Okay, what is going on with our Cancun trip?
History here, I rep for a great company. I really do. I have done the candle thing for nine years and have very few if any complaints. I love what I do and I have a blast doing it. Every year my company gives away a nice, warm, tropical vacation to those of us who earn it. This year, I earned my seventh trip. These are trips of a lifetime. People save for years for the kind of swanky, five star, luxurious locations I have been to.
Cancun--and not just Cancun. The Moon Palace resort, known for every room having an inlaid hot tub on marble floors. Nice huh?
Well, until the swine flu came along right after my company bought all 2,000+ airline tickets. The trip was canceled by my company. Yes, my company is out over a million dollars in lost airline tickets. They also have upset people on their hands who have earned this trip and want something.
For my two cents, I am not upset at all. Several of the very few swine flu cases have come out of Cancun. While I certainly am not afraid of getting it, I certainly don't want to invite it either. Plus, what if (ten days ago, this was the scare when these decisions were being made) they send all 2,000+ of us to Cancun, and suddenly the airport closes because this level five hysteria hits massive levels.
I think this is so interesting, and I am not sure who is to blame, how a week later, it's all calmed down. The World Health Organization (WHO) is suddenly quite silent after making this thing so hysterically serious.
Anyway, we, candle people in my area, were told we would get a cash reward about a week ago. Great! How much? Don't know, we'll get back to you. In the meantime, the hubbie and I cruise travel websites for ideas. It was actually quite cool.....it was the whole "where would you go if you could" scenario. It was fun to dream a little and look at possibilities. We honed in on Hawaii for two reasons, it's warm and we don't want cold. Forget Canada, sorry. Out of country travel to like the Bahamas was out of the question just in case the swine flu got more scary. Plus, the U.S. government was recommending at that time no international travel. Plus we live on the west coast and it's quite the easy flight for us.
So we dreamed. Now what to choose? Again, we were excited, but held back until we saw what kind of funds we would have. I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew my company wanted to be fair, but they had also taken quite the financial hit already.
Got the news Tuesday. Are you sitting? The bottom line.....$3,600 cash reward.
That is more than enough to pay for a very swanky place, flight and car rental. So now where? After much consideration, a small poll on Facebook amongst the friends (thanks to you who voted!), and google, we decided on Kuaui. It is the "off the beaten path" part of Hawaii. Quieter, less tourists, more paths to hike, and natural scenery.
Huge huge thanks to my company. Here is the breakdown after booking the trip today.
Two of us at a swanky lanai castle/plantation place, airline tickets, car, luau, and trip insurance--$2,583. That leaves us with plenty of funds to pay our babysitter while we are gone. We always pay her a few hundred dollars. It also pays for extras while we are there. So if we want to shop, go kayaking on the river, take a tour of a sugar plantation, etc. it won't be out of our budget.
I am so grateful to my company. Time and time again, in big ways and little ways, I see them take care of their reps. It is a company with heart, which is not often seen these days, and I appreciate it so much.
Get ready for the travel diary beginning May 23rd. I will hopefully take the laptop and insert the photo disk a few times.
4 comments:
Can I say that I'm insanely jealous? That's awesome. Can't wait to hear about the adventures. Make sure to get a dinner at Jake's. Legend. And prepare to see chickens - everywhere. In the road, on the side of the road, even in the outdoor restaurants. Apparently, there was a hurricane a few years ago and the wild chickens interbred with some domestic chickens and they haven't been able to straighten in out ever since. Oh, be sure to visit the canyon. That's supercool. The blow hole in the south is ok, but it's nothing to get real excited about. You just sort of stand on the pier and say, "Yep, there's a blow hole." But the BEST part of Kauai for me was an ATV tour I went on. If you want info, let me know. It was awesome. You'll see parts you can't get to any other way. I can also give you the name of a good church. Are you staying in the north, east, or south?
Okay, I just ordered the much spoken of book called "Kuaui Revealed" a very personalized tour guide of the island. We are staying almost a the very southern tip of the island. But we know we must take road trips all over, and definitely plan to pack some mileage on the rental car. I would LOVE to know your ATV tour! I wanted to do that so bad last year! I had to bow out because I majorly threw my back out before that trip and had thoughts of not going. That would be fun. I also heard a river tour/snorkeling is good too. Will be doing that. Our beach at our hotel has snorkeling. I absolutely LOVE to snorkel. It's lazy person's fish observing, and we have our own snorkel equipment. Chickens? Seriously? You're talking to a chicken lover! I won't go petting them or anything, but I see a very humorous blog post coming just on that alone! A lot of this will get panned out once the travel guide arrives from Amazon. But all suggestions and advice is welcome!
I hope you have a great trip!
Thank you, I think we will. By the way, Kathi, I have been to Hawaii once before and it was to the Big Island, just like you. I did look at that pretty seriously but wanted to do something neither the hubbie or I had done before. So we have that in common as well, the Big Island.
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