The waves were rolling in, the Mexican cokes were cold, and everything was perfect.

It was our first trip to Mexico. We had just paid off our first and only mortgage and we jumped on a cruise ship. That trip would be the first of many adventures we would conquer on our bucket list now that we were debt-free and mortgage-free.

I’ve never been the type who likes to talk about bucket lists. It seems like such a morbid topic. Originally, I called this list “Our Travel Goals” but I felt like that might be difficult for everyone to relate to. So, I changed the title to “Bucket List” so we’re all on the same page.

We are on the same page now, right?

I have had so much fun creating a bucket list over the years and I’ve had even more fun crossing things off the list! But, before we get into all of that, we need to go over a few things…

What is a Bucket List?

A bucket list is essentially a number of experiences or achievements a person wants to have in their lifetime. These things could range from places to visit, foods to try, educational achievements, etc.

Why did I create a Bucket List?

If you have read Big House in the Woods for very long at all, you know that we have been debt-free and mortgage-free since we were 25. That was way back in 2011, y’all. Since then, we have built our dream home debt-free and set out to cross many things off our bucket list while still saving for early retirement.

This is a list of everything we have dreamed about doing. Some of these things are small goals and some are quite lofty while some of them might just seem silly to you.

We have accomplished many of them already and I look forward to continuing on down the list!

What are the benefits of having a Bucket List?

There are many benefits to having a bucket list but, for me, the number one benefit is that it keeps me focused. Any time I feel sidetracked about my goals, I can look at our bucket list and refocus.

Now, to be clear, most of the things on this particular bucket list are travel related items. I have plenty of things on my personal bucket list that aren’t published here like: raising my kids to be good & responsible citizens, being the best wife and mother I can, becoming a better manager of my time, learning to control my anger, etc.

I say all of this so you don’t think I only live to travel. I don’t. I live for much more than that but traveling is a huge perk to our debt-free lifestyle.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about our bucket list!

Our Bucket List

1. Spend one month in the Cayman Islands

When I think about a tropical paradise, I think about the Cayman Islands. The first time I saw the Cayman Islands was back in 2014. The turquoise water took my breath away. It was gorgeous. We have been back several times, but someday I would like to live there for at least a month.

2. Travel to all 50 states in an RV

I can’t imagine living in the United States all of my life and never seeing all of it. I’ve already been to quite a few states but I hope to load my whole family up in an RV soon and travel to all 50 of them!

3. Buy a hand-woven basket in Mexico

This might seem like an odd item to have on a bucket list but I have always wanted to have a hand-crafted basket from someone who is highly skilled at making them. So, the first time we went to Mexico, I bought a beautiful hand-woven basket made by a local woman. It’s gorgeous, sturdy, and always reminds me of my first trip there.

4. Go on a trans-Atlantic cruise

If there is one thing I love, it’s being on a cruise ship but it seems like our trips are never long enough. One time, we even went on two cruises back-to-back. That means, when everyone else debarked, we stayed on and went again! Even then, the trip didn’t feel long enough.

So, one day I plan on booking a trans-Atlantic cruise. 14 days on the open sea? YES PLEASE! And instead of flying back home, we could just book another 14 day cruise back. A whole month at Sea. Ahhh….

5. Buy a camper and, well, go camping

What is it about camping that’s so alluring? There is something about the woods and fresh air that sounds wonderful. Well, we’ve done this twice. Our first camper was an absolute disaster. It was old, in need of a good cleaning, and an off shade of pink. So, we named it Pinky. We camped in it 3 times and I think I cried all three times. So we sold it.

Then, a couple years later, we bought another camper. We were smarter this time and bought one that was newer. After camping in it 4 times and being attacked my mosquitoes, ants, tree frogs, snakes, and floods, we sold it too. I finally decided that camping wasn’t my thing.

So, when it came time to build our dream house, we bought land in the woods. That way, I can enjoy everything the outdoors has to offer (campfires, UTV rides, long walks) but, when night falls, I can take a shower and sleep in my own bed!

Doesn’t it make you wonder why in the world I listed #2?

6. Swim with the Stingrays in Grand Cayman

This is a popular attraction in the Cayman Islands and something I wanted to do also. Well, I got my chance! We have actually swam with the stingrays twice. It was amazing and a little unsettling all at the same time.

7. Live in Portugal for a while

After a lot of research, The Man decided that we should one day live in Portugal for a while. I mean, why not? It’s beautiful, the food is amazing, the people are friendly, and it’s one of the safest places in Europe. Count me in!

8. RV through Canada

Unfortunately, I don’t know much about Canada outside of the Mountie on When Calls the Heart and the few things we learned from spending hours talking with a Canadian traveler on a cruise one night. So, what better way to learn than on an RV trip?

9. Go on as many cruises as possible

We are cruisers. It’s what we like to do. Caribbean views, awesome ports of call, amazing food, endless coffee, steel drum music, on-board water slides, movies under the stars, and a ship that rocks me to sleep every night. Oh, did I mention the food??

So far, we’ve been on 10 cruises and we can’t wait to go on the next one! We had a few hiccups while preparing for cruise #10 but we still had an amazing trip to Galveston and we met so many awesome people on the trip (as usual)!

10. Swim in all five Great Lakes and visit their islands

I’ve never seen the Great Lakes but I hope that changes one day. When I do see them, I plan on swimming in all five of them. It just sounds refreshing!

I also want to visit some of the islands in the Great Lakes. Did you know that there are over 35,000 islands scattered throughout the Great Lakes? Obviously, we won’t be visiting all 35,000 but I would like to see some of the most notable ones.

11. Live in a skoolie

Ok, y’all. Do you know what a skoolie is?

A school bus that has been purchased by a private owner and converted for some purpose other than hauling people around, such as RVing. Can be a very economical, cost-efficient means of obtaining an RV.

Urban Dictionary

I probably drive my husband crazy talking about this but the kids and I say that we HAVE to live in a skoolie one day! Maybe we can combine it with #10 & #2.

I love to look up images of skoolies online. Some people really make them gorgeous!

12. Eat cake donuts on top of Pikes Peak

So, there is a little gift shop on top of Pikes Peak and I remember eating a cake donut and drinking hot chocolate there on a vacation with my grandparents when I was young. I still remember what our booth looked like. That was the first cake donut I had ever eaten and I have never had another one that good. I can’t wait to go back. I have talked about this so much that my kids are craving cake donuts on top of Pikes Peak!

13. Spend a Fall in Maine

Spending a Fall in Maine just sounds like the ultimate Fall activity. White water rafting, fly fishing (I have no idea how to do that but I can learn!), road-tripping, hiking to Moxie Falls, ATV trail rides, moose sightings…the list goes on!

14. Tour Jamaica with a Local

Jamaica is so alluring, so tropical, so beautiful. It’s one of those “ultimate destinations.” So it had to make the list.

Well, we were able to cross this one off the list in 2014! We have been back several times since then and we’ve taken a submarine down to look at a sunken ship, toured a plantation, walked through historic churches, fed exotic birds from our hands, traveled all over the island with a local guide (his name was Lindsey!), shopped, swam, drank from coconuts on the beach…the list goes on.

15. Eat Hershey Kisses in Hershey, Pennsylvania

Ever since I taught my kids about Pennsylvania, they have wanted to go to Hershey and eat chocolate. So, we will!

16. Go see the White House

This just seems logical. I’m an American so I should go see the White House. Plus, I think it would be amazing!

17. Visit Ireland

Oh, Ireland. How you call to me every time I play my Irish Dreams cd.

18. Climb Mayan Ruins

When I was in school, I remember learning about the Mayans and the breathtaking structures they built and hoping I could one day visit them. That dream came true a few years back when we were in Costa Maya, Mexico. We took a long, hot bus ride to Chacchoben. It was so worth it.

First human settlements in the area of Chacchoben have been dated at around 1000BC. By 360AD Chacchoben had become the largest community in the region of the lakes and consolidated as the most prestigious ceremonial center boasting Gran Basamento as its most important ritual plaza.

Today, Temple One, soaring above the canopy of the tropical forest, still expresses the glory of Chacchoben’s ancient sophistication.

Chacchobenruins.com

19. Eat Authentic Mexican Food in Mexico

My daughter and I love to watch cooking shows. We don’t watch them often because we don’t watch much TV in general but every once in a while we’ll watch a cooking show on PBS. One of our favorites is Pati’s Mexican Table. She always makes us crave authentic Mexican food.

So, one time, before a trip to Cozumel, The Man researched until he found an amazing restaurant where we could enjoy some good, authentic Mexican food.

Just talking about it makes me hungry!

20. Visit all of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s homesites

I have read all of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House” series aloud to our family. I’ve even read all of her journals and any other material I can find about her!

I hope to see all of her homesites:
Pepin, Wisconsin
Independence, Kansas
Walnut Grove, Minnesota
Burr Oak, Iowa
De Smet, South Dakota
Mansfield, Missouri
Malone, New York
Spring Valley, Minnesota

It’s a long list but I’m sure we can make it happen when we’re traveling around the United States in our skoolie!

21. Hike in Roatan, Honduras

Roatán is an island in the Caribbean, about 65 kilometres (40 mi) off the northern coast of Honduras. It is located between the islands of Útila and Guanaja, and is the largest of the Bay Islands of Honduras.

The island rests on an exposed ancient coral reef, rising to about 270 metres (890 ft) above sea level. Located near the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the largest barrier reef in the Caribbean Sea (second largest worldwide after Australia’s Great Barrier Reef).

Wikipedia

If you’re going to go hiking, this is the place to do it. We crossed this item off our list a few years back when a local guide named Jeffery took us hiking. The view from the top was breath-taking.

22. Learn to make homemade soap

For so long, this seemed like something I only read about in books about the “old days” but I know people who make their own soap so I set out to learn also. Thankfully, we had a neighbor move in recently who knew how to make soap so she came over to teach me. I bought the equipment and ingredients I needed and it didn’t take long before I had two large loaves of homemade soap in my kitchen! Now, that’s all we use and it’s very satisfying.

It even turned into my first awkward YouTube video.

23. Horseback riding in Colorado

I did this as a kid on vacations with my grandparents. Every year, we would set out on a vacation to Colorado and we would always go on a trail ride. It was my favorite part of the vacation. I’ve told my kids about it so much that I’ve got them convinced that I’m a regular wrangler!

My dream is to take them horseback riding in Colorado just like I did when I was younger.

24. Go to a rodeo in Wyoming

Ok, this is another activity I was fortunate to do when I was young and now, every time the PBR comes on tv, I wish I was sitting in the open air watching a rodeo in Wyoming on a crisp summer evening.

I’ll go back. Just watch.

Important things to remember when making your bucket list

Big House in the Woods is all about helping you on your debt-free journey then enjoying the lifestyle afterward. So, when you’re creating a bucket list, it’s important to remember two things:

1. Add inexpensive things you can do while on your journey to becoming debt-free
2. Save all of the expensive things (like trips, etc) for when you pay off all of your debt. (These more expensive things will help motivate you!)

Just because it’s a “bucket list” doesn’t mean you should let it derail you from your goals. Becoming debt-free, mortgage-free, and financially free is your number one goal.

Cross things off your bucket list that won’t sidetrack you. Here some examples: hiking in an area near you, trying a new recipe that’s adventurous and out of the norm for you, go thrift shopping (but set a limit!), or plan a fantastic staycation.

How to Create a Bucket List

Many times when people think about a Bucket List, they immediately think about sky diving or ice skating on an iceberg. Ok, maybe not the iceberg thing but, if it was possible, it would be so much fun!

So, if you don’t write down skydiving, what do you write?

Well, I have good news for you. Sean over at Location Rebel has the absolute best guide to help you create your own bucket list. So, if you’re wondering how to create a bucket list, you can read his guide here. You won’t want to miss it.

Happy adventuring!
-Lindsey

The post 24 Bucket List Adventures We’re Trying to Conquer Since Becoming Debt-Free appeared first on Big House in the Woods.

We are debt-free

We have been debt-free since we were 25 years old. I paid off my student loans the first year after college. Then, when we were married, we paid off our first (and only) mortgage in 13 months.

Since then, we have acquired no more debt.

I think a lot of people who reach their debt-free goals have the question, “I’m debt-free. Now what?” Your big goal was to be debt-free and mortgage-free. What are you supposed to do when you reach that goal?

I will tell you what we have been doing!

Debt-Free, Now What?

We’ve been without debt for about 10 years now. Recently, I was asked, “Now that you have everything paid off, do you continue to live like you have been (“extreme saving mode”), or have you started spending now?

That’s a good question.

Are we still saving or have we become big spenders?

Do we sit around in the evenings and enjoy debt-free caviar or are we still boycotting cheese?

I’ll tell you…

We have loosened up a little.

We no longer live in “extreme mode” like we did while we were paying off our first and only mortgage.

For example, we buy cheese now.

We have also bought 10 acres in another part of the state, 5 wooded acres near The Man’s work, built our dream house (debt-free, of course), two UTVs (one for a single rider and one for the whole family), etc.

We also go out-to-eat when we feel like it (which isn’t often because we like to eat at home).

We no longer post a budget on the front of the fridge but we do pay attention to our spending and discuss things before we buy them.

We travel.

As of today, we have been on 10 cruises. We left on our first cruise immediately after paying off our mortgage back in 2011. We have been on 4 different cruise lines and, if you are interested, I can tell you which one was my favorite and why! We had a few hiccups while preparing for cruise #10 but we still had an amazing trip to Galveston and we met so many awesome people on the trip (as usual)!

We have swam with stingrays in the Cayman Islands, climbed Mayan Ruins in Mexico, enjoyed the Caribbean sun in Cozumel so many times, dined at a local restaurant in Jamaica, and hiked in Honduras (just to name a few).

We love to stay at B&Bs in Historic Homes when we travel. We also enjoy traveling around our state and visiting state parks.

We Invest.

We put money into our 401(K)s and IRAs. The best financial decision we can make is to allow our hard-earned money to grow interest on its own.

If you want to learn more about 401(k)s, Investopedia has a great article about Strategies to Maximize your 401(k).

Here are a few key takeaways to get you started:

401(k) plans typically offer mutual funds that range from conservative to aggressive.
Before choosing, consider your risk tolerance, age, and the amount you’ll need to retire.
Avoid funds with high fees.
Be sure to diversify your investments to mitigate risk.
At a minimum, contribute enough to maximize your employer’s match.
Once you have established a portfolio, monitor its performance and rebalance when necessary.

Investopedia

We Give.

Being out of debt means we have more money to give to our favorite charities and organizations.

When money was tight because we were putting as much as we could toward our mortgage, we gave what we could. Now that everything is paid for, we have the opportunity to bless others through our favorite charities and organizations.

If you are looking for a quality charity to give your money to, be sure to research them on Charity Navigator first to see how your money will be used.

Charity Navigator was launched in spring 2001 by John P. (Pat) Dugan, a wealthy pharmaceutical executive and philanthropist. The group’s mission was to help “…donors make informed giving decisions and enabling well-run charities to demonstrate their commitment to proper stewardship” of donor dollars. Initially, Charity Navigator provided financial ratings for 1,100 charities, and has data on 8,500 as of mid-2017.

Wikipedia

We Still Save.

Are we buying high-end watches, overpriced clothes, brand new cars, and paying a company to keep our land perfectly manicured?

No.

You know me better than that by now.

We are still savers. We still feel that most products out there haven’t earned our money and we won’t fork it over.

I love my cheap little Walmart watch. I think it looks good on me. I just wish I knew why the alarm goes off at 4:01 each afternoon…

We enjoy buying quality clothes at our favorite thrift store because that thrift store uses its profits to support families in need.

We buy used cars because, well, we aren’t suckers.

And, we do all of the “up-keep” on our land (which isn’t too bad because we prefer an “English garden” look where the wildflowers are abundant).

The average U.S. adult spends $1,497 per month on nonessential items, according to research commissioned by Ladder and conducted by OnePoll. All told, that’s roughly $18,000 a year on things we can all do without. And that’s a lot of money, considering the extent to which Americans are letting their savings and other critical goals fall by the wayside.

Motley Fool

We work hard for our money. (To be clear, The Man is the one who actually makes the money. I’m a homemaker so I don’t contribute monetarily to our family. But, as all homemakers know, I work hard, and “his” money is actually “our” money.)

Being debt-free and mortgage-free was never the end goal for us.

The end goal is much bigger…

We Plan to Retire Early (around 45-50)

Retiring early is very important to us.

We love the life we have right now and we have a list of things we want to do in the future as well. We would like to travel the United States like nomads (in a converted school bus, if I can convince The Man), live in Portugal, see what Ireland is like, spend a lot of time in one of our favorite spots…the list goes on.

If you’re serious about learning how to retire early, there are some things you need to do:

Determine what kind of lifestyle you want in retirement.

Create a mock retirement budget.

Evaluate your current financial situation.

Get serious about lifestyle changes.

Pour everything into investing.

Meet regularly with a financial advisor.

Play it smart when you retire early.

Dave Ramsey

We Created a Bucket List

After you pay off everything, and you’re looking for some adventure just consult your bucket list! Here is ours: 24 Bucket List Adventures We’re Trying to Conquer Since Becoming Debt-Free

What’s the takeaway?

So, even though we don’t live in “extreme mode” anymore, we haven’t become big spenders. We have loosened up a little but our views on money are the same.

We still value our money. 

That means that we think over all purchases before we make them. Products and services have to earn our money. And, let me tell you, it takes a lot to earn our money. We aren’t impressed by trends or the latest gadgets. We aren’t tempted by “stuff.”

We have a choice; we could have brand new cars, boats, UTVs, and other toys every year (and work until we’re 70) OR we could quit the rat race early (around 45-50).

I choose option #2.

The tendency to splurge consistently on nonessentials is causing Americans to skimp on other important items. Case in point: A good 38% of Americans claim they can’t afford to fund a retirement plan because they don’t have enough money. Meanwhile, 35% say they can’t afford a life insurance policy, 28% can’t afford to pay off credit card debt, and 26% can’t afford car repairs.
All of this spending on nonessentials is also causing Americans to neglect their near-term savings. An alarming 60% of U.S. adults don’t have enough money in savings to cover a $1,000 expense.

Motley Fool

We enjoyed the road to becoming debt-free and mortgage-free. We have also enjoyed the debt-free lifestyle afterward while still saving for the future.

We still swim upstream.

As always, feel free to leave me a comment. I love to hear from you.

All the best,
Lindsey

The post I’m Debt-Free, Now What? appeared first on Big House in the Woods.

I thought I would take a minute to share a few fun facts about me so you can get to know me even better.

Here goes…

1. Someday, I want to live in a school bus and travel the United States. I don’t know why but converting a school bus into an RV and living in it full time sounds like a blast! …even though I don’t like to camp.

2. I used to be a First Grade teacher.

3. After dating for 2 weeks, The Man and I knew we wanted to get married but we waited 4 months just so our parents wouldn’t flip out.

4. One winter, we lived in a small camper on 10 acres we own. We had a ton of fun but living in a camper, during the winter, is a little tough.

5. One time, we went on 5 cruises in one year…just because we could. Two of those cruises were “back-to-back.” That means, we took one cruise and when everyone else got off when the cruise was over, we stayed on a went again.

6. I love to weedeat. There’s something about the instant gratification of the grass being immediately short that makes me love it.

7. I’m a mediocre gardener but, for some reason, I keep trying. I even recorded a hilarious video about it one summer.

8. I want to spend a Fall in Maine. I have know idea what we’ll do but I’m sure it will involve maple syrup.

9. I homeschool our children. We even have a homeschool “classroom.” It’s my absolute favorite room in the house!

10. I can make the most amazing homemade hamburger buns and homemade mayo. Timothy says it beats a burger from Guy’s Burger Joint all to pieces. If you’ve ever had one of those burgers on a Carnival Cruise ship, then you know what he’s talking about. They are amazing! But he likes mine better.

11. I love to build things for my kids. I have built a huge doll house, a log crayon organizer, a car road table, a play kitchen…the list goes on.

12. We paid off our first and only mortgage in 13 months.

13. I love to look up at the sky because it makes me feel small.

14. My favorite meal is fajitas on the beach in Cozumel, Mexico. Every time we go to our favorite spot in Cozumel, that’s what I order.

15. I would love to RV through Canada.

16. Many years ago, we went through a fish tank phase and learned everything we could about being good fish owners. Then, we bought 5 fish tanks and had fish for over 2 years (and a few crabs that we rescued from the local big box store because they weren’t keeping them right). After that, I’ll never have fish again. It’s hard work to do it right!

17. The Man and I hope to live in Portugal one day. Sounds random , doesn’t it?

18. My favorite color is blue and I have painted something blue in every house we have ever owned. In our Dream House, our son’s bedroom ceiling is blue.

19. I learn best if I’m doodling while listening. That drove my college professors crazy! It could also have been because the smell of my markers was so nauseating after an hour of doodling through a lecture.

20. I can do pretty amazing graphic design work with Microsoft Word and my graphic designer husband rolls his eyes every time I say that.

21. I looove warm prune juice. Don’t you?

22. In elementary school, I would wear a dress on P.E. day so I wouldn’t have to participate. If you mention getting a game of kickball together…I’m gone.

23. When we go anywhere, I make announcements like a tour bus driver as we travel down the road. If I forget to do it, my husband and kids beg me to do it because they love it. They even ask me to do it when we ride in our UTV through our woods.

24. I’m terrible at grammar and punctuation…but, I’m sure you have figured that out by now.

25. I’m not tempted my fads or the latest trends. They don’t impress me much. You won’t find me on Tik-Tok and I don’t own skinny jeans.

You made it to the end!

I would love to hear about YOU! Feel free to leave me a comment with a fun fact about you!

Have a great day!
Lindsey

The post 25 Things You Don’t Know About Me And Probably Don’t Care To appeared first on Big House in the Woods.

The water was so turquoise that it almost didn’t look real. I was sitting on the top deck with the warm, salty air whipping across my face.

I still remember the way my two-year-old felt in my arms. She felt light and tiny; even in her life vest.

We were debt-free and crossing adventures off our Bucket List.

We were going to spend the day snorkeling, observing the starfish at Starfish Point, and swimming with the stingrays.

We were with Captain Mario on his yacht. He is the owner and operator of Acquarius Sea Tours in Grand Cayman.

It was our first time in the islands and we were so excited for our long, peaceful day ahead.

We went snorkeling first and it was nothing short of incredible.

Mario had a little raft for Baby Girl. So, she and I floated out in the Sound and gently rolled up and down with every wave. She never has liked water splashed in her face so after a few waves sprayed her, she decided she would rather do something else.

I did the first thing that came to mind. I started singing Blessed Assurance to her.

So, there we were…me and Baby Girl floating, rolling, and quietly singing Blessed Assurance in the North Sound in the Cayman Islands while Timothy snorkeled and told us about all the beautiful fish swimming just beneath our toes.

It was gorgeous.

*Is this sounding magical? Because that’s what I’m going for.

After that, we were on our way to phase two of our adventure: swimming with the stingrays at Sting Ray City.

Y’all. It was amazing.

At first, I was nervous because there were stingrays EVERYWHERE but Mario showed us how to do the “stingray shuffle” so we wouldn’t step on one. After that, I felt a little more confident.

Then, I got in the water.

Stingrays were swarming around us. They would brush up against us and swim through our legs. It was the craziest thing I had ever experienced.

Mario helped Timothy hold one of the stingrays and he had his picture taken while kissing it.

I ran my hand across the top of a stingray but I wasn’t about to kiss one! I loved how smooth and soft it felt.

We finished the day with the starfish at Starfish Point, eating pizza, and drinking punch.

That’s the best part about taking a small tour on a small yacht; you aren’t shoulder to shoulder with 50 other people. There were only about 12 of us.

Plus, you don’t get pizza and punch on larger tours.

Moments like that remind me that our debt-free journey was worth it. I could never have enjoyed my time in the Cayman Islands if I knew I was going to return home more in debt than when I left.

The grass really is greener on the other side…because it’s debt-free grass.

If you’re ever in the Cayman Islands, you should definitely swim with the stingrays.

If you want to go with Captain Mario, you can find him here.

Happy swimming!
Lindsey

P.S. Are you beginning you debt-free journey? I have an entire article about How to Become Debt-Free. You won’t want to miss it.

The post Swimming With Stingrays in the Cayman Islands appeared first on Big House in the Woods.

Over the years, we have landed upon a few favorite things to do in Cozumel.

When you are there, you won’t want to miss these things!

Here are the best things to do in Cozumel, Mexico:

1. Visit Chankanaab Adventure Beach Park

The first time we visited Chankanaab Park was in April of 2011. We were amazed at how quiet, beautiful, and big the park was.

We have been to other beach parks in Cozumel (like Palancar Beach) that were crowded with people fighting for beach chairs and they were playing Eye of the Tiger so loud that you couldn’t think straight. Those parks have beach chairs lined up four rows deep and if you get there too late, you have to look over rows and rows of heads just to see the ocean.

It’s not like that at Chankanaab Park!

Not once have I had to fight for a beach chair at Chankanaab!

Chankanaab Park has the BEST beach in Cozumel.

Chankanaab is located inside Cozumel’s National Reef Marine Park. It is one of those parks that has it all.

They have:

Sea lion show that is included in your admission
Manatee and Crocodile Exhibits
Swim with dolphin tours
Tequila tour
Massages on the beach (yes! It’s SO nice!)
Eco-archaeological tour
Amazing Snorkeling
Snuba
Zip-line
Hammocks on the beach
Beach chairs
Underwater statues
An inlet for swimming
Tropical garden
A playground for kids
Bathrooms & dressing rooms
Life vest rentals

And my all-time FAVORITE- a restaurant ON THE BEACH that will deliver your fajitas and drinks TO YOUR BEACH CHAIR!

While you are snorkeling at Chankanaab you will notice all of the underwater statues and the beautiful fish. We especially love watching the Stoplight Parrot Fish.

Here is our typical day at Chankanaab:

When we get to the Cozumel cruise port, we tell our cab driver to take us to Chankanaab. They take us straight to the entrance to the park where we pay for admission. Then we calmly stroll to the beach passed the sea lion show, the dolphins and the manatees.

When we get to the beach, we find our favorite beach chairs under a shady palapa.

Once we get settled in, a server from the restaurant on the beach strolls by and quietly asks us if we would like anything to eat or drink.

This is it. The moment I have been waiting for. We order chips, salsa, fajitas and Mexican cokes. All of the sudden, I’m in paradise.

I can close my eyes right now and feel the warm, Cozumel wind on my face and I can smell those wonderful fajitas!

After we enough the fajitas, we snorkel, soak up the salty air and catch the sea lion show. Timothy has even swam with the manatees!

If you want to check them out (and I know you do), you can find them here.

2. Restaurante Del Museo

If you are in Cozumel, DON’T miss this! This is the best restaurant in Cozumel (other than the one at Chankanaab Park)!

Timothy researches everything before we go on a trip and, one time, he found this restaurant in his searching.

What attracted us to Restaurante Del Museo was that it is located on the second floor of a museum and it overlooks the ocean.

When we arrived, we couldn’t believe the view. It’s a small, uncrowded restaurant with a view of the turquoise ocean.

The restaurant is open-air so you feel the warm, salty air while you eat.

And the food is AMAZING. Timothy and I ordered a sampler platter to share. We were a bit overwhelmed by the size of it. It was a lot of food for the price!

We had grilled chicken and beef with guacamole, chips, salsa, salad, fresh tomatoes, delicious cheese and anything else a person could fit on a platter. It was enormous and delicious.

While we ate and enjoyed the warm breeze, we watched fishermen bring their small fishing boats in with their catch. It was so fun to watch them.

It was a moment I will never forget. It was definitely worth the visit!

Restaurante Del Museo was the best kept secret in Cozumel until now!

You can check them out on Trip Advisor here.

3. Kaokao Chocolate Factory Tour

This was such a fun experience and I can’t wait to go back!

At this little chocolate factory, you learn the “bean to bar” chocolate making process.

After you have a fun, brief history lesson of Cacao and how the Mayans made “chocolhaa” (hot chocolate), you get hands-on and use a chocolate mill to make your own chocolate.

We still have the chocolate we made there that day! The sight of it takes us back to Cozumel each time.

There was a total of 6 of us on this tour and that included Timothy, our 3 year old and myself.

They keep the tours small which means you don’t get lost in the crowd!

After you make your own chocolate, you get to taste many different types of chocolate made at the chocolate factory. This part was a lot of fun…as you can imagine!

To be clear, their website says “This tour is not recommended for children under the age of 12, however they are accepted (regular fee apply).”

Our three-year-old was a quiet and obedient child. She did not disrupt anyone and she enjoyed helping us turn the chocolate mill.

I wouldn’t recommend this tour if your kids wouldn’t enjoy a calm, quiet lesson on making chocolate.

Chocolate Tour Includes (per their website):

• History of Cacao (Origins and trajectory until our time).
• Cacao in the world nowadays (varieties and production).
• Explanation about the Chocolate-making Process (from the tree to the bar).
• Make your own Chocolate Mexican disc from scratch (from the bean) to take home.
• Discover and taste the Mayan drink made in a traditional way in front of you with cacao beans and the original ingredients.
• Kaokao’s several chocolate samples.
• View our Chocolate making kitchens through windows.
• Wireless Internet.
• Cup of Mexican coffee, roasted locally.
• Purified water.

It is definitely worth taking a cab to the Kaokao Chocolate Factory!

Read more about them here.

Cozumel Island is one of our favorite places to be!

Cozumel has many perks. Chankanaab, Restaurante Del Museo, and Kaokao Chocolate Factory are definitely in our top three perks!

If you find yourself at the Cozumel cruise port or if you fly in, you won’t want to miss any of them while you are there.

If you have any questions or comments, just fill out the comment box below. I would love to hear from you!

All the best,
Lindsey

The post The Best Things To Do In Cozumel Mexico appeared first on Big House in the Woods.

So, now the question was, “What do we do now?” Obviously, we weren’t going to start blowing all our money because paying off debt was only PART of our goal. We also wanted to build up our savings and plan for early retirement.

However, after cutting costs and saving for so long, we wanted to live a little. Here are 4 things we did AFTER we became debt-free:

1. We went out to eat AND actually bought an appetizer

If you are on your debt-free journey, you know what a big deal this is. You don’t go out to eat when you are working hard to pay off debt and even if you did (maybe once a year for your birthday or anniversary) you most certainly don’t buy an appetizer.

Am I right?

So, when we mailed off that last mortgage payment, we went out to eat. Now, we didn’t go to some super fancy place either. We were on our way to spend the weekend with my in-laws and we stopped by Market Place on the way there.

We felt free, liberated, and happy. We ordered a huge appetizer, nice meals, and even sweet tea, y’all.

We had a blast! It was a fun celebration after all of our hard work.

2. We bought a hot tub

Yep. We sure did.

Buying a hot tub seemed like a luxurious thing to do. And it was. We bought a nice, new, but reasonably priced hot tub and put it out on our back deck. It was comfortable, pretty, and even had color changing lights to make evening soaking more fun.

After we put on some Reggae music, we were basically hanging out in Jamaica. It was a relaxing way to end our day.

3. We bought zoo passes

Don’t laugh.

Zoo passes are around $100 a year and when we were paying off our mortgage, that was almost a month’s worth of principal payments.

We decided to skip the zoo passes until our debt was paid. That’s something that a lot of people don’t understand. Every penny counts. How many people told us that we were being ridiculous because $100 a year for zoo passes isn’t that much?

Plenty.

But we stuck to our guns. When we said we were serious, we meant it.

We enjoyed that year (and many years since) at the zoo. Each trip was like a celebration of our accomplishments!

4. We went on our first cruise

Within weeks after mailing off that last mortgage payment, we left on the first of many Caribbean cruises.

For some reason, this seemed like the ultimate celebration after so long of saving and living frugally.

So, we found an awesome deal for a 5 day Carnival cruise and began our journey down to the Port of Galveston.

We were headed for Progreso, Yucatan, Mexico and Cozumel, Mexico.

The first time we saw that huge Carnival fin rising above the buildings in Galveston, we were completely energized. We stepped on that ship like two free birds. We were finally done with mailing off mortgage payments each month and we were ready to relax.

Once we sunk our toes in that Mexican sand, we didn’t have a care in the world.

I know for a fact that we wouldn’t have had as much fun if we still had debt hanging over our heads.

That freeing feeling wouldn’t have been there because we would have had to face the bills in our mailbox once we got back.

We knew all our hard work was worth it and it made that vacation so much sweeter.

5. We bought cheese again

If you have been reading Big House in the Woods for very long at all, you know that I talk about “smart grocery shopping” as one of the main ways we saved money to pay off our debt.

We didn’t buy anything at the grocery store that wasn’t necessary (like soft drinks, chips, etc.) and we also didn’t buy any food that we thought was expensive.

Expensive foods included things like meat, some types of fruit, out-of-season avocados, and cheese.

Living without cheese was like living without sunshine. I know it sounds a little silly but we were cutting back TREMENDOUSLY so we could pay off our house quickly.

Cheese just had to go.

On the next grocery shopping trip after paying off our mortgage, we bought cheese. And not just any cheese. We went to the specialty section in the deli and got some expensive, smelly cheese.

It was wonderful.

We savored it and reflected on our accomplishments.

Was it worth it?

Yes.

All of the cutting back was worth it. We had paid off our mortgage which meant we had no more debt. We didn’t owe for anything anymore.  

The delayed gratification paid off.

We had told ourselves “no” to many things. We had rented free movies from the library, we had only visited the zoo on “Dollar Day”, and we hadn’t been out to eat in a year.

I have to say here that we also had a lot of fun. We didn’t walk around with sad faces. We had a blast!

Saving money and being frugal had become a game for us.

We are still very frugal now. However, we do buy cheese, go on vacations, we get zoo passes when we want, and we go out to eat every once in a while when we convince ourselves that we actually feel like leaving our Big House in the Woods.

But we only do those things now that we are out of debt.

What about you?

How did you celebrate?

Leave me a comment!
-Lindsey

The post 5 Things We Did AFTER We Became Debt-Free appeared first on Big House in the Woods.

“Why?”, you might ask. Because, as her name insinuates, she was pink; an odd shade of pink. She was probably a 1970s model and she had a mustard yellow stove inside. We were debt-free and looking for adventure.

Apparently, she was originally white; then, some bright person gave her a half-rate coat of brownish paint that had pink undertones. They didn’t even use a paint sprayer. You could see the brush strokes on the exterior. It was a terrible job.

The bathroom was one of those super tiny camper bathrooms. The kind where the toilet gets wet when you shower. I never showered in it because I couldn’t stomach the thought of showering with the toilet between my feet.

The light in the shower was quite beautiful. At some point, the original light fixture had fallen off so the previous owner replaced it with a plastic souvenir cup. From here on, we will refer to this as “Cup A.” Well, Cup A was not glued on. It was held in place by an identical cup we will refer to as “Cup B.” Picture this with me. Cup A was over the light bulb while Cup B was wedged between Cup A and the shampoo shelf in the shower. This was a pretty good set-up….until you moved the camper (which is kind of the point of a camper)!

The previous owners had found the camper on the side of the road. I’m not even kidding. They brought this jewel home and gave it a makeover. The cup in the shower was part of the makeover as were all the curtains in the interior. They took down all the old curtains and replaced them with washcloths, hand towels, and bath towels they bought at Walmart. Oh, yes, you read that right. They used cafe-style clips and rods to secure washcloths to cover the smallest windows, hand towels to cover the medium windows, and bath towels to cover the biggest windows. It wasn’t too bad. At least they were cleaner than the old curtains! As a plus, if you forgot your bath towel, you could just take down a curtain.

Also, there was something wrong with the plumbing pipes on the underside of the camper. So, the previous owners replaced them. They did a pretty good job except this now meant that the pipes were literally only about 6 inches off the ground. I don’t know how they ever went anywhere in it. Once we got it home, we realized that we were going to be in trouble if we ever went over a speed bump!

I know what you’re thinking. “Game over. You can’t camp in this thing! You can’t even pull it without knocking all the plumbing out from under the camper!” That is where you’re wrong.

Enter: Timothy.

He did a little research and came up with a creative solution. We’ll just get the camper lifted! You know how some guys get their trucks lifted so they look taller and beefier? That’s what I’m talking about. We did that to our 1970s camper.

Timothy found a place not too far from where we lived who would do it. The idea was that they would flip the springs over so that they would be connected to the top side of the axle instead of the bottom side. That would give us at least four extra inches of clearance. So, we pulled her over to the place and left her for her lift.

They probably thought we were the craziest people they had ever seen. Who gets a pink 1970s camper lifted? Who even WANTS a 1970s camper? Especially a pink one! All I can say is, they were getting paid so they didn’t really care what they were doing.

After we got her lifted, we were good to go. We took her to the lake one weekend for a nice trip. We felt like pioneers. This was going to be great. We had left the city and our 1/6th of an acre behind to get some fresh air.

Pulling her down there was not fun. We quickly discovered that since she only had one axle and she weighed as much as 16 elephants, she made Timothy’s truck bounce all the way down the interstate. Picture it with me. There we were doing about 50 mph in the slow lane in Timothy’s single cab truck with this old, pink camper beating us up the whole way. “We’ll just get weight distribution bars. No big deal,” he said.

We got to the campground and got her parked. It was fantastic. The camper looked so cute…after dark. We went for a walk at dusk and admired how much better our camper was than everyone else’s. Theirs were modern with all the bells and whistles so bland and conformist. They all lacked personality. It was like being in one of those new neighborhoods where the builder only used 5 house plans to build 100 houses. It’s just the same houses over and over. That’s what it seemed like at the campground. Ours was like that cute little craftsman house with charm and personality. We walked back to our little jewel in our dreamy state… then the crying started.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself, it’s that I can handle just about anything during the day but once night falls, I need some decent accommodations. I need a shower, a clean bed, and a decent place to sit. Call me high maintenance. I don’t care. I have standards.

It was hot, humid and I just wanted a shower. I thought I could handle it, but I just couldn’t. I could NOT make myself shower with the toilet. So, there I was, standing in the camper crying my eyes out. Timothy had a look of terror on his face (the same look he gets every time I cry because he has absolutely NO idea what to do). He was saying, “It’s ok! We’ll go to the shower house in the morning! Just wipe down with a rag for now!”

So, why did we buy this little gem, you ask? Because we had just paid off our first house at warp speed and we were saving for our next step which was a little better house in a little better neighborhood.

We were living on 1/6th of an acre between a lady who laid out in the front yard to get a tan (when she really shouldn’t have..if you know what I mean) and a guy who must have had ESP because he yelled over the fence at us EVERY. TIME. WE. WALKED. OUT. BACK.

We needed some fresh air. We needed to see some trees.

And it was cheap.

We took it out about three times then found some sucker guy who wanted to buy it to take to the deer woods. It was perfect for the deer woods.

We learned something that summer.

1- Never buy a camper in the dark.

2- Sometimes cheap isn’t always best. Sometimes it’s better to just not have it at all.

We didn’t want to spend much money because we had a goal in mind for our future. We were saving to buy house #2 with cash.

So, we would probably have been better off to just rent a little cabin a couple of times that summer instead of dealing with that headache. (Timothy used to go outside in the rain to see where water was leaking into the camper. I don’t know how many times I looked outside and saw only his legs sticking out from under the tarp that was covering the camper because he was checking to make sure nothing had gone wrong.)

Or would we have been better off? We do have tons of memories and a whole lot of laughs…now.

It wasn’t that funny then…

Ha! All the best,
Lindsey

The post Once upon a time, we had a camper named Pinky… appeared first on Big House in the Woods.

We have been on 10 cruises and I’m still amazed every time with the awesome people we meet when we travel. We went on our first cruise back in April of 2011 on the Carnival Ecstasy after we paid off our first and only mortgage.

I talk a little more about that in this post:

On that first cruise, I remember staying up until the wee hours of the morning talking with a couple we had met. They spotted us and started a conversation with us because they thought we were “different.” We were in our 20s, on a cruise, and not hanging out at the bar. We had so much fun talking with them.

We also met incredible waiters in the dining room who would share stories about their families and the countries they were from. I never tire of hearing stories from other places.

Our first cruise was so fun that we decided to do it again…6 months later…on the Carnival Ecstasy again. The second time around, I was pregnant with our first child and I had also decided to cut my long hair off all the way to my shoulders. The first night back on the Ecstasy, we walked into the dining room and the hostess said, “Nice to see you again! Did you get your hair cut?”

I was blown away. Not only had she not seen me in six months but she had seen THOUSANDS of other people in those six months!

Several cruises later, we were on the Carnival Fantasy with two kids and one on the way. We met an awesome couple from Alabama named Bob and Betty. Bob was so full of jokes and stories that may or may not be true that my kids started calling him “No Bob” because after every story he told I would say, “Noooo…Bob?” in a skeptical tone. My kids started thinking that was his name! They became like grandparents to our kids that week. I still remember swimming with them in Roatan, Honduras.

Thankfully, we thought to exchange email addresses. We still keep up with each other today! One day, I’ll head on over to Alabama to hug them again.

**Bob, the kids STILL play with those flashlights you gave them!

Our most recent cruise was September 2019 on Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas. It was our 10^th cruise for our 10^th wedding anniversary. Our oldest two children were staying with their grandparents and we were taking the baby with us. She was going to celebrate her first birthday in Jamaica!

I told you about how we stayed in Galveston the night before our cruise at a cool little place called the Kwik Kabana.

We consider it a privilege to have met the owner of the Kwik Kabana. Her name is Jamie and she’s a hoot! I truly feel like we have a friend in Galveston now! I’m glad we met her and I hope we get to stay with her again! And the next time, I’m going to take her up on her offer to borrow her boogie board.

On the ship, we always stayed up way too late every night and had a ton of fun. I would wear the baby in my front pack in the evenings and that’s where she slept from around 8 p.m. until we decided to go to bed at midnight. I loved having her snuggled up to me while she slept. There’s nothing like having pizza and coffee at midnight while a sweet little baby sleeps in your front pack. But….I digress….

One night, we stood out on the deck and talked with a man named Mike from Canada for probably two hours. We shared stories, laughed, and watched the harvest moon rise over the ocean. (As a side note, the moon was so big, so bright, and SO orange (and partly covered by clouds) as it came over the horizon that we actually thought a ship was on fire in the distance!))

Several nights at dinner, we were seated next to a very nice couple named Drew and Janet from Texas. Janet was the only person on the ship that Tiny would smile for. After the first night sitting next to them at dinner, we always hoped that we would have the privilege of being seated next to them again. And we were! They told us all about their grandchildren and they enjoyed the pictures I showed them of our other two children. They are funny and friendly people and they made our dinners special. Just recently, Janet sent me pictures of their beautiful grandchildren in their Christmas pajamas.

It’s a blessing to meet such great people on our trips. It’s also so unexpected! We don’t set out to meet people. We set out to have a break from normal life, eat good food, and enjoy the Caribbean.

However, the people we meet are always such a blessing and they make the places we go so much more enjoyable.

We miss you Bob & Betty and Drew & Janet!!

And…Dear Mike from Canada, we all forgot to exchange email addresses but if you ever remember my blog and read this…we miss you too!

**Remember to follow Big House in the Woods on Facebook so you will never miss a beat!

The post 10th Anniversary Cruise Part IV: The Places We Go and the People We Meet appeared first on Big House in the Woods.

This cruise was going to be on Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas out of Galveston, TX. If you have sailed much, you know that cruise lines divide their ships into “classes.” The Liberty of the Seas is part of the Freedom class and has been sailing since May 2007. She has 15 decks and can carry 3,634 passengers and 1,360 crew. In 2007, the Liberty of the Seas and her sister ship the Freedom of the Seas were the largest cruise ships ever built. They are like floating cities.

The first time I ever saw a cruise ship up close, I was amazed. It still baffles me how they can even float! Our first ever cruise was on the Carnival Ecstasy. I was completely blown away by the size of that ship but it is actually one of the smallest ships in the fleet! It is also one of the oldest. (It launched in 1991) In fact, Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas can carry exactly 1,000 more passengers and 440 additional crew members than the Carnival Ecstasy. (*Side note: Carnival also has very large ships too.)

Anyway…

After our awesome stay in Galveston, our VRBO host took us to the cruise ship terminal to board.

*You can read about our AWESOME VRBO stay at the Kwik Kabana and our fun on Galveston Island here:

We were told that upon entering the cruise ship terminal we were going to have to wait a few hours before we would be allowed to board the ship. The Man who was hangry and quite impatient at the time decided to try to find something decent to eat from the vending machine even though I told him he should just wait. After much deliberation, he decided to buy a little package of cookies. As soon as he got the cookies out of the machine, they called our number to board. I told him so. There he was, boarding an all-you-can-eat cruise ship with his little package of over-priced cookies!

On the outside, the Liberty of the Seas reminded us of the other ships we have been on. For the most part, they are all very similar. However, the inside was VERY different. We LOVED how the promenade deck was an open three stories down the center of the ship. It reminded me of what it might be like to stroll down a cozy street in a cute European town.

Isn’t this beautiful?

True to tradition, the first thing we did when we got on board was eat. After all, you almost always board around lunch time! As soon as you board, the buffet is always open and waiting for you. The buffet is on the aft of the Liberty of the Seas and it’s completely surrounded by floor to ceiling windows. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Barbecue chicken, roasted vegetables, mac and cheese with a view of Galveston Island? That makes for a perfect start to an awesome trip.

After we had lunch, it was time for muster station drills. Now, there’s just something fun about muster station drills. In case you don’t know, this is the time that they explain to you what to do in an emergency. Like where to meet, how to board the life boats, and where to pick up your children if you leave them in child care. These instructions must be taken seriously and I always make sure I pay attention. But the fun part to me is that it’s a reminder that we are about to embark on an adventure!

Just a quick FYI here: Some people wear their swim suits under their clothes on boarding day so they will be ready to jump in the pool as soon as they get on the ship. If you do that, please don’t wear your wet swim suit to your muster station drill. You will be asked to go put your clothes back on. I won’t roll my eyes or mention that this was done by unsupervised teenagers.

We had it planned that if we went straight for the pizza place after muster station drills then we could beat the rush. You’ve never seen two adults and a baby get to a pizza place faster! And we were right. We beat the rush. Victory!

The pizza place on the Liberty of the Seas is amazing. Now, the pizza was just as wonderful as the pizza we’ve had on all the other cruise lines, but the difference was in the atmosphere. Royal Caribbean knows how to design an awesome pizza place!

I felt like I was sitting in a little, local pizza joint.

One of my favorite things about cruising are the people we meet. Well, while we were eating our pizza, we were sitting beside several tables of people with the same colored shirts on. As it turned out, it was a group of 30 family members all traveling together from Mexico! They ran a funeral home in central Mexico (which explains why the back of the grandfather’s shirt said, “I see dead people.”?)

Before we knew it, our stateroom was ready and we were headed over there to settle in. Previously, the Liberty of the Seas had a jogging track on one of the upper decks that went the full length of the ship. However, they enclosed the part of the track that went around the spa area and made it into brand new cabins. Our cabin was one of those and it was gorgeous! We loved how we could walk just a few feet out of our cabin and be outside on an upper deck.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the ship. Then, before we knew it, it was time for dinner in the dining room…

…and an Eagles game on the big screen by the pool.

To end the afternoon, we watched the Welcome Aboard Parade on the Promenade deck.

Around 8 p.m. each evening, I would change the baby and get her dressed for bed. Then, I would wear her in my front pack baby carrier while she slept.

My carrier is like this one:

Infantino Sash Wrap and Tie Baby Carrier

When we cruise, The Man and I like to stay up late. I knew before we left that I was going to need a game plan so the baby could sleep while we stayed up until midnight each night. At that time, she was only 12 months old and she liked to go to bed around 8 p.m. There was no way I was going to go to bed at 8 p.m. each evening so I thought wearing her in the baby carrier would work out great… and I was right!

Tiny LOVED being carried for hours each evening. And I loved being able to hold her close and still enjoy the ship.

Wow! After typing this all out, I feel like we did so much and this was just boarding day!

In case you missed the first two stories of this trip, you can catch up here:

And here:

The post 10th Anniversary Cruise Part III: Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas appeared first on Big House in the Woods.

Read: Saga of the Missing Birth Certificate

The plan was that Miss G and Little Man would stay with my in-laws. My in-laws are two awesome people who are full of energy, God-fearing, and willing to keep two little people entertained for 10 days. When we asked if they would be willing to keep 2/3 of our children while we went on our anniversary trip, they didn’t hesitate to say yes. That’s something I love about those two. They never hesitate. They are always up for some fun….especially with our kids.

On departure day, after probably an hour of making sure the stove wasn’t on, the microwave wasn’t plugged up, all the doors were locked, the water was shut off to the house, the stove wasn’t on, the kitchen was clean, nothing was left to spoil in the refrigerator, the stove wasn’t on, all the windows were closed, the curtains were pulled shut, the trash was taken out, the stove wasn’t on….we all piled into the truck and headed South to meet up with my in-laws.

We drove for about an hour and a half then we arrived at the planned meeting place where my in-laws were waiting. We visited for a while then handed over Miss G, Little Man, and their clothes. We also reiterated for the tenth time our fears about leaving the kids.

The truth is, we don’t like to leave our kids. Ever. We are one happy family that likes to stick together. We love our kids. We school our kids. We spend all the time we can with our kids. And we are happy with that. We are MORE than happy with that. We are over the moon about that! So, leaving two of them behind for 10 days was a BIG DEAL. That’s just not what we normally do. I’m getting sad and teary eyed just writing about it and it’s already over!

However, this cruise was going to be our 10th anniversary trip and we wanted to spend some quiet time together. We took Tiny with us because she was almost one year old and definitely not old enough to leave behind. Plus, we were going to celebrate her first birthday in Jamaica! But we would still have a quiet trip because Tiny doesn’t talk yet, ask a billion questions, say, “Hey Mama” or “Watch this Mama” every 5 seconds.

After we dropped off the kids, we headed further South to our hotel in Texarkana, TX. From there, we would catch a train to Longview, Texas then finally a bus that would take us the rest of the way to Galveston.

We were pretty tired when we got to our hotel that night. So, we decided to eat at the hotel restaurant. We should have learned our lesson years ago when we had a terrible experience at a hotel restaurant but we didn’t. We gave it a try again.

Us and a Bad Hotel

Maybe it’s a bad sign when there are only about 6 people (including the three of us) in the restaurant and the manager’s friends are volunteering to wait tables because they have no staff. We should have walked out then but we didn’t.

Maybe it’s a bad sign when the chicken strips you want come with two sides of vegetables but the only vegetables to choose from are fried onion rings and french fries.

Maybe it’s a bad sign when it takes 20 minutes to place your order even though the place is basically empty.

It was very late and we were too tired to leave. They had a captive audience which, I guess, is the whole point of a hotel restaurant.

The food turned out to be ok and we had a decent time. We paid our bill and headed up to our room to get some sleep. It was around midnight before we finally got settled in and ready for bed. We needed to get to sleep fast because we had to be up by 4:00 a.m. to catch the shuttle and get to the train station.

That’s when the fun started. Tiny has grown accustomed to her own room with her own bed and her own sound machine. She can cry a little before she falls asleep and she bothers no one. However, that all changes when she is sharing a hotel room with us. I know it’s difficult for babies to get used to sleeping in new places so I took that into consideration while we were laying as still as a mummies in the bed and using the rolling office chair as a shield so she couldn’t see us while she was crying herself to sleep.

I thought if I turned out all the lights, made no noise, put her in bed, and acted like everything was normal, I might trick her and she would go to sleep just like she does at home. Nope.

After The Man and I hid in the bed behind the rolling office chair for about ten minutes, I realized she just wasn’t going to go to sleep. She knew we were there. That little Tiny is a smart one.

By that time, it was about 1:00 a.m. and we had to be up in 3 hours. So, I picked her up and patted her to sleep as I walked around the room in the dark. Once I got her to sleep, I knew there was no way I could put her down again or she would wake up. We all really needed some sleep so the only sensible thing to do was prop myself up in bed and try to sleep while holding her. Sounds like a good idea, right? I was going to take one for the team.

It was at that time that I thought this whole trip might have been a really bad idea. Here we were in a hotel room with a baby that hasn’t ever been far from home. We had many more nights ahead of us in hotels and on a cruise ship and there was no turning back. If she decided she just couldn’t sleep away from home, we were in for a really looooong trip.

After I managed to prop myself up in the bed (against a wood headboard) while still holding the baby, I fell asleep too. About an hour later, she started squirming because she was getting uncomfortable and hot. So, I carefully got up and managed to gently slip her into her own bed without even waking her up. I held my breath and quietly snuck back to my bed.

Success.

She didn’t wake up. I had 2 hours to catch some quick sleep before we had to be up and ready to get board the train.

I love a train ride!

The next morning, A couple hours later, we were up, packed and ready to head to the train station.

Riding the train to the port is one of my favorite parts of the trip for several reasons:

1.It’s just fun to ride on a train.
2. It’s surprisingly inexpensive to get to Galveston from Arkansas on the train (about $150 for 2 people ROUND TRIP).
3. It’s just fun to ride on a train.
4. It’s nice to be able to catch a nap if you need to! And we needed to.

After we got on the train, we tried to rest a while. Then, by 7 a.m., we had breakfast in the dining car.

Before we knew it, we were in Galveston, TX! I just love Galveston. I love how it’s not full of high-rise buildings. It’s small, quaint, and lovely. The beach is pretty and the restaurants are tasty.

Where to stay in Galveston, Texas

We stayed at this cute place called the Kwik Kabana. The Man found it on VRBO.com. Jamie (the owner) graciously picked us up from the train station and delivered us to this lovely, 2-room, home away from home. She offered us the use of her beach chairs and boogie boards and pointed us toward the beach. As it turned out, the Kwik Kabana is within walking distance of the beach! It was also right around the corner from Mr. Taco, Nick’s, and lots of other cool places.

I’m going to give the Kwik Kabana a quick plug. Jamie doesn’t even know I’m doing this. I just REALLY think you should check it out if you’re down there.

It’s small and perfect. I expected it to be one room (like a hotel). At some point, The Man told me it wasn’t but I probably wasn’t listening forgot. It had a living room and a bedroom (and a bathroom (obviously) which turned out to be just perfect for traveling with a baby. Tiny could nap in the bedroom and we still had a living room to ourselves. Jamie has a “make yourself at home, please tell me if you need anything, here’s my WiFi password” kind of attitude.

Don’t miss this in Galveston!

We walked to Nick’s for dinner and Mr. Taco for an awesome dessert. We stayed out late enjoying the beach at night then we got an awesome night’s sleep.

The next morning, Jamie took us to the cruise ship and gave us a little history of Galveston on the way.

What’s next? A beautiful cruise ship, the Caribbean, beach, fun, sting rays, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Cozumel, fajitas on the beach, sunsets, on and on and on…..

Stay tuned!

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The post 10th Anniversary Cruise Part II: Train, Bus, Galveston TX appeared first on Big House in the Woods.