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Reader,

Last week I was in Belize, specifically, San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. For my Madonna fans out there, you may recognize it as, “La Isla Bonita”. I know there are many parts to any country; look at the US for example. If you only went to Minnesota in January you may decide that the US is where the term, “when hell freezes over” came from. But during that same month, sunshine blankets the islands of Hawaii and Puerto Rico and you may think you’ve found Paradise. I’ve been to both and lived on one of those islands. Trust me when I say, “It’s not Paradise nor do they even want to be called American”, but I digress. My point is that one person’s dream can be another’s nightmare and picking a vacation destination is no different.

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Belize is one of the slo-o-o-o-o-o-west islands I have ever been to. Everyone drives golf carts, bicycles or four-wheelers. Now and again a minivan (taxi) will roll through. Hardly anyone wears shoes. Maybe because they lost one while driving. There were no signs of road kill but the obscene amounts of single flip flops on the road were enough to tell you you weren't in Kansas anymore.

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It is also the friendliest. I picked up my first hitchhiker in Belize. On my golf cart. I also met new friends from Texas who were in for one night (they were private pilots flying rich people around) and without hesitation, we all went out for dinner, again, with my golf cart. Another day we went to the local beach bar where we walked in on an adult birthday party complete with a pinata, singing "Happy Birthday" in English and they happily shared with us their German chocolate cake while my friend chatted with the locals about their animal rescue efforts.

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Even their marine life is friendly. I had the pleasure of swimming with sharks, stingrays, manatees and feeding tarpons without any issues.

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Well, mostly none.

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that's ALSO me!

No worries, I still have both hands to type! Fun was had by all that day even though our boat broke down in the middle of the ocean. For real. We just chilled waiting for the next boat to help. Some of us asked to jump in and swim some more while others soaked up the last of the sunshine and perfected our sunburn lines. In the end, we arrived back to shore safely with memories to last us awhile.

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For the winter season of 2023/24 there will be 60% more nonstop flights into Belize City than ever before! From there you can stay on the mainland and explore the jungle, ruins, and caves and partake in ziplining, tubing down the rapids and through the caves and climbing ancient pyramids, even visiting the zoo! If you want to explore one of the many islands or "cayes" then you can travel by ferry for a few dollars and about an hour ride or you can fly for no more than 13 minutes in a prop engine plane with about 10 others and less than $100. Personally, it's worth every penny, even the part where it gets bumpy and jumpy due to turbulence or when your seatmate Heavy D moves too fast to one side and things shift. I didn't even wear my seatbelt. The water looked ankle deep, so I figured if we went down, I'd want to be able to get out fast, not fumble with a seatbelt. Luckily, there was no need to panic, I just took tons of photos.

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There are many ways to stay in Belize but an all-inclusive is not one of them. There are plenty of guest houses, hotels and even condos to rent, but be careful. Anyone with enough cash to rent a place for a week could easily be persuaded to buy a place for a lifetime.

They say Belize is “unbelizable” and although I wouldn’t disagree, I would preface it by saying that it’s "unbelizable" for different reasons. Personally, I think if I was an avid diver, fisherman (can I still say that word in 2023?) or even a Pirate, I could see myself spending much more time in Belize. But for now, 7 nights was (dare I say it) too long! The people were nicer than Minnesota Nice, the weather was steamy and tropical, the mosquitos rivaled ours on a midsummer's night and simply said, it was nice to slow down and see so many smiles. Would I go back? Yes, definitely. But I would do it differently and now that I have gone, I can share with you what and why I would do it differently. And from there, you can decide if you are more comfortable with the land sharks or ocean sharks.

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So unless you are living under a rock or have simply been enjoying the 12 weeks of the year that nobody minds living in Northern Minnesota, you have more than likely heard the chatter regarding travel rules to Europe next year.

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Big deal. I have been getting these visas for clients for years now. The application is not live yet, and a launch date has not been announced, so.

I will share more details in another email. You know, in case they decide to retract, reverse or revamp the whole program like they've done with the CBI programs this past week.

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Who's ready to book a vacation? You know what to do -

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To the next stamp in your passport,

Jen Maki
Jennifer@MyDivineVacation.com
​www.MyDivineVacation.com​
218-723-8747