Romantic Rendezvous
We had planned for months our rendezvous in the middle of the Indian Ocean after my solo journey to Dubai. I envisioned a classic, black and white movie.… I land at an airport in an unfamiliar country, surrounded with chaos of weary travelers, humidity soaking our skin and then it happens…….we lock eyes and see each other from across the airport, we drop our bags and go running into each other’s arms! Well,as with most things in life there is fantasy and there is reality. My vision leaned more towards fantasy…or possibly delusional! Don’t get me wrong, our meet up went off without a hitch but the romantic gaze I envisioned from across a busy airport was really an exhausted, sweaty forced smile…. the running to each other’s arms was more me schlepping my bag through customs to a friendly ‘hello’ as we were in a Muslim country and aware not to show too much pda. I greeted him with an enthusiastic smile and a bit of jumping with excitement, enjoying the familiar face so far from home. Him with a little less enthusiasm, I believe enjoying the fact he found me. If you know us this does not surprise you in the slightest! Pretty typical of our seven year relationship….me the enthusiastic, excitable half, him the reserved, don’t make a spectacle half. This is not to say he was not equally excited but he shows it a bit…or A LOT differently than I show mine :) Although, he had just traveled for 20 hours and I simply had a 4 hour flight from Dubai, acclimated to the time zone already. Not that the greeting would of been any different…but worth mentioning. This dynamic works hmmmm, 80% of the time. One of the things I love most about him though is he lets me be me, not that the alternative would even be an option in my life but I recognize it and appreciate it. He is excited for me when I am venturing out on an adventure solo and is fine if I am jumping up and down in excitement and calling attention to myself as long as it doesn’t involve him. OK, I have digressed, this is not a relationship blog it is about our trip to The Maldives:)
Although not my fantasy meet up it was fabulously successful and we were about to embark on a journey into the unknown(which is my absolute favorite!). A bonus to the journey was we were getting to the island on a sea plane which was a new adventure in itself. We hopped onto our tiny little boat turned plane and within in minutes we were soaring high above the crystal blue waters and atolls below. I have become quite comfortable on small planes as many of my adventures over the last few years required them but I had never been on a seaplane. There were about 6 of us on the plane and we had the first two seats right behind the pilot. All the passengers had boarded and the pilot hops in….not quite the same attire that we typically see a pilot wear, consisting of shorts and flip flops which he promptly removed (just the flip flops :). The entire ride with our barefoot pilot took about an hour and it was so fun! Looking down at the scattering of atolls and islands amidst the turquoise blue water was absolutely breathtaking. Other than the spectacular view the best part was the landing….water splashing up all around the plane and then immediately the plane ride turns back into a boat ride. We float to the dock and hop off the plane to a line of smiling people with a cold, wet wash cloth for us and a cocktail! The first thing they said to us was welcome and take off your mask….I believe I found paradise! Imagine Fantasy Island and Tattoo shouting…”the plane, the plane!” Most of the employees on the island are from India or Sri Lanka and could not of been more welcoming. We were quickly introduced to Ikoo and he was going to be our butler extraordinaire for our 10 day stay. The island is about 3 miles in diameter total and the only business on this island is our hotel, You & Me Maldives. Ikoo immediately became a friend and he planned all our reservations and excursions as well as welcomed us into his life, talking about his family, his dreams, etc. As I have mentioned before, my favorite part of traveling is connecting and hearing the stories of people from all around the world….we live so differently but we have more in common than not. He escorted us to our bungalow over the water and it was absolutely beautiful….now this was the reality, AND the fantasy, of what I had always imagined while dreaming of staying in an over water bungalow. When you first walk in all you see through the wall of windows was our plunge pool and the vast blue of the Indian Ocean…a dream!
We settled in out on the deck with a glass of wine and soaked up the reality that we were here. I have to be honest though at some point I thought to myself…what the hell are we going to do here for 10 days, we will kill each other! Ha! Then though, a calm came over us, we got into the vibe of the island and it was absolutely incredible…. I could happily of stayed longer! I literally have never seen my boyfriend this relaxed….ever! He was like a different person! We called his new demeanor ‘Maldives Joe’ and that is now our new beacon on vacations to achieve that!
We have so many beautiful memories from our experiences on the island and simply just relaxing together. I have to say probably the highlight was when we were whisked off in a speed boat to a private island. They had an umbrella and blanket out joined with a picnic basket of food and beer for us. They handed us a satellite phone and told us to call if there was an emergency and they would see us in 5 hours! Can you just imagine? It was absolutely surreal! Other than the brief thought of “what if a tsunami hits? We are basically on a big sand bar!” I am happy to report though, that fleeting thought lasted for about 5 seconds and then I came back down to the reality, the beauty, the gratitude I was experiencing without a care in the world. We snorkeled, we ate, we collected shells, we enjoyed each other’s company with no distractions from smart phones or anything else…..we were alive and awake. Alive and awake was the take away from the whole journey and isn’t that what we all strive for in a vacation…ideally in everyday life? Obviously depending on the location those 2 things can look outwardly different, but being alive, and awake comes from within and to me that is the ultimate!
I will let the pictures illustrate and narrate our glorious 10 days on the little island in the middle of the Indian Ocean we called home……
Specifics…..
Maldives Resort- You & Me Maldives by Cocoon. youandmemaldives.com
Airport in Dubai airport- Dubai International Hotel. dubaiintlhotels.com
Side note…..
My apologies for the terrible resolution on my photos in this particular blog post……thanks to an automatic upgrade on my iPhone all the pictures stored in photos from literally the last 25 years are not accessible to upload to my blog without several new steps! While I did those steps to upload the photos I believe the image quality was degraded….very frustrating and after a VERY long phone call with Apple support I think the issue has been resolved for future pictures. Grrrr.!
