapolis, Minnesota to JFK in New York. This was a real test for Mitchell and me as we had to spend the night in the airport. So a 9ish hour layover on the floor of JFK was not the most luxurious night stay I have ever had but it was still an adventure and we learned a few things. Like if you’re flying internationally they don’t transfer your bags for you. Or if you’re flying internationally you have to leave security and start over. So after we got our bags from our first flight we thought we could just recheck them, go through security and find a spot to sit for the night. But we were wrong, we were not able to check our bags again until 4 hours before our flight. So here we were newlyweds on our way to our honeymoon having a Netflix marathon on the tiled floor of JFK at 4 AM, it’s pretty funny looking back on it. So that was a little bit of poor planning and being uneducated on our part. But now we know for next time.
Once we finally made it to Jamaica we were blown away at the airport by our resort, they flagged us down, took our bags had snacks and beverages ready for us as we waited in a Sandal’s only lounge until our shuttle was ready to bring us to our resort. I personally have never stayed anywhere fancy like Sandals, like I grew up always staying in a tent for vacation. So all of this was super cool (and slightly overwhelming) for me. After our short shuttle ride to our resort, we were greeted, checked in, and given a mini tour of the resort. We had lunch while our room was being expedited as we arrived earlier than normal check-in. The restaurant was on the water and the view was amazing. I was reminded how much I love being near the ocean (or sea in that case). When we got to our room we were blown away by how nice it was and the view we had. Our day 1 was spent recovering from sleeping on the floor of JFK so after lunch, we took a nap and later in the evening emerged from our room and ate some dinner then went back to relaxing and recovering.
Day 2 is when all the fun began. We had booked some excursions to explore more of Jamaica. On the first day we ventured to Luminous Lagoon and swam in water that actually glowed. It was so magical (and muddy which I found weird) but it was a really cool experience and if you’re ever in Jamaica I highly recommend it!
On day 3 we went on another adventure to a river rafting experience, we floated down the river and had the best time learning about the area we were in and soaking in all of the Jamaican beauty.
On day 4 we went on our final excursion, and it was a longgg one. We jumped on the bus and headed down to Ocho Rios to have a day filled with adventures. We started the morning climbing Dunn River Falls, like yes actually climbing the falls. This was a really cool experience and I did not know that waterfall climbing was a thing. After we climbed the waterfall we did a mini zip line course. As we were leaving the Dunn River Falls attractions, we got a real taste of Jamaican souvenir shop salespeople. As we were leaving Mitchell accidentally made eye contact with one of the vendors. Who then caught on that we were honeymooners and wanted to make our visit to Jamaica special, by carving our names into wooden turtles as “gifts” but we had to go peak at his shop. I wanted to just high-tail it out of there and go back to our bus and leave but because I am awkward and felt bad we went over to his shop, where we were pressured into purchasing items, so we picked out a shot glass and was going to call it a day, but he started rambling off people we could purchase for to get us to buy things, he said something inconsiderate and felt bad then carved our names into another wooden art piece and told us to pay what we wanted. We finally told him we would pay a certain amount, we go to check-out and he starts asking us to pay more. In the end, it was an experience and we learned a big lesson. Do not make eye contact with the souvenir vendors. And do not feel guilty for saying no.
After that whole fiasco, we headed out to Margaritaville for a lunch with our tour group and tried jerk chicken for the first time. When lunch was over we loaded back on the bus for the adventure I was most excited about…. horseback riding. I do not think Mitchell was as excited about this but I remember horseback riding as a young girl scout and could not wait to do it again. We loaded onto the horses for a nice trail ride and it was really fun. But that wasn’t all we also got to do a short ride through the ocean! This was a little sketchy if I am being honest but it was so cool and an experience I will never forget.
The last event of our long day of adventures was ATV riding, which was not my favorite if I am going, to be honest, but it was really cool and a fun highlight of our trip. I think this might have been Mitchell’s favorite of the day (but don’t quote me on it). This whole day was really fun and we got to see so much of Jamaica and meet some really awesome people. Our tour guide Grace was amazing and so fun to hang out with. So if you are ever in Jamaica I highly recommend the “4-Play” tour by Chukka tours. Their team is amazing and they do an incredible job.
Day 5 began the relaxation I had talked about before. The rest of our trip we spent on the resort laying poolside, reading books, and soaking up the sun. We enjoyed the food at the resort. Our resort Sandals Royal Caribbean had 9 different restaurants and they were all soooo good. The picky eater in me loved the Cricketers pub the most however because it consisted of all my comfort foods. And I cannot forget the pizza place right on the beach. For sure was another favorite. There isn’t a whole lot else we did the rest of our trip other than take the time to be with each other and relax.
On Day 7- our last full day we ventured over to the other Sandals Resort in Montego Bay- which is Sandals Resort Montego Bay- and it was huge! If you love a party scene this resort would be the one for you! We wandered around for a while and eventually rented some paddleboards and went paddling around the resort for a while. The rental place, however, gave Mitchell a sketchy board that we thought was going to sink so we didn’t stay out long but one item off my bucket list was checked off and now I always check for sales on paddleboards for the lakes here in Minnesota.
And that about sums up our Jamaican Honeymoon. We absolutely loved it and are already looking at when we can go back to Sandals either in Jamaica or somewhere else in the Caribbean. It was such an incredible trip and a much-needed break from the world. Our journey home had one hiccup of a Hurricane but we just flew over it (sort of a weird thought) and we made it safely back to Minnesota to be greeted by the first snow and cold temps of the season. And I am ready to turn around and go back to the beach.
Also obsessed with the pictures I made Mitchell take with me :) but yeah if you are evening thinking about going to Jamaica- do it- it was so worth it and such an incredible trip. I am so glad we decided to go there for our honeymoon.
