My husband and I usually take one vacation together for a week somewhere that has sunshine, beaches and limited internet access.  I am connected 24/7 on most days, so I REALLY need the break a few days a year.  In the past we have gone to Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas, Antigua, Playa Del Carmen.  We work hard, and since I can now move around freely, we play hard too.  By that I don’t mean party until the wee hours of the morning, unless you consider 11PM the wee hours because I rarely make it past that, I mean have little excursions planned that make use of the legs that can now carry me, the arms that actually have muscles and the metabolism that not only wants, but NEEDS consistent workouts so I can continue moving freely through my life.  So our typical vacation is fly somewhere, rent a car and a condo and take it from there- snorkeling, bicycle riding down volcanoes, hiking, scuba diving, living and loving my life.  This year we tried something different.

This year we cruised with Erin Evans Akey (The Bariatric Guru) and Pam Davis, both who I had worked with before on WLSFA and OAC functions.  The best part was I got to know these folks outside of “work” along with their amazing spouses and met several other people that also decided to join the cruise.  Maggie and Ash, Susan, Gloria, and Marlene came “along for the ride”.  What fantastic people!  Thanks for sharing your vacation with me.  I must not forget Abby, Conner and Reed - Ben and Erin’s amazing children who are bound to rule the world in the next 20 years.

We all met shortly after boarding the ship for a quick rundown of where things were, what the menu choices looked like and a conversation on how we could enjoy everything the cruise had to offer and still remain true to our lifestyle choices.  Thanks Ben for the tips….they did help.  We were all seated together at dinner and vowed on day one, meal one together that what happened on the cruise stayed on the cruise- this turned out to NOT be necessary, since our weight loss surgery tools keep us from eating too much.  Some had dessert, some chose not to and I am NOT TELLING, even if you bribe me with Grand Marnier bread pudding or NY style cheesecake.  It was all definitely food porn to the nth degree, but such is life and learning to deal with it is certainly an important part of my journey.

There were “Broadway” (I use that term loosely) shows and comedy shows each evening to keep us occupied singing, dancing, laughing….is it starting to sound like the perfect vacation yet?  Each morning at sea I either swam (in one of the pools) or worked out in the gym.  We then all met for a quick “get together” which really turned into our sharing of our stories, our non scale victories and how we each have integrated our weight loss surgery into our lives.  Sometimes the spouses stayed and shared sometimes they took off together to bond.  Nothing was “required”, nothing was forced, everyone spoke from their hearts and each of us left our little group with something new.  That’s what happens when WLS peeps get together and start talking, we each learn. 

On our port days we often took off in separate directions, each of us wanting to see or do something new and exciting.  I got to walk, swim and climb through the “SecretRiver” when we were in Mexico.  This journey began with a Mayan “soul cleansing” and asking permission to enter these sacred chambers below the ground.  I understand why the Mayans considered these passages to be sacred, words cannot begin to describe the beauty of the formations of coral skeletons, stalactites and stalagmites that we saw, nor my thrill at being able to negotiate 1 ½ hours of swimming and hiking underground.  This experience was definitely the highlight of my shore excursions.  Others visited the pyramids of the Mayans, learned to make salsa and dance salsa, we snorkeled, we shopped, we enjoyed some rain and some sun and shared these experiences with each other which made them even more poignant.  In your wildest dreams, before weight loss surgery, would you have considered the possibility of climbing hundreds of steps to the top of a Mayan ruin, or to the bottom of an underground cavern?  How about snorkeling with tiny little electric blue fish with silver spots on them among multiple other beautiful varieties?  Or scuba diving, or parasailing, or…….well I think you get the picture.

This was truly a week in paradise.  New friends, new places, new experiences and the inspiration and motivation that only someone who has walked in your shoes can provide.  No dirty dishes, no laundry, and for me, for the first time in over 4 years, no internet access so I was truly able to get some rest, relaxation and recharging.

So what do you think?  How does it sound?  A vacation with other WLS peeps, exotic ports of call, on board support group for talking AND exercise, and people who will mean it when they high five you for reaching out to make a dream an accomplishment?  Who’s with me on this?  I am doing it again - our dates are the week of 8/18/13.  Message me for more information.