 January is coming to a close and by this time of the year most of our New Year's resolutions have been forgotten. Personally, I didn't even set any resolutions for myself this year. For me, they always feel like things I "should" do because I'm forcing myself into them, not because I want to do them. This year I made it a point to avoid resolutions and just ask myself this question every day: "what would feel good today?" Some days I decide to be lazy or have a low-key day. On those days I might stay in pajamas all day and spend most of my free time reading or watching TV. Other days, I decide that it would feel good to be productive. This might mean getting some cleaning done around my apartment or possibly getting in some type of physical activity. Today, for example, I ended up doing a Zumba workout in my living room using a new DVD I just bought. Even though the workout only lasted for 25 minutes, it was still something, which is always better than nothing. I've noticed that by taking the pressure off myself to workout for 'X number' of days a week, I'm actually enjoying exercise more. I look forward to moving my body, even if it's just some simple squats and lunges or some easy stretching. And even though I have free access to a brand new gym in my apartment clubhouse, I still usually end up working out at home. The last time I went to the gym there were a ton of people there (probably working on those New Year's resolutions) and it felt overwhelming. I walked in the door and felt like every head turned in my direction. Looking back, I know that this was just my imagination simply because I felt self-conscious about being in the gym. It had been weeks since I'd been there and I felt like I was walking into a foreign country where I didn't speak the language. I even tried to do an internal pep talk about how I should be proud of myself for being at the gym, regardless of how out of shape I might be or how much of a newbie I might look like. And I definitely reminded myself that it doesn't matter what other people think of me. Still though, it was a very real moment where I felt unsure of myself and felt self-conscious about whether I "belonged". Thankfully, I'm not alone and I'm sure there are many of you out there who have had the exact same experience. To help, Aaptiv sent me a graphic that I'd like to share with you. It gives some great advice on ways to overcome gym intimidation. You can also check out their original article here.  Picture Credit: Aaptiv Let me know what you think in the comments and stay tuned for an upcoming blog post about my new favorite treat: detox baths.
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 My sixth cruise is officially booked and the countdown has already begun! It's been almost a year since my last cruise, so I decided to take a look at Royal Caribbean's website to see if I could find any upcoming cruises that I might want to book. Originally, I was thinking I'd do a cruise later in the year, but I quickly realized that cruising in the summer is a lot more expensive because so many families take their family vacation when the kids are out of school. It ended up making more sense to book a cruise for the end of April, which is when I've sailed on 3 out of 5 cruises so far. Thanks to a very helpful customer service rep at Royal Caribbean, Chris, I was able to find a great deal on a 6-night Western Caribbean cruise. I'll be sailing on Freedom of the Seas, which is a sister ship of the first ship I ever cruised on, Liberty of the Seas. If you'd like to go check out my trip report from that cruise, you can start here. Or, if you'd like to see all cruise related posts, you can click the Cruise category on the right side of this page. Also, I made a YouTube video from my first cruise, so you can check that out here: Quick side note: I do plan on writing an updated tips & tricks blog post now that I've been on a few more cruises. Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions or if there's anything specific you'd like me to cover. And now, let's get into the details for this next cruise! Like I said, it's a 6-night cruise and it's going to the Western Caribbean. I have been in this area before, but we're actually going to 2 ports I've never visited, so I'm really excited to see some new places! Here's a map of where we'll be going:  This is my itinerary:
I originally debated flying in the day of the cruise and saving myself the cost of a hotel room the night before, but I've heard too many horror stories of people missing their cruises because of flight delays, so I decided to be safe and come in the night before. The 2 ports I've never been to are Grand Cayman and Costa Maya. I've been wanting to go to Grand Cayman for a long time, so I'm extra excited about that stop. At first I was determined to go on the stingray excursion where you are in waist-high water and the stingrays are swimming all around you. But, now I'm thinking I'd rather do an excursion where I can go see turtles. I've only seen one turtle in all my cruises and it wasn't even up close, so I think that's what I'll plan on doing. Who knows, maybe I'll find an excursion where I can see both turtles and stingrays!  So far, I haven't made up my mind on excursions for Costa Maya, but I'm almost positive that I'll stay on the ship when we're in Cozumel. I was just there last April and don't see any excursion options online that look too exciting. Most likely I'll be ready for a quiet day after 2 busy port days, so I might just take advantage of a nearly empty ship and relax by the pool. In terms of rooms, I am currently booked in a balcony room. I made the mistake of cruising with a balcony for my very first cruise and I just don't think I'd ever want to go on a cruise without one. Like I've said in previous posts, one of my favorite things is waking up in the morning and having room service breakfast on the balcony. As usual, I'll keep an eye on the prices and see if the Junior Suite price drops significantly. Generally, there are quite a few cancellations once the final payment date comes around, so depending on what opens up there might be a good deal on an even nicer room. For the meanwhile I'll stick to the balcony room I've got booked, so here's a quick YouTube tour of a similar room to the one I'll have on this cruise: I think those are all the main details of this next cruise. There are just over 14 weeks left as of today, so I'm already counting down the days and looking forward to the trip. Like I said earlier, I'll be doing a tips & tricks blog post sometime soon, so leave a comment if there are any questions you'd like me to answer. I'm definitely not an expert, but I have learned a thing or two over the past 4 years, so hopefully I can be helpful! Stay tuned for the trip report once I get back!! |
AuthorMy name is Beth and I live in Denver. I am a single lady in my 30's and wanted to start sharing my awesome and amazing life through a blog. Categories
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