Five Things You Should Remember To Do During An All-Inclusive Holiday (That Many People Forget)
Reapply SunscreenI’m really bad for putting sunscreen on in the morning then forgetting to put it on again, at least until my skin starts to radiate heat outwards. 🙁
Stay HydratedRelated to that last one, there are a lot of things that can make you feel ill on a tropical holiday. When people get an upset stomach, I often read “ate bad food” as an explanation. But my own experiences when I’ve gotten a bit sick on holiday in the past is that it’s likely “too much sun” that was the likely culprit.
Check Expiry Dates Before You GoIt’s easy when packing to just throw a bunch of stuff in your suitcase, especially if you go on regular holidays and take the same stuff year after year – from sunscreen to medications, but it’s worthwhile to check expiry dates so you don’t end up with something that’s not going to help when you most need it and/or you end up having to pay the outrageous prices in the hotel gift shop.
Keep Your Sandals CloseIt’s nice to kick off your sandals and go for a walk on the beach or to walk around the resort but, though it’s a bit of a pain, it’s often handy to carry them with you – either if you hit an area where the sun has made the wood or concrete you’re walking on too hot for bare feet or if you have to go into a washroom.
Seat Booking TrickThis one is more of an “unethical life hack” than something to remember to do *at* an all-inclusive. But if it works, it can help get your holiday off to an extra relaxing start! Most airplanes allow you to book 24-hours in advance and will show you a seating chart with available seats. Most of the jets we fly to all-inclusives on have two rows of three seats each so, if you’re a family of four, your natural inclination is to book seats together – maybe two in a row in front and two in a row behind or maybe two on one side of the plane and two across from each other. But if the plane appears to have some empty seats when you’re booking, one trick I’ve discovered is to book seats near the back of the plane (since planes tend to fill up from front to back) and book one pair of people in an aisle and a window seat leaving the middle seat open then do the same thing in the row behind or across from them (whatever’s available.) The advantage of doing it this way is that a solo traveler – maybe the older fifth child or a mother-in-law who’s coming along with her family on vacation – is less likely to book themselves a middle seat then either the aisle or window seat beside another couple who’ve booked two seats in the usual way – either two together by the window or two by the aisle. Then, once the plane is fully loaded and about to take off, there’s a pretty good chance you end up having three seats between two people. And if someone does end up having to sit between you in the middle seat, they’re likely happy to take either the window or aisle if you say “Oops, I must’ve clicked the wrong seat by mistake” or even explain why they ended up in a middle seat. (This happened once when a big, burly guy came down the aisle, saw Pace and I sitting in a row with the middle seat open and looked *really* angry. I thought he was mad thinking he’d have to wedge in between us but his wife explained he was afraid of flying and was hoping to sit beside her for comfort but by the time they booked, two seats together weren’t available. We quickly agreed to shift around to accommodate them and after popping a Xanax, this big burly former pro hockey player was fast asleep on his wife’s shoulder! Even funnier, I thought I’d get the short straw and have to wedge in beside them but our shy kid, Pace, was like “Nah, I can stay in my seat. No worries!”)
I’m really bad for putting sunscreen on in the morning then forgetting to put it on again, at least until my skin starts to radiate heat outwards. 🙁
Related to that last one, there are a lot of things that can make you feel ill on a tropical holiday. When people get an upset stomach, I often read “ate bad food” as an explanation. But my own experiences when I’ve gotten a bit sick on holiday in the past is that it’s likely “too much sun” that was the likely culprit.
It’s easy when packing to just throw a bunch of stuff in your suitcase, especially if you go on regular holidays and take the same stuff year after year – from sunscreen to medications, but it’s worthwhile to check expiry dates so you don’t end up with something that’s not going to help when you most need it and/or you end up having to pay the outrageous prices in the hotel gift shop.
It’s nice to kick off your sandals and go for a walk on the beach or to walk around the resort but, though it’s a bit of a pain, it’s often handy to carry them with you – either if you hit an area where the sun has made the wood or concrete you’re walking on too hot for bare feet or if you have to go into a washroom.
This one is more of an “unethical life hack” than something to remember to do *at* an all-inclusive. But if it works, it can help get your holiday off to an extra relaxing start! Most airplanes allow you to book 24-hours in advance and will show you a seating chart with available seats. Most of the jets we fly to all-inclusives on have two rows of three seats each so, if you’re a family of four, your natural inclination is to book seats together – maybe two in a row in front and two in a row behind or maybe two on one side of the plane and two across from each other. But if the plane appears to have some empty seats when you’re booking, one trick I’ve discovered is to book seats near the back of the plane (since planes tend to fill up from front to back) and book one pair of people in an aisle and a window seat leaving the middle seat open then do the same thing in the row behind or across from them (whatever’s available.) The advantage of doing it this way is that a solo traveler – maybe the older fifth child or a mother-in-law who’s coming along with her family on vacation – is less likely to book themselves a middle seat then either the aisle or window seat beside another couple who’ve booked two seats in the usual way – either two together by the window or two by the aisle. Then, once the plane is fully loaded and about to take off, there’s a pretty good chance you end up having three seats between two people. And if someone does end up having to sit between you in the middle seat, they’re likely happy to take either the window or aisle if you say “Oops, I must’ve clicked the wrong seat by mistake” or even explain why they ended up in a middle seat. (This happened once when a big, burly guy came down the aisle, saw Pace and I sitting in a row with the middle seat open and looked *really* angry. I thought he was mad thinking he’d have to wedge in between us but his wife explained he was afraid of flying and was hoping to sit beside her for comfort but by the time they booked, two seats together weren’t available. We quickly agreed to shift around to accommodate them and after popping a Xanax, this big burly former pro hockey player was fast asleep on his wife’s shoulder! Even funnier, I thought I’d get the short straw and have to wedge in beside them but our shy kid, Pace, was like “Nah, I can stay in my seat. No worries!”)
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