*this was originally sent out as an email to my newsletter*

You could feel the entirety of the plane roll their eyes as we made an emergency landing less than an hour into our flight to Montego Bay. 

Just 15 minutes into our flight, the pilot came on the loudspeaker in a muffled voice like he was confirming our order at McDonalds….skrshhhhh is there a skreeeessshh nurse on the plane?

A little bit after that we were taking the 30 minute detour to Charlotte to offload a sick passenger. Now before you think I’m a heartless person, this dude apparently had one too many drinks and we were all made to suffer the effects of his post Super Bowl inebriation. Yay us. I honestly don’t even know how he made it on board but whatevs….

This was especially annoying though because it was Noah’s very first plane ride. I seriously wasn’t sure how he’d handle having to sit down for hours at a time. Homeboy can’t even make it through a movie yet. I was meticulous in my planning and had a bag of snacks and activities ready to keep him occupied for the 3hr45m flight. Full blown Pinterest mom mode activated. 

Except now we just added an hour of flight time and even better…..2 HOURS waiting on the tarmac for a new flight log and replacement medical equipment. I started getting anxious because I didn’t prepare for this. The whole reason I bought a non-stop ticket so we could get there as fast as possible and not have to worry about layovers or delays switching planes. 

I prepared myself for the eventual toddler meltdown but to my surprise…it never happened.

Let me tell you friend, Noah was a champ..it was like he’d been traveling his whole life. When he asked me if we were in Jamaica, I told him we had to make a pitstop to drop someone off because they were sick and he took it in stride and asked for more plane snacks. When we finally took off again, he got just as excited as when we left Philly. I sat back and relaxed and thought about all of the other times I let myself get troubled when things weren’t as bad as they seemed. It’s a control issue really but I’m unpacking that in therapy…or will anyway…I gotta find a new one.  So, I made sure that for the rest of our vacation, I didn’t sweat the small stuff. 

The resort itself (Beaches Ocho Rios) was goorgeooouuusss but there were parts that were a bit well…tired. A few reviews and well meaning folks in my DMs mentioned this but honestly, it wasn’t enough to sour our trip. For example, the elevators had some peeling/bubbling paint and the tiles were a bit shoddy. If you looked close enough you could find plenty of spots that needed updating or some restoration but on the whole, the resort was perfect for us. And you know what?

The kids didn’t notice a single thing out of place. They had a blast and really that’s why we were there. I think if I focused on the little things or everything that went wrong, I could’ve have a totally different experience. 

I think a lot of times in life we fixate on the negative or the things that are out of our control when instead we should just be like Noah and roll with the punches. Easier said than done, I know..it’s an exercise in mindfulness really. 

I’m still editing our YouTube video vlog so if you haven’t subscribed to that channel you can do so here. There’s a whopping one video on that bad boy right now so you can see how invested I am over there right now lol. 

The best part of the trip: unlimited ice cream cones, the kids experiencing a different country and not having to worry about paying for food since it’s all inclusive.

The worst: being on my period all week. Seriously, someone remind me to check my calendar before I book another vacation. Worst timing ever. 

Are you headed anywhere fun this year?

ps….did you see the Dr. Suess drama on IG? I still haven’t heard back from the administrators smh….