Bit by the travel bug: Moorea

It's no secret that my travel destinations/aspirations are strongly influenced by The Bachelorette, hence the trip to French Polynesia. Although Ali whisked her men away to Tahiti and Bora Bora, I settled for Moorea, which come to find out from the locals, is considered to be the best island and much preferred to Bora Bora. If you are going to French Polynesia, Moorea is the bee's knees. It definitely beats out Tahiti and is much easier to get to than Bora Bora. I really can't find one bad thing to say about the island.

We stayed at the Legends Resort Moorea, a 4 star highly rated resort on the island. It was beautiful. Each villa has a private deck (ours had a partial ocean view), a private hot tub, and covered seating/eating area. PLUS, there was air-conditioning, which made the tropical heat/humidity much easier at night. We figured out that if you keep the bedroom cold the critters won't come in. Better to keep the lizards, millipedes, mosquitos, ants, and other polypedal creatures in the living room and kitchen, where they belong.

Our partial ocean view off the master bedroom

Probably should have taken photos before we spent a week not picking up after ourselves

The only channel in English was world CNN. Plus: being able to follow Weinergate!

Out kitchen had less food, way more ants, and a little more booze.

The resort also had an amazing infinity pool where I captured some decent sunset photos:

to the west, with the private island in the background

to the east, towards Tahiti

I liked the resort, but next time I am going to go for an overwater bungalow so I can just snorkel off the back patio. These villas are pretty pricey and they are only slightly less expensive than the overwater bungalows. I didn't really cook much because groceries were so expensive (and I was LAZY), so I really didn't need the kitchen. And, it is on a hill (rather, the side of the mountain), which got old really fast since we walked everywhere. This resort is a best bet for locals coming from Tahiti on holiday and families who would be making meals for kids anyways.

Biggest thing I realized in my first 24 hours in French Polynesia: I LOVE to travel. This was my first big trip outside of the US (not counting Canada), and I had no idea that traveling abroad would make me feel so liberated and hungry for more. Seeing new places and meeting new people turned out to be more  exciting than it was scary. Extreme lifestyle makeover #1: Go somewhere new, outside of the US, once a year. I am considering setting up a separate savings account just for traveling adventures.

Just go with the flow: Tahiti

Getting to Moorea was no simple task. It takes about 24 hours travel time to get from home to Paradise. From parking fiascos (thank goodness there was no traffic!) to delayed flights to SPRINTING through my least favorite airport (LAX) to find the mystery terminal and barely make our flight, we definitely started vacation out on our toes.

finally on the Tahiti flight!

With all this, we knew that the luggage was not going to make it on the flight. After all, luggage can't sprint to it's terminal. We were right. I was cursing United as we ran around like chickens with our heads cut off, not knowing that this was actually a blessing in disguise.

Catholic Church in Papeete

Once in Tahiti, lack of luggage allowed us to wander the island without bags in tow. We walked from the airport to Papeete (about 2.7 mi) and saw some local color. I probably wouldn't recommend this (my mother would be less than pleased to hear about this), as it might not have been the safest idea, but it was a ton of fun and we didn't encounter one malicious person. Even the stray dogs were friendly. It was 5:30 am after all.

We were able to walk around town before all the hustle and bustle began. It would have been nice to have some local currency, but our home bank and LAX were out of French Polynesian Francs and all the local banks were closed. Maybe we could have seen this movie in French:

Sunrise from runway overlook

Watching the sunrise over the Pacific was awe-inspiring. The goal of the trip was to just roll with the punches and leave everything behind. I had been waiting 5 years for this trip, and finally I was there. Everything felt surreal, it was happening so fast and each moment was hard to hold onto. I could feel myself changing and for the first time in a VERY long time, I felt like I was in control of my life and my destiny.

The Great Escape

View from the pool at the Legends Resort Moorea, where I had my great escape.

You know you have made it when people at the airport say they want to come back as you in their next life.

I walked away from this amazing trip with a new understanding of what I want my life to look like and how I want to live it. Extreme Life Makeover French Polynesia edition?

New attitude, new bucket list items, and new beginnings this summer. Stayed tuned for a best of Moorea trip post this week!