Our first ever day of full-time travel...
Jun 2, 2018
We completed our lease at our Hawaii home, sold all of our belongings, and made a short visit with family. And probably the most excited we have ever been, we began our journey of full-time travel. For our first stop, we decided to explore Bonaire, also known as Diver’s Paradise. After much debate (and almost going to Mexico for 6 months instead!), we decided on this destination because of our love for the ocean and diving – which Bonaire is supposed to have plenty of!
On June 2, 2018, we departed and had a layover in New York before finally reaching Bonaire. We arrived midday to and over the bluest water I’d ever seen. Our excitement turned to nervousness after landing though! We found ourselves on a teeny tiny desert island, with not a whole lot on it, and no arrangements made for transportation.
Stranded at the Flamingo airport, we asked around some local looking folks how to reach our Airbnb. A local woman offered to take us for $20… Stupidly, on our second trip abroad ever and in a brand new country – hopped in this woman’s car and told her where we were headed. (It worked for us, but I do not recommend ever doing this. lol)
We drove past a few colorful buildings… and desert. Lots of desert. We were not sure what to expect, but I don’t think it was this! We had another wave of anxiety… we had such a hard time leaving our Hawaii home (which we loved..) and we were a bit afraid we had made a mistake. It could have been being in a new place, sitting in a total stranger’s car driving around a literal desert island, or maybe it was just the long travel day. We couldn’t say! But, fortunately, our driver knew exactly where she was going, and we arrived safely at our home for the month!
We settled into our Airbnb, a lovely room in a woman’s house in the middle of the island. No public transit available though! Though she was away, her friend, who was house-sitting, kindly took us to the store to stock up on some essentials until we could figure everything out. We decided to explore our new temporary home, which led us to many long desert walks. We found a couple of convenience stores and eventually found the way to the ocean – only a mile or two walk in the desert heat from our place! We quickly realized that we needed transit here, so, we began to investigate other options for getting around the island.
More on that coming up next!!!
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