In the midst of the Pandemic, I was certainly feeling the strain of cabin fever. My husband, he likes to accompany me on trips, but what I was shooting for was bigger, so pitching an idea of living in another country for the fun of it was going to have to be fully researched to work
Why not?
I had been working remotely for quite a long time with a space to work effectively and productively. We liked being home with each other and we had unenrolled our youngest from childcare so we had flexibility of movement as long as I maintained reasonable work hours.
Hubby and I had been to Aruba before when we were dating and liked it. WInter was approaching, so this would give us much warmer climate, beach filled days and incredible memories to share.
It was a great idea.
How?
I researched Aruba and they were pushing and promoting programs to get people to come, work and stay for extended periods of time to help the economy so deeply hit by the lockdowns world wide.
Questions, I had and hubby would certainly have as well:
- How is the internet speed and stability?
- How would our phones work?
- How would we manage work but still make the most of our time there?
- How long would we stay?
- How is COVID- 19 being managed there?
- What are the entry requirements?
- How long could we afford to stay and maintain our home expenses while still having an enjoyable time?
I dug in and found loads of information on the Aruba site and through a number of Facebook Groups. Within several days, I found all the answers to my questions, plus more. I even found a potential babysitter before arriving to help with our little one so that we could have date nights.
The last question above, was the most tricky, but actually the easiest. As there were very few people traveling during that time, lots of car rentals, hotels, resorts, airbnbs and timeshares were discounted and available, which made lodging and such much more affordable for us.
When?
I checked flights and lodging and found the best window of time was October through early December. This gave us several weekends there, plus a holiday that meant work would be lighter and a bit more flexible for shorter work days.
Ready, Set, Go
I was able to collect all of this information and share with the hubby through a string a casual conversations. To my surprise, he didn’t find the idea insane and was pretty open. I was thrilled!
I started to fill my Amazon cart with all kinds of things: cooler backpack for days when we would be out and about driving around the island and needed to carry drinks and food (to manage costs); snorkel gear – better to have our own as we would likely do it often on our own; long sleeved swim clothes and rash guards; coral safe sunscreen; beach towel, and much more.
Packing is my thing, I strive for the least amount of luggage as possible, especially when the logistics are not cut and dry; as well as making an effort to reduce checked luggage fees through Airline credit card benefits or through carry-on. We had one large suitcase that had our toys, gear and food items that we took with us. We each had carry on roller boards for our clothes.
Travel to Aruba was pretty easy and entry was facilitated by an app that we needed to download for health questions and testing upon arrival. The COVID-19 testing done there moved along quickly and our results were emailed to us later that evening. As a precautionary measure, the resort confined us to our room until we received our negative test results. Fortunately, we had snacks with us and they did deliver room service for guests pending results.
The resort, La Cabana, was great! We enjoyed being just across the street from the beach, close proximity to the grocery store and great restaurants. We did have to bounce around abit there because of the length of stay and we did actually leave the result for airbnb at one point also, but it was not too frequent or bothersome.
Dining
We made our way to the grocery store and had food on hand for breakfast, lunch and dinner but we did try some of the local eateries. Our favorites: Craft for happy hour, brunch and Taco Tuesday – our little one developed a real affinity and tradition for Taco Tuesday; and for our sweet treat we would stop by the Pofferdorie Food Truck – so yummy; breakfast at The Dutch Pancake House.
Other restaurants we tried: Wacky Wahoo, Moomba, Atardi, Taste My Aruba, El Gaucho, Alfie’s, and Linda’s Dutch Pancakes.
Since we celebrated Thanksgiving in Aruba, we did a store run and cooked a whole pre-seasoned chicken in our unit’s convection microwave (I had never used one before – and it was so moist inside with crispy browned skin!), along with a few sides. Not just like home but still pretty wonderful!
Activities
We rented a car for the trip and took the opportunity to drive to many of the beautiful and historic parts of the island:
- Ostrich Farm
- Aruba Aloe Factory Museum and Tour
- The Butterfly Farm
- Philip’s Animal Garden
- Arikok National Park
- Guadirikiri Caves
- Stonehenge of Aruba
- Baby Beach
Jun 9, 2018 by Delinda Cammarata
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In addition to our own self exploration, we did sign up with The Shack to do an Island Tour including Kayaking & Snorkeling. The owner and proprietor, Shanon Croes was great – very accommodating and it was a full day private experience for the three of us.
The tour included visits to the following: California Lighthouse, Alto Vista Chapel, Bushiribana Gold Mine, Boca Mahos Pool, Casibari, Park Arikok, 2 Playa, Dunes, Boca Prins, Fontein Well, Sero Colorado, Baby Beach, and Rodgers Beach.
Kayaking & Snorkeling: Santo Largo, Isla di Oro, Mangel Halto reef where we will Snorkel finish at Mangel Halto.
Conclusion
If you have the opportunity to spend time abroad, I highly recommend it. It was a chance to create new memories and I cannot tell you how many times I look back at our photos and am filled with joy, I hear laughter, I recall the awe in our little one’s face and his excitement and it all fills me with warmth and love.
Aruba is a beautiful place, with much to offer – spending time there was enjoyable and definitely a place we would like to visit again very soon.
Happy Travels