This Road Called Life

Hi everyone!

I mentioned to you in my about section (link) that Jeremy and I’s favorite place in the world is Sandals Resorts. There are likely going to be a LOT of posts on here about Sandals, so I thought I’d give you our background with them.

My aunt is my best friend in the world. She is second only to Jeremy. We’ve been close for my entire life. We’re only 18 years apart, and while I probably annoyed her a bit when I was a kid, she knows me like no other does. Even probably better than my husband in some cases. She introduced me to a lot of my favorite things in life (musicals, movies, you name it), so I don’t know why I’m surprised that I followed her lead, so to speak on vacation destinations.

My aunt and uncle got married in November of 1993. Their honeymoon was at what is now known as Sandals Grande Antigua. (I’m unsure if this would have been the name 30 years ago. It might have just been Sandals Antigua back then, but I’m unsure.) That Christmas they came to Ohio and showed us all their honeymoon photos.

I was in AWE. Even at an age that was as yet unable to go to a Sandals, I knew I’d get there one day. It kind of became an obsession of mine.

When I was engaged to my ex back in 2006, I explored Sandals as a honeymoon destination. Unfortunately at that time, the price was way too much for us. We also ended up breaking up a few months later, so I”m not super upset that we couldn’t make it an option.

When Jeremy and I got married in 2010, it was the same thing. Too much for a honeymoon for us. We ended up going to Pigeon Forge, TN. It wasn’t bad, and the cabin had an indoor inground pool in it, but the air conditioning didn’t work. And it was HOT that week! We spent a lot of time in the pool, and did a few of the smaller things the area has to offer, such as Dolly Parton’s Stampede, Cooter’s Museum, and the Titanic museum. It wasn’t a bad honeymoon, but it wasn’t Sandals, either.

In the fall of 2015, my daddy passed away. He didn’t have much, but he did have a not too badly sized life insurance policy that he left to me. I split it with my brother and Jeremy and I paid a few things off.
Tax season of 2016 rolled around. We’re self-employed, so tax time is always fun * insert sarcasm *. Jeremy was having a heck of a day and told me to book a vacation. Up to this point Disney World was my go-to. I priced out a trip for 6 nights, factored in the free dining that would be announced within a few days, and gave Jeremy a number. He went for it! I was pretty shocked. (I’ve done Disney a few times, but we’ve never gone together.)

For kicks and giggles, I went over to the Sandals website. I discovered that we could go to Sandals Ochi for the same amount of time for the same price. INCLUDING our flights to Jamaica! (We’d have had to drive to Disney.) I was absolutely ecasatic. 23 years after discovering the brand, and I was FINALLY at the point that I could get there. I ran things by Jeremy, and he said yes!!

Of course, we had additional things we needed to buy for the Jamaica trip, but anything we bought we would have also had to buy for Disney. With the exception of our passports, anyway.

A photo of the two of us from that trip:

We traveled to Sandals Ochi with Jeremy’s cousin and her hubby. We were there from August 27 – September 2, 2016. We booked a Riviera Beachfront Club Level (GO) room for that trip, and it was perfect for us for a first trip! My review of this trip can be found here. We went back to Ochi in August 2017, June 2018, & August 2019. We also did a short trip to the now closed Sandals Inn in November 2018. If you can’t tell, Ochi is “home” for us!

Covid and life kind of got in the way of our Sandals trips for a few years. Being self-employed, especially in a hands-on field, we didn’t have the luxury of working from home if we tested positive on the way back. And once required testing to come back to the US stopped, I was a caregiver for my mother, who had 3 for sure (plus possibly 2 more) brain bleeds plus a seizure in about a 2 year span.

Life for us hasn’t been “normal” since early 2020, but we’re finally getting back there now. We also have a trip to look forward to: We’re doing a split stay between Sandals Ochi (4 nights) and Sandals Dunn’s River (7 nights) this November. The best part about it? My aunt and uncle will be arriving at Sandals Dunn’s River the day after we do to celebrate their 30^th anniversary. I’ll literally be vacationing with the people that are to blame for my Sandals obsession!!!

And like I said before, you’ll probably be seeing a LOT of Sandals posts from me. It’s my “crack”, so to speak. And I know a few tricks to help you save a buck or two, so I’ll be sharing those as well!