Not Your Average Gal

Copywriter. Content Creator. Constant Sassypants.

Caroline Peterson

Adios, Bitchachos! My First All-Inclusive Experience Begins.

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I’m leaving on a jet plane for Cancun this weekend. My first time in Mexico. My first time at an all-inclusive.

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(Not my first rodeo with beergaritas.)

My Type-A planner mind isn’t quite sure what to do. I haven’t felt it necessary to look up the best restaurants or bars because, well, I’ve got that in unlimited quantities at our hotel. Olé! I briefly looked at excursions but we are truly only there for 4 days and 3 nights. I’m okay with every moment not being planned for the sake…the sake of…relaxing?

WTF is happening to me?!

Quick someone give me a To Do list before I lose my mind.

I am adequately prepared with obnoxious beach apparel though that can only be described as…Floridian. Basically, imagine the colors pink, peach, coral, yellow, aqua and lime green all throw up on maxi dresses and flowy tops.

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Boom, nailed it. Living in Florida for nearly 4 years has paid off! (I really did buy this dress. Cute, right?)

Debating on bringing my laptop to catch up on some blog posts and post pictures. I’m sure the hubster will be thrilled with that idea. <side eye>

I guess that’s really it? I’m not sure what to expect, so I don’t have many expectations, which I suppose is the best way to go on trips. If the food sucks I won’t be very aware because I haven’t been to an all-inclusive before. Plus, I’m sure soggy cheetos will taste good to me after a few frozen piña coladas. What? Stop judging. The resort is right on the beach and each room is a suite with an ocean view, so if I somehow manage to complain about that, you have full permission to slap my ass. You’re required to enjoy it though. It’s a good bum.

Adios, bitchachos!

Have you ever been to an all-inclusive? Where and how did you like it?

Total Costs: Travel to Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong

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The biggest costs to any trip are usually airfare and hotels. I’m here to show you how those can be cut significantly, so you can easily take a quick round the world trip like I did recently to Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong.

I wrote about the miles and points associated with flying and staying in hotels here:

Airfare: How I Flew in Business Class to Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong for Under $100
Hotels: How I Stayed in Fancy Hotels for 10 Nights for Under $400

Flights:

FLL-ATL-LAX: Delta Economy – $179
LAX – SYD: Virgin Australia Business Class – 80,000 Delta Miles + $37.10 tax
SYD-AKL: Air New Zealand Economy $324
AKL – HKG: Cathay Pacific Business Class – 30,000 American Miles + $20.90
HKG – JFK: Asiana Airlines Business Class – 80,000 United Miles + $41.60
JFK-FLL: Delta First Class $397

Total: $999.60

Hotels:

Park Hyatt Sydney: 3 nights – 2 free-night certificates + 30,000 Ultimate Rewards points
New Zealand AirBnb: 2 nights – $127/each
Intercontinental Hong Kong: 3 nights - 120,000 IHG points (plus $240 for my upgrade)

Total: $367.00

FINAL COST: $1,366.60

Now, obviously there are costs associated with food and fun purchases like snazzy scarves you hastily buy because it was 60 degrees in Hong Kong and you are a full-blooded Floridian now so you were freezing.

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I digress… But since those costs are very particular to each person, I didn’t include them here.

If I desperately wanted to save more dolla dolla bills, I could have forgone the room upgrade, and perhaps planned a bit better and bought my ticket to New Zealand sooner. We paid a lot for that one-way ticket, but weren’t exactly proactive about finding flights in time.

Also, my flight from JFK-FLL was in paid first class because it was only $40 more than economy and I knew after a 15 hour flight from Hong Kong, I’d appreciate it. All of those costs could have been cut, but since I saved so much money in other areas, I was okay with spending it. That’s what’s so great about travel hacking!

The bulk of costs for any vacation are getting there and staying somewhere, I hope you took something from this to see that taking a major trip is a very real possibility if you plan it well and use miles and points.

Thoughts On The Eve Of My Third Half Marathon

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As I’ve mentioned before, I haven’t exactly had a stellar training schedule this season. I’ll be running the Fort Lauderdale A1A Half Marathon tomorrow and I’m not as nervous this year going into it because I’ve ensured I won’t PR with my lack of training.

So, with that said, my thoughts this year are pretty vastly different than the last 2.

Thoughts On The Eve Of My Third Half Marathon

  1. Hope my knee holds up. Must pack ibuprofen.
  2. Double check Body Glide. Boobs can’t chafe.
  3. What am I going to eat afterwards? Burger? Fries?
  4. Well isn’t this a splendid way of spending Valentine’s Day with the hubster.
  5. What am I going to eat afterwards? Sushi?
  6. If I’m in pain, I’ll walk. It’s okay to walk.
  7. What am I going to eat afterwards? Pizza?
  8. Probably should put together that running music list at some point…
  9. Wonder if I can sleep in the car before the race.
  10. What am I going to eat afterwards? Girl Scout cookies?

Wish me luck!

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2016 Travel Plans

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February: Cancun, Mexico

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Yup, you read that right. I’m finally letting go of the planning reigns and doing an all-inclusive resort for the very first time. We’re using points to fly and stay there. Duh. (Less one night paid in cash, so I can earn some points). A couple of our pals were planning on going to Cancun and asked us if we wanted to go. They were looking at the Hyatt Zilaria, which is an adults-only Resort.

You only have to say, “adults-only,” once for me to say, “MARGARITA!” I mean, I love your kids, I swear. Just not when they are playing Marco Polo for the umpteenth time.

 

March, April or May: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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The hubster has to take an exam in Philadelphia in order to graduate medical school. Much to his personality, he hasn’t planned when he’s taking it yet. Much to my personality, I want to know dates so I can see if I’m able to tag along. Go ahead, hubster. Take your exam. I’ll be over here high-fiving Ben Franklin and ringing The Liberty Bell.

We’ll see. Schedules have to permit.

Fun fact: I used to live in near Philly as a youngster.

 

June: Southeast Asia

Help us take more smiling pics like this! Railay Beach, Thailand

Remember that trip we had to cancel? (I hope putting in on here doesn’t jinx it.) We’re going to try to do it again this year, but probably revamp the itinerary a bit. Even after I had to cancel, I felt we probably would have been too rushed on that trip and that notion sat with me for a while. Enough to make me rethink what we’d do with 2 weeks this time around.

I’m still debating about which countries to visit…stay tuned. Our flights there and back have been booked, using points of course!

 

July – beyond: No clue

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The hubster will officially be a doctor after May. I can’t believe it. I mean, I can, he’s fucking smart. But it’s been one long, tough road. I’ve supported this guy as he busted his ass to go back to school, just so he could get into med school and then, you know, go through the rigors that happen in med school.

So, after this summer, there may not be much traveling going on except maybe to visit each other when he starts his emergency medicine residency. More on that later.

So, those are my travel plans. What do you think? Share yours!

Take Care of Yourself Amidst the Chaos. Do it.

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I found out some news about 6 days before I left for the other side of the world on a trip I had been planning for months. It was the type of information that’s life changing; the kind that makes you feel like you’re walking outside your body for days on end. I couldn’t eat much, I was caught staring out my office window, I had friends calling and texting me consistently, I kept myself from tearing up at a moments notice by just getting outside and going for a walk.

There was even one night that it was raining and I knew I just needed to. get. the. hell. out. after my heart and mind started racing. So, I circled our little community pool area that’s on a concrete island of sorts in the middle of our neighborhood, umbrella in one hand, tissues in the other. I just circled until I could breathe better again.

All this and I needed to hop on a 14 hour flight alone in less than a week for a trip I’d been planning for months…

I’ve mentioned 2015 was an incredibly tough year for me and this event was one of the major contributors. I contemplated for only a moment about canceling another trip but knew, in my gut, that would be the wrong decision. This event wasn’t caused by me, it was something that happened to me and canceling a trip would have zero effect on changing the circumstances. I needed to accept that I’d have to cope with this news on long flights and in new foreign territories.

This is my roundabout way of telling you that life is so often split up into Befores and Afters…and you can often negotiate the After portion. Before you went to high school. After you graduated college. Before you met your wife. After you got married. Before you had kids. After you pulled your hair out.

Things like that.

This was one of those Before and After moments.

I had to choose, in those 6 days, to not let the After define my trip I had so desperately needed, especially now. It was an active choice, let me tell you. Emotions were running high (still are if I’m being honest – it comes in waves) and I knew I needed to focus.

So I typed my little fingers off until I felt better. Oh, I typed and typed. I watched sappy Hallmark Christmas movies alone, in an empty house with an often empty glass of wine.

Wine and fantastically cheesy #hallmarkchannel Christmas movies. #mykindoffridaynight

A photo posted by Caroline| Not Your Average Gal (@notaveragegal) on

I cried. You know, that ugly cry that only your cat gets to see. I chose exactly what I was packing in my carry-on for 2 weeks, even down to packing and repacking meticulously 3 separate times. I reminded myself that the solo portion of my trip would be life-defining in itself and I needed to power through. I went through old photos on Facebook and smiled.

I changed the direction of my circumstances. Sure, albeit, temporarily. But it worked. I had a wonderful, much needed trip that absolutely, without a doubt, changed my life for the better.

I know many of you may be thinking that it would be easy to just take a jaunt to a foreign land when shit hits the fan (hey that sort of rhymed!), but that’s not how I operate. I’m not good at compartmentalizing my emotions. I want to analyze them, work through it and learn a lesson from it. There just wasn’t enough time to do that in this situation before I left and boy, was I pissed about it. I knew I’d be thinking about it a lot on my trip I was so looking forward to. I didn’t want it to damper my time away and truth be told, I knew it would at times. (And it did.)

So, I actively chose perseverance. I put my big girl pants on and boarded a plane alone that flew me over a giant pond for 14 hours and plopped me right where I needed to be.

Sure, there were tears that came up at weird moments. Like, you know, in the middle of a vineyard on Waiheke Island, New Zealand with my girlfriends closely watching over me, ready to offer comforting words…or more wine. Or on my flight to Hong Kong while watching Ricki and the Flash after the flight attendant continued to fill my glass with champagne. (PSA: Don’t watch that movie if you have a tumultuous relationship with your mother and are drinking champagne at 40,000 feet.)

In those moments where you question if you should take care of yourself amidst chaos — do it. God, trust me, do it. Persevere. Tell your emotions you will deal with them as they come, but for you, for now, you’re putting your feet up in business class, cheers-ing to what you just went through and enjoying yourself regardless of the shit thrown your way.

BeforeandAfter

You’re worth it.

Sports Bras Unite. I’m Now An Enell Race Ambassador!

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I knew my lady jugs would win the internet some day. (Ahem. Sorry, Dad.)

Last fall, I applied to be an ENELL Ambassador and in December I heard the news that they had chosen me to be one of their Race Ambassadors!

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What does that mean?

It means I get to run a few races this year with ENELL sponsoring me while I spread the gospel of taking care of your girl puppies by using the right sports bra.

Like I did here.

So, how cool is that?! It figures my boobs got sponsored before anything else on this website, but whatever, I’ll take it!

I can’t begin to tell you how proud the hubster is of my ta-ta’s.

I’ve been a big supporter (pun intended) of ENELL ever since I bought my first bra from them years and years ago. They’ve made a HUGE (pun intended) difference in how I work out.

You know what else that means?

I need to start running more regularly again. <side eye> Like for that minor half-marathon in less than a month. You know, the one that I should be training for presently.

I like to live on the injured list edge.

fort lauderdale a1a half marathon

I have a game plan, but let’s just say I’m taking a WYCWYC approach and not aiming to break any PRs here. I really miss running regularly. Real talk: I logged less than 10 miles in December. Son of a nutcracker! (Mind you, I was on the other side of the earth most of December, but minor details.) Buckling down to do it, especially knowing my gals have a sponsor now, will be a great motivation.

Plus, I’ll keep it real with you when I’m lacking inspiration or just really want to eat some Ho-Ho’s.

My goal this month is to do conditioning runs during the week and 6-7 miles this weekend, then 10 miles next weekend. I’ve also asked the hubster to commit to hit the weights at the gym with me from 5-6 a.m. certain days of the week in February, his ER schedule permitting. That’s it!

Small goals.

Big boobs.

Everyone’s a winner!