Eat, Starve or Buffet

I am an admitted travel snob but not in the normal way (of course, I'm a different kind of travel snob, making me even snobbier). I'm a big fan of traveling, I'm not really picky about where, I just want to GO. While I was pregnant with L I went though a fairly huge denial phase about how having a kid wouldn't really change my life that much, we would still travel, we would still go scuba diving, we would still eat out, etc. With one kid, especially one kid like L, that was pretty simple. We were "those people" that took their 5 month old to Roatan, Honduras on a dive trip. Then we were "those people" again 6 months later when we took her to Little Caymen on another dive trip. L had been out of the country twice before her first birthday.

M, on the other hand, just got her passport and she is three years old. Granted, leaving the country on vacation at three would hardly qualify as a hardship, but the second kid is the great destroyer of your illusions. In a good way of course. 

Back to my snobbery. I have long held the belief that all inclusive resorts are just a step above cruise ships (I maintain my disdain for cruise ships). Why go on vacation if you aren't going to experience the culture? Eat the local food? See how people there live? Really immerse yourself? WHY EVEN GO? You know why you go to an all inclusive? Kids. There are some legit other reasons, but all inclusives are especially well designed for children, tiny picky ones.

My husband and I went to an all inclusive with my work about 9 months ago. It was delightful. Four days and three nights of nothing but lounging, eating and sleeping. The entire time we were there I kept thinking, there are chicken nuggets available AT EVERY MEAL. There is mac and cheese EVERYWHERE. Suddenly we weren't faced with either stocking a kitchen at a hotel or finding kid friendly places to eat at least three times a day. Then it hit me, WE COULD GO ON VACATION AND HAVE FUN, WITH OUR KIDS.

So we are in Cancun at an all inclusive. My snobbiness is offended by every single part of that sentence. But, you know what? Its amazing. The beach is beautiful, the pools are kid friendly and fun. And the absolute most important part, the kids aren't picky here because their favorites are always available. We've eaten 3 out of 4 meals at the buffet but they've eaten without much complaint. There are desserts on display everywhere and, did you know, there is a resort rule that you must eat your dinner before you get dessert? Turns out there is a similar rule about eating before swimming. Weird rules for a resort, but we should not argue, or question.

There are other upsides, our kids played with some French speaking kids today. Turns out kids don't really care what language you speak as long as you bring some toys to build a sand castle or have water balloons. Also, turns out people that speak French are just as self conscious of their accent speaking English as I am of my accent speaking French. Their accent is way better than mine, for the record.

Give us a few more years and I hope we can go back to experiencing new countries outside of all inclusive resorts. I have plans to drag our kids just about everywhere, whether they like it or not. Its good for them, and I'm holding on to the delusion that my former life is just on hold. At some point we will pick up where we left off, but with two additional travel mates. Until then, buffet it is.