InsightsfromtheMat

Renaissance Aruba - 2017 We/I have been traveling, a lot.  Many have asked about our trips.  It feels like the first place to start is all the amazing companies and people that made it such a wonderful experience.  Don't worry, I plan to update everyone on my perceptions/experiences in getting my Dive Certification. I cannot say enough about the  Renaissance Aruba .  The hotel is beautiful, they have wonderful amenities, including their own private island with a flock of Pink Flamingos that you can feed. Renaissance Flamingos 2017- @MeganHeil Well worth the stop on the trip, in my opinion.  After a brief stop in Aruba we move to  Hilton Curacao .  My opinion on this property is mixed. Hilton Curacao-2017 The staff was wonderful, with lots of wonderful recommendations.  However, the service was SSLLLOOOWWW, and the property is dated.  It is definately, NOT, at the typical standards you experience at a Hilton in either Europe or the US. The upside, amazing beach

Juvenile Male White Shark 2014 Ok - so the obsession stared, in a book, in the midwest.  Actually it started with the story of the  USS Indianapolis, labeled as the worst shark attach in US history.    I was fascinated with the science not the horror of the event.  (I do not want to discount the horror and it is part of the reason it has taken 4 years to get my Scuba Certification.)  But when you read about how the sharks were attracted and why they attacked- and why they attack in general it all makes sense.  (At least to my scientific mind) So this midwestern girl, starts to study sharks and becomes OBSESSED.  Not being close to salt water- my obsession is not an issue.  After I graduated and moved to Washington, DC, things start to change.  But I am not in a place to sort through my issues/desires with the water.   Fast forward, I meet an amazing adrenaline junkie- with whom I fell in love- who is a certified diver.  So let's try this dive thing again.  2103 - Experience

BVI 2016 - Helm of Bear As kids, we believe that when we become adults, that we will get to do anything we want.  As adults, we realize that life was so much easier when we were kids.  As kids our "responsibilities and commitments" were so much less stressful.  Like so many people, life has not always gone as planned.  I have found myself in a many situations I would rather not . . "get through/survive".  But as adults, we put on our big girl panties and push on.  This fall has presented a lot of challenges, from personal, to professional, to environmental (Irma was no joke when it came to disruption and we were mostly spared).  I found myself more impacted by them than usual and in a bit of a funk.   The "icing on the cake" to this challenging fall was that our annual BVI sailing trip was canceled.  I look forward to this trip each year.  For me, it is the one time a year, I am guaranteed to do the thing I love most in the world and I get to put