Friday and it's cold, but sunny. Winter is trying to fight off spring for another day, but it will lose this battle. Six days from now we'll be on our connecting flight to a new destination - Belize. Julie had talked about Belize this year; cave tubing, seeing Mayan ruins, hearing the howler monkeys and simply seeing something different. It was supposed to be our last full family trip, but our sons have jobs and vacation time comes at a premium so 9 days away wasn't in the cards. With delays in a few significant deals, state hockey tournaments and national hockey tournaments, it almost didn't happen at all. Finally, with a couple of big things clearing I decided to look for possibilities. Flights were easy - accommodations - not so much. After scouring sites, emailing, chatting and calling, it was apparent that planning a trip two weeks out was, well, poor planning. Ready to give up I called a travel agent with Adventure Life and after convincing her that I really was looking for a trip in 2016, not 2017, she accepted the challenge with the caveat that I shouldn't expect too much. Several days later, through her hard work and probably some dumb luck, we had an adventure pieced together.
85 and sunny. The simple forecast that seems to prevail in Belize this time of year. Bug juice, 98% DEET - check. Tevas, quick dry shorts, swim suits, flashlights. It's the organizing phase of trip planning now. It's all about figuring out what to bring without looking like the Howells from Gilligan's Island. Do we need shots? Great, the girl's passports are expired. Photos, government applications, seventeen forms of official ids to prove the girls that look just like us do indeed belong to us. Who is going to feed Reg, Reginald when in proper company, our six-year old goldfish that seems to survive despite the chaos in our family. Dogs, cats, lizard - all critters who can't cook for themselves or flush a toilet. That's where the boys come in - it's nice to have them around in our absence to handle some of those sundries.
These six days will disappear all too quickly and we will be on our 5:05 am flight before we know it. Wait, 5:05 am, that means we need to get to the airport at 3:00 am. Who will get up then....boys!
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
5 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
6 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
1 week ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.