Wednesday September 21, 2022 // Midday Espresso
We’re doing it. We are finally doing a “big trip” with our 3-year-old. I’m going to [attempt to] document the planning and the actual trip here, similar to our Asheville, North Carolina trip a couple years ago (part 1 and part 2). We’ll be going to the Beaches Resort in Turks and Caicos. This article will discuss booking the Beaches Resort in Turks and Caicos and what it means to be traveling there for us with a toddler.
We’ve been trying to figure out what and where we want to go for months now. We are finally comfortable traveling on a plane and it’ll be our little guy’s first time on one.
I’ve been gung-ho about going to Spain, specifically Barcelona. I had a whole itinerary planned out already. Fly into Paris. Train down to BCN. Narrowed it down to a few Airbnbs. A list of sights to go to and how to get there via public transportation. Now it’s all saved in a paused OmniFocus project.
Living near DC we have a few airports to choose from. With IAD being a United hub and me having a billion points from my United card from not traveling the last few years, we were pretty determined to choose a destination that United flies to. Unfortunately BCN is not direct in the winter from IAD. And all the European destinations are coooold. We wanted warmth so we switched gears and started looking in the Caribbean.
Neither of us have been there, outside of my wife taking a cruise when she was a kid. And neither of us have done a resort. We are more of the “let’s explore!” type of travelers.
We got a glowing recommendation for the Beaches Resort in Negril, Jamaica from an extended family member and their kids. Apparently it’s super family-friendly. The problem is… the flights and flight times all suck for lack of a better word.
We saw there’s a Beaches Resort in Turks and Caicos, somewhere we’d never get right on the Worldle. No way IAD would have a United, direct flight, at a good time… wait a minute… They do!
In a matter of 20 minutes we went from having no idea where we were going to having flights and the resort booked.
With my United points the total RT for the three of us was under $250 USD. We booked a standard room, not a concierge room as there were none remaining. However, based on the videos we’ve watched and articles/forums we’ve read, the concierge isn’t worth the extra ~$200 a day.
So it’s set. A trip on the calendar. Finally.
We’re getting our packing list put together and will be buying a few items – foldable sand toys for convenient packing, one of those toddler airplane harness seats, waterproof case for phones, etc. I’ll try to list + review them in a future post.
Speaking of future posts, if you want to get emailed about new ones you can sign up here.
Do you have any advice about traveling to or booking the Beaches Resort in Turks and Caicos with a toddler? Let me know in the comments.
– Josh // Dusting off the passport
Related Reading: Saigon at Midnight