Cabbage Beach, Paradise Island
It wasn’t until six-months following the birth of our first child that we did our first international travel. We took a prop-plane to Seattle where we spent the night before flying the next morning to Miami.
Miami was sunny, warm and a pleasant change from February weather back home. Having explored Miami in the past we simply spent two nights and days there. We casually strolled along the waterfront walkways and the highlight of our stay was simply a nice dinner at restaurant called ToroToro. We thought our son would sleep during our meal but he ended up being great company with us at the table.
We took a modest, mid-sized cruise ship on a compact trip through three ports of the Bahamas. Our room was tiny, particularly with the pack-n-play, but the staff was very friendly to our little guy. The ship was decent and we appreciated the opportunity to upgrade out of the buffet meals to getting to dine in some of their international restaurants. We also took advantage of the playroom for our son.
A locals market in Freeport
Our first stop was in the Berry Islands to a private area owned by the cruise line. It is certainly not a spot for any cultural experiences, but it had an attractive beach and it was fun to let our son play in the sand. The next day we visited Nassau. Here we wandered through the city with its colourful buildings before taking a passenger ferry over to Paradise Island to visit its shops and beautiful beaches. And lastly we went to Freeport where I hired a driver to give me a tour of the area. When we returned to Miami we went straight to the airport where we had great fortune in catching an early flight out, making it so we didn’t have to spend half-the-day waiting for our booked flight.
Outside of the joy in being on our first family trip as new parents, our Bahamas encounter was little more than a low-cost, no-effort vacation. It really emphasized the difference to me of the travel that I love, which involves subjecting yourself to new experiences and challenges, and having an effort free vacation. Vacations can be a great escape when you are craving one, but they do not feed my travel addiction.