Many, many people that I know are traveling to Isla Mujeres this year. I thought that I would resurrect a packing list that Sister #3 put together and I have enhanced. I am still almost a month away from my departure but getting out my flip flops and sun dresses adds to the joy of anticipating our trip.

What to pack for Isla Mujeres

Personal Items

Ear plugs (Especially if the person you travel with is a snorer but sometimes you can have noisy neighbours)

Kleenex packs, small hand sanitizer, wet naps (Carry with you as some bathrooms don’t have toilet paper or soap to wash up)

Clear plastic rain poncho-dollar store variety (When it rains it comes fast and hard), easier and lighter to pack than an umbrella

Your toiletries (Most hotels and some casa’s provide shampoo and soap)

 

Sun glasses, sun screen (Vital as the cost of sun screen if very high in Mexico)

Sun hat (It is very windy on the island so one that has a tie is a good idea)

Blow dryer etc. (I don’t bother with any of this stuff on the island.  I just let my hair go crazy – and it does.  I wear a lot of head bands and scarves to keep my hair out of my face in the wind.)

Clothes

I typically pack the following for two weeks.

Three bathing suits, two beach cover ups

6 sun dresses, two pashminas, jean jacket (It can get a bit chilly in the evening so I carry one of these so I have something to slip over my shoulders)

2 pairs of shorts

4 t-shirts or tank tops

2 nighties

something light to through on when I get out of the shower.

One pair of long cotton pants and a hoody to wear on the plane.

Flip flops, one good pair of walking shoes.  Don’t bring anything with a heel, the sidewalks are cobblestone and you can kill yourself.

The restaurants are all pretty casual.  I like dresses as they keep me the coolest.  Remember you can always go see Hortenzia if you run out of things to wear.  She can whip up a light cotton dress for less than $20.00 in a day or two.

You can drop off a load of laundry at one of the many Laundromats and they will wash, dry and fold it for you for later that day.  It is a very affordable option and helps reduce what you need to pack.  Your clothes will come back smelling fantastic.  I wouldn’t recommend it for anything delicate.

Other things to consider

I scan my passport, bank card, travel insurance card etc and I keep a copy in the room safe.  Just in case I was to lose my stuff.

I put the address of the place I am staying inside my bag in case my bag goes missing it can be sent to where I am.

If you have a soft sided suitcase you might want to put the clothing in a garbage bag inside your suitcase as cases can get wet on the ferry ride over or on the airport tarmac.

Tag all your luggage even carry on.

I also bring

a laptop or iPod to check email

docking station with speakers to play music

digital camera with charger

baggies, cutting boards, containers for food preparation

laundry soap to wash out bathing suits etc.

Clorox wipes for cleaning up the kitchen area

Peanut butter and jam packets to have on fresh buns from the bakery

Tea, hot chocolate packages, salt and pepper, granola bars, homemade granola (to go with breakfast of fresh fruit and yogurt or for a late night treat.)

Bubble wrap and masking tape (to pack breakable things for the trip home)

Beer sleeve, cooler bag (I like to fix sandwiches in our room to take to the beach and a beer sleeve keeps my water or beer cold on a hot day)

I bring tea towels to do my own dishes (I don’t like leaving them for the maid as I don’t want to attract bugs) and a small hand towel to take to the beach in case I get really sweaty. I don’t pack towels as they take up a lot of room and the casa we stay in provides them.

Kath here to add a couple of things that I bring along:

I sometimes pack running shoes and school supplies to leave on the island. At one time WestJet let you take one of these bags for free.  I haven’t check this year’s status.

Pesos or failing that US money. There have been many ATM scams on the island so don’t depend on that. Avoid using credit cards except at Cancun airport.

A journal and a lots of paperback books that can be left in your hotel for someone else’s reading pleasure.

A beach umbrella. D gifted me with a great one that fits into a large suitcase. One hotel where I am staying provides back pack lawn chairs and the other is right on the Caribbean so we don’t even go to the beach.

A good waterproof sandal (like Merrels) to beachcomb and climb over rocky coral.

An insulated coffee mug (Contigo brand is my fave) because I like my coffee to stay hot as we watch the sunrise and I fill it with ice and water for my walk to the beach.

I pack more bathing suits and put one on as soon as I get out of my pjs.  Then I wear one of Hortenzia’s dresses over top and I am ready for anything the day throws at me.

Gravol, Imodium, polysporin, band aids because you just never know what may occur.

Kath’s quote: “29 more sleeps!”-me

Love never fails.

The Christmas season is upon us. As I speak Doug is roasting his 4th or 5th turkey for an event that he caters each year at this time. Our first Christmas of 2018 was in November celebrating with Doug’s co-workers at Petals West. He loves the hustle and bustle of his work and is already sourcing roses for Valentine’s Day!

My second Christmas was with my precious sisters earlier this week. We celebrated early because Kimberley and Michael are leaving soon for a six week visit in Australia to visit Danielle, Dylan and Dylan’s family. Our third Christmas will be Monday evening with the dinner that Doug is preparing for. At the end of the evening we light white tapers and sing Silent Night with the dinner guests.

We started the new year of 2018 in a flurry, taking down the Christmas tree on Boxing Day because we flew to Mesa, Arizona a day later. I went with Jer, Jen and the girls, Bekah and Seb and Grandma Jean. Doug and Kate arrived on the weekend.

Doug found us a great condo where a Christmas tree was still up when we arrived. The occasion was the wedding of Doug’s nephew Justin.  All the Grisims were together for a rehearsal dinner on Friday Dec 28th and then the beautiful wedding the following day. The venue reminded me of a Tuscan villa and not surprisingly the food was fabulous. The next evening Doug, his Mom and siblings with a couple of nephews and nieces thrown in for good measure celebrated New Year’s Eve together, an event that has not occurred in a very long time.

I arrived back home in enough time to throw a load of laundry in the washing machine and repack my suitcase because Doug and I were off to Portugal with good friends. Unfortunately the good friends did not make the trip due to unforeseen circumstances. In spite of missing them and feeling sheepish about it all, Doug and I had a wonderful time staying right on a beach in the Algarve.

We took an overnight trip to Seville, Spain but otherwise stayed along the southern coast.

The weather wasn’t tropical but it was pleasant and I am happy whenever I can walk along a beach.

We celebrated Doug’s birthday in late January and then Sebastian’s and Josie’s second birthday in February. Bekah’s May date came next with Jen and I following close behind. July brought Kate’s celebration as well as Isabelle’s, who turned five. Jeremy takes up the rear with a September birth date.

In May there will be another milestone to celebrate as Jer and Jen are rounding off their beautiful family with another baby at that time. We never tire of our role as grandparents. We adore the Wee Ones and find joy again in every little thing when we are with them.

Late February and early March was our annual sojurn to Isla Mujeres.

Along with lots of family and good friends we reconnect with each year, long-time friends Melinda and Richard spent most of a week with us and it was a special time.

When our traveling days were curtailed for the early spring, we focused on another wonderful blessing to our family. Doug and I drove back and forth to the lake meeting with a cottage renovator and hauling bead board and flooring in the back of Doug’s truck. By May long weekend we were able to set beds up and even though it is not yet finished, we felt luxurious with all the space and rooms and beds for everyone! I was also able to ask some girlfriends out for the occasional weekend.

We attended four wonderful weddings in the summer-two of them in the same family!

The first three were young members at our church and the fourth was that of our nephew Bronson.

Since I had been so sick the summer before, Doug gifted me with a summer do-over and I spent a couple of weeks all by myself out at Lester Beach. I cannot adequately express, how drawn I am to our special piece of heaven.

In August Kate and Doug flew to Toronto so that they could attend the Rogers Cup together. Kate’s fav tennis player didn’t make the finals but Doug’s Nadal did.

Come September, we had the traveling bug again and taking advantage of cheap flights out east, we visited Charlottetown PEI for our first time. Both the hospitality of a friend we met on Isla and the quaintness of the island ensures that we will visit again in the future.

Another trip to Toronto for the Food Bloggers Canada conference and extended stay with Richard and Melinda rounded out the fall. Thanksgiving was once again at the beautiful lake home of Kim and Michael.

The first weekend of November Bekah, Seb, Doug and I took a road trip to Minneapolis. Doug found us an Air BnB in a neighbourhood we loved and we explored many of the breweries and restaurants. Doug’s brother Jim and fam met us for breakfast and then Jim met us again that evening at Surly, a favourite Minneapolis Brewery. Bekah and I went to a Idina Menzel and Josh Groban concert and Doug and I took in a Vikings game. We not only had “nose bleed” seats, we were in the very top section in the very last row! Since then, it seems like Christmas preparations began soon after, which brings me full circle.

Going backwards for a moment, Kate graduated with her Masters Degree this spring and we used it as an excuse for a family party. Little Brown Jug where both Bekah and Jeremy are employed allowed us to throw the party there and it was a wonderful celebration.

Jeremy is head brewer at LBJ and acknowledges the blessing of being employed in a career which he loves. Wife Jen has launched her own business and is a certified pre- and post-natal fitness instructor. In some classes the participants carry their babies in a front carrier, soon Jen will look just like them! They love their little house in Wolseley where Belle’s school is a short walk away and the park where I used to take the kids when they were toddlers is just down their street. Isabelle is a beautiful, sensitive and kind wee one who adores her little sister. Josie is a character who loves to tell long animated stories and always goes for the big laugh just like her Daddy.

Bekah too loves her work as the General Manager of Little Brown Jug. Having gone to school for International Development Studies, she is surprised that she loves business the way she does. Sebastian’s workplace is in the same neighbourhood, he is on the front lines of Siloam Mission and has signed up for the Reserves! They too have a home in the west end and it is big enough for all of us and additional guests to stretch along one long table for this year’s Christmas dinner.

Kate is carefully considering her options for her career but is leaning towards a not-for-profit where she can serve the minority communities that she is so passionate about. The gang collects together at Life is Good (the name of our beach house) all summer and for Sunday suppers the rest of the year.

I am chugging along with my small business, always delighted when a new client approaches me. Each day holds a different set of tasks and I amazingly still absolutely love what I do.

Doug and I are still devoted to our neighbourhood church and we host a small group in our home, a couple of times a month. They too make up our family.

If you are reading this, you are important and loved by Doug and I and we can never adequately express the gratitude that we have for our many friends and enormous families. Peace and Christmas blessings to you all.

Kath’s quote: “God bless us everyone!“- Charles Dickens

Love never fails.

 

Coffee and the sunrise was not quite so sweet now that D had left, but beautiful none the less.

I got a text from D indicating that he hadn’t slept a single wink in the Minneapolis airport and he had to go in straight to work. I had a surprizingly good sleep, which never happens when he isn’t with me. I finished off the kitchen pantry supplies and had toast and peanut butter for breakfast.

I spent the rest of the day reading, journaling and then caught a cab to catch the 11:30 am ferry. This was my last sights from the sea. Au revoir Isla-I love you.

Kath’s quote: “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”-A.A. Milne (Winnie-the-Pooh)

Love never fails.

 

 

 

We were up for D’s final sunrise.

After we both did a bit of packing, we walked to Seso Loco for an amazing breakfast (see the photos and link here).

This is what friends for 30 years look like.

It was already time for good-byes for D, with the rest of the gang the previous evening and now with R & M. There is no sadness when we leave friends on the island though because we know that Isla will always be a part of our lives.

We ended up walking home because we couldn’t hail a cab. They were whizzing by full of locals heading to church and/or the beach.

D did a little bit more packing and then enjoyed a nap. When it was time for his departure we had trouble again hailing a cab but eventually managed to get one to stop for us.

I sat with the luggage while D tried to find something that he could eat for lunch/early supper. He ended up with a pina colada (which I finished) and a shrimp tostada. Then it was time for our traditional pouty faces and he was off.

When I returned home, I opened a beer and sat down by the airport strip sidewalk to wait for the sunset. it did not disappoint.

R & M made sure that I didn’t dine alone and invited me to join them. They loved our dinner at Basto Grill (see details and photos here). I went home to a drink of wine under the stars, even though it was not a sweet as when my husband is with me. Had the pleasure of reading for a long time in bed before it was lights out.

Kath’s quote: “Reading in bed can be heaven, assuming you can get just the right amount of light on the page and aren’t prone to spilling your coffee or cognac on the sheets. ”― Stephen King

Love never fails.

 

 

 

 

Up for another late sunrise and then a quick breakfast of yogurt, granola and fruit.

It was a big day for us because we had not really spent any time on the beach the previous week and we were renting chairs and an umbrella. We spent the entire day there. The gang joined us except for R & M who were spending the day with Isla friends.

It was also my last chance to get a pic with my siblings on the island. In the back is Bro #3, in the middle Sister #3 and short (and blond) me in the front. You may be able to tell that I resemble my Dad’s side and these two my Mom’s.

We headed home for showers and then came right back to spend some time on Playa Sol.

Our friend (dressmaker) Hortencia had invited us for her mole on the beach. When we are on the island we spend a lot of time with her and her wonderful extended family. They speak to us the best they can in English and we reply the best we can in Spanish. Somehow, where there is love, we are able to communicate just fine. I can share with you that Hortencia is a grandma again! We got word of the baby boy’s arrival via Facebook.

D and I snuck away just as the sun was setting so that we could enjoy our traditional progressive dinner (the details are here).

Kath’s quote: “Food tastes better by the sea”. – Authour Unknown

Love never fails.