Guest Post & Jamaica Reflection | A View of Travel Blogging through a Mothers Eyes

Guest Post & Jamaica Reflection

This blog post is a guest post written by Catherine Parker, mother of Olivia McCraw (Co-Contributor, Often Photographer, and “Travel Twin” of Wine and Weekends). Catherine was generous enough to volunteer to write a guest post about our recent family trip to Jamaica. I am honored and very impressed with what she had to say about both my blog and this trip. We all had some mixed feelings about the resort that we stayed at, but she described all of our feelings in an absolutely beautiful way. Please enjoy this Jamaica Reflection!

A View of Travel Blogging through a Mothers Eyes

I’ve been an avid follower of Wine and Weekends almost since its origination.  You see, I just happen to be the mother of one of the “Travel Twins” and I enjoy following their travels and looking at the pictures.  Katie has such a positive way of telling her story and I see the world through the eyes of a young person.  I admire the courage that is portrayed in this blog.  The courage to live your dream and not be confined to any predestined ideas about who you should or should not be.  As I have followed Katie’s travels I often would find myself jealous or even almost angry because the amount of time she and Olivia were gone was totally against what I considered acceptable and I got tired of people asking me, “how does Olivia get so much time off from work?”  Then I was invited along to Jamaica.

You see I work, a lot and it had been two years since I had taken a week off from work.  This trip was planned many months ago and as the date of our departure neared I was filled with dread and excitement.  I dreaded it because it was totally out of my comfort zone and I was excited because, well who wouldn’t be?  

We arrived in Jamaica to find a land totally different than anywhere I had ever been.  An island of pure natural beauty surrounded by clear, water in differing shades of blue.  It was warm both day and night which was a welcome reprieve from cold and soggy Virginia.  The Iberostar resort was all-inclusive and they welcomed us with lemonade and access to the facility as we had arrived before the check-in time.  The problem was our rooms were not even ready at check-in time.  Finally, an hour late we walked into a spacious room, very clean but with dated décor.  The maid service was exemplary throughout our stay.  In fact I found all the staff friendly and willing to help, however, the rules of the resort were somewhat strange as it was harder than necessary to make a dinner reservation.  The best food was found on the buffet and the daily grilled lunch on the beach.

Iberostar offered a wide range of free activities among them water aerobics, water games and some water sports were free.  The activities that you had to pay for were pretty pricey.  However, the two excursions we did were well worth the money.  My favorite excursion was a horseback ride to the beach with a swim in the water with the horses.  That successfully checked one item off my bucket list.  

Having no other Caribbean travel experience and no other experience with an all-inclusive resort, I have nothing to compare this experience to, however, I believe that I would try other companies before I would return to the Iberostar resort.   

In the end, what I learned on this trip was worth thousands more than the money I spent and I could have stayed in a shack on the beach because accommodations are not really important either.  What is important is the experience, the time you spend with your kids (even though they are not kids anymore) and the memories that are made.  My mother died when I was a teenager and I haven’t known what it was like to experience the world with my mom and that has always made me sad.  Now, I can be the mom and experience the world with my “travel twins”, I can see their hopes and dreams come alive as they explore the wonders of this world.  The next time I’m asked about how much Olivia might or might not travel I will say “I don’t think it is enough”.  

So all of you young people who follow this blog, live your dream, experience this world and praise God for giving you the opportunity.  Thank you Jamaica, you gave me more than I could have ever asked for. 

Thank you so much to Catherine for writing such a beautiful reflection of our time in Jamaica. Thank you to Olivia for being my travel twin and right-hand gal in all areas of life. And thank you to my own mom, who without I would not be the person that I am today. Never doubt yourself and know that with God all things are possible with a little faith.

Until next time,

Previous Post: Weedkender’s Devotions

Xo