As the 1st stop in our multi-city world itinerary, we arrived in Cancun, MX on Wednesday, 6/12 - we're spending about 18 days here (yes, blessed and lucky!) and splitting our time between Cancun proper (hotel zone) and Riviera Maya (about 45 minutes south of Cancun). 3 days in, lots to feel grateful for and lots to ponder upon! As I've thought about the best way to capture our experience and preserve it for posterity as well as share it with our friends and family, I decided that it would be pretty cool to try and blog through Aiyana's perspective (our 7.5 month-old daughter) and write-up imaginary conversations that I think she's having with us (while I still have the chance to guess what goes on in that head of hers) - not sure how exactly that will play out but I figure it's worth a shot! I intend to tag each of these conversations with a theme that is important to us - love, compassion, beauty, gratitude, perseverance, courage, the power of dreams etc. etc. But first, here are some highlights of our arrival into Cancun and our stay thus far!
- The inbound journey was eventful - it was Aiyana's first international trip and while she did great, we hit a few snags along the way. Snag #1 was with our hometown airline, Delta - minutes before our boarding our connecting Atlanta-Cancun flight, they decided that we needed a separate ticket for Aiyana. This despite the fact that I had confirmed and re-confirmed with Delta via phone that no separate ticket was needed for her and she only needed to be listed on my itinerary (which she was) - of course, this issue did not pop-up when we boarded the first leg of our journey in Memphis. Trust Delta to throw you a curveball - so, we scrambled and got Aiyana a ticket and boarded the flight with seconds to spare (literally!) - we were the last people to board the flight! Upon arrival in Cancun, we headed to pick up our car rental where we hit Snag #2 - there was a $200 difference between the confirmed reservation price and what the counter agent wanted to charge us. After some back-and-forth, they adjusted the reservation to reflect the confirmed price and we were on our way (or so we thought) - less than half-a-mile into our trip from the car rental place to the hotel, I discovered that the blinkers/indicators were not working so we looped back around and had to wait for them to get us another car - of course, Aiyana was way past her bedtime by now and beginning to get fussy! Finally made it to the (absolutely fantastic and beautiful) hotel around 10:30pm after having left the house around noon - long and eventful journey but we were sure glad to have arrived! 2 life lessons reinforced on the inbound journey
1. Stay flexible and adaptable as challenges present themselves - that's what gives you the best shot at resolving them!
2. A smile and a friendly disposition goes much further than an aggravated disposition - during the course of our car rental issue, I discovered that the agent at the counter had a 5-year old named Camille who was born in Vegas so we chatted about daughters for a while - I have no doubt that that conversation made her more willing to go above-and-beyond to help us out! :-) - how often do we make a customer service person the recipient of our wrath/ire? Of course, they're just doing their job as well and they're as human as any of us!
The first few days in Cancun were spent lounging by the pools and the beach and were the scene of one of our imaginary conversations with Aiyana.
Me: Wow, look at this place, look at the water, the ocean, the sky - all so pretty
Anshu: It's magical - so glad we made it. I already feel very relaxed looking at the azure blue water. This place is really really beautiful! And I love the view from our balcony - just mesmerizing!
Aiyana: I agree mom and dad, this place is incredibly beautiful but I have a question
Me: Shoot!
Aiyana: Have you noticed lately how beautiful Memphis is and how beautiful our home is? I find them both to be exceedingly pretty - the river, Beale St, downtown Memphis, Autozone park, FedEx forum, the art and photography in our house, the layout of our house, my play area, our cars, our neighborhood, the golf course, the restaurant we went to last week, the gym, the pool you took me to, the kitchen in our house, our yard, the dining area, the Memphis Zoo, oh and I almost forgot - did you see how beautiful the flowers are in the yard that's just around the corner from our house - I see them everytime we drive by and smile... everything around me is so beautiful and it's all so new for me - I love it and I love noticing how pretty our surroundings are and how pretty even the simplest things are. Didn't I hear you say once that "beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder?" so, do you see the beauty all around you?
Me: Stunned Silence (mouth agape)
Anshu: Stunned Silence (mouth agape)
Note to self: Consciously look for the beauty in everyday people, things and places. There truly is magic around us if only we pause to look and ponder. Updated life manifesto below!
To be continued...
Life Manifesto (ever-evolving; in present tense and not future tense):
I live a life that minimizes regret.
I strive to be passionate in all areas of my life.
I strive to be a love magnet and a love transmitter.
I dream big.
I do not kid or cheat myself.
I own my things vs. letting them own me.
I am grateful.
I take the risks needed to chase my dreams.
I do not rely on the crutch of excuses that prevent me from living the life I want.
* I constantly see the beauty in everyday people, places and things.
* I stay flexible and adaptable especially when things don't go exactly according to plan
* I smile and resolve issues by being cheerful vs. being agitated and angry
And here are some pictures from our trip so far...
- The inbound journey was eventful - it was Aiyana's first international trip and while she did great, we hit a few snags along the way. Snag #1 was with our hometown airline, Delta - minutes before our boarding our connecting Atlanta-Cancun flight, they decided that we needed a separate ticket for Aiyana. This despite the fact that I had confirmed and re-confirmed with Delta via phone that no separate ticket was needed for her and she only needed to be listed on my itinerary (which she was) - of course, this issue did not pop-up when we boarded the first leg of our journey in Memphis. Trust Delta to throw you a curveball - so, we scrambled and got Aiyana a ticket and boarded the flight with seconds to spare (literally!) - we were the last people to board the flight! Upon arrival in Cancun, we headed to pick up our car rental where we hit Snag #2 - there was a $200 difference between the confirmed reservation price and what the counter agent wanted to charge us. After some back-and-forth, they adjusted the reservation to reflect the confirmed price and we were on our way (or so we thought) - less than half-a-mile into our trip from the car rental place to the hotel, I discovered that the blinkers/indicators were not working so we looped back around and had to wait for them to get us another car - of course, Aiyana was way past her bedtime by now and beginning to get fussy! Finally made it to the (absolutely fantastic and beautiful) hotel around 10:30pm after having left the house around noon - long and eventful journey but we were sure glad to have arrived! 2 life lessons reinforced on the inbound journey
1. Stay flexible and adaptable as challenges present themselves - that's what gives you the best shot at resolving them!
2. A smile and a friendly disposition goes much further than an aggravated disposition - during the course of our car rental issue, I discovered that the agent at the counter had a 5-year old named Camille who was born in Vegas so we chatted about daughters for a while - I have no doubt that that conversation made her more willing to go above-and-beyond to help us out! :-) - how often do we make a customer service person the recipient of our wrath/ire? Of course, they're just doing their job as well and they're as human as any of us!
The first few days in Cancun were spent lounging by the pools and the beach and were the scene of one of our imaginary conversations with Aiyana.
Me: Wow, look at this place, look at the water, the ocean, the sky - all so pretty
Anshu: It's magical - so glad we made it. I already feel very relaxed looking at the azure blue water. This place is really really beautiful! And I love the view from our balcony - just mesmerizing!
Aiyana: I agree mom and dad, this place is incredibly beautiful but I have a question
Me: Shoot!
Aiyana: Have you noticed lately how beautiful Memphis is and how beautiful our home is? I find them both to be exceedingly pretty - the river, Beale St, downtown Memphis, Autozone park, FedEx forum, the art and photography in our house, the layout of our house, my play area, our cars, our neighborhood, the golf course, the restaurant we went to last week, the gym, the pool you took me to, the kitchen in our house, our yard, the dining area, the Memphis Zoo, oh and I almost forgot - did you see how beautiful the flowers are in the yard that's just around the corner from our house - I see them everytime we drive by and smile... everything around me is so beautiful and it's all so new for me - I love it and I love noticing how pretty our surroundings are and how pretty even the simplest things are. Didn't I hear you say once that "beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder?" so, do you see the beauty all around you?
Me: Stunned Silence (mouth agape)
Anshu: Stunned Silence (mouth agape)
Note to self: Consciously look for the beauty in everyday people, things and places. There truly is magic around us if only we pause to look and ponder. Updated life manifesto below!
To be continued...
Life Manifesto (ever-evolving; in present tense and not future tense):
I live a life that minimizes regret.
I strive to be passionate in all areas of my life.
I strive to be a love magnet and a love transmitter.
I dream big.
I do not kid or cheat myself.
I own my things vs. letting them own me.
I am grateful.
I take the risks needed to chase my dreams.
I do not rely on the crutch of excuses that prevent me from living the life I want.
* I constantly see the beauty in everyday people, places and things.
* I stay flexible and adaptable especially when things don't go exactly according to plan
* I smile and resolve issues by being cheerful vs. being agitated and angry
And here are some pictures from our trip so far...
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| Anshu and Aiyana stylin' in the balcony |
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| The bartender at this awesome authentic Mexican restaurant we went to - La Parrilla - he carried the margarita glasses expertly balanced on his head right across the restaurant! |
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| At La Parrilla - great Mexican food! |
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| The view from our balcony1 |
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| Beautiful grounds! |
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