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How do you pick the best family vacation?

By July 3, 2016 No Comments
With so many places you could go and so many things to see, how does one pick the vacation that’s best for the whole family? If you’re dealing with my family, who can’t agree on practically anything, deciding where to vacation can be difficult. My brother, Trevor (15), and I, Miranda (19) are here to tell you 5 reasons why a trip on The Guiding Light is right for you! 
 
1. Living the boat life for a week!
 
My family is always looking for something different to do while still being able to be near the ocean. Living aboard the Guiding Light for a week was definitely a change of scenery in the best way possible. With 4 bedrooms, everyone had there own rooms. 2 of the rooms even had windows that looked right at the ocean! It was awesome waking up and looking out the window and seeing little fish swimming around. Another cool thing that is unique to this way of travel is all of the sights you see while sailing from island to island. Sitting on the front of the boat zipping through the waves was very fun! One last thing that is great about being on this boat is that your family is forced to spend time together. With an assortment of board games and movies, nights are never boring. Being in such tight quarters you really don’t have a choice but you enjoy some quality time with the family and the Captain too! 
 
2. Captain Shane!
 
This guy is living life right. Adding him to the family mix makes it less likely that you are going to throw your little brother off of the boat (because he’ll do it for you). He made our itinerary so that we could see everything that we wanted to see. Plus, his cooking in amazing! It’s almost as if he gets his recipes from Pinterest! He took us to all of the best snorkeling spots that you couldn’t even try to book as a tour at any hotel, resort, or cruise ship. And on top of that, he snorkeling with us, showing us around, taking pictures, and diving down to pick up starfish and crabs. What I enjoyed most about our week with Shane, was how much he pushed us out of our comfort zones. For example, my mom was terrified of swimming in deep water until Shane dropped us off and had us snorkel our way to the reefs near the shore. After that, she was over her fear! And as for me, people like to say I’m “all talk”. I’ll say I’ll do something and then when the time comes, I chicken out. When we were eating dinner at Willie T’s, which is a restaurant and bar on a big boat, I said I would jump off the boat into the water. When we finished eating, it was getting dark and I had never swam in the ocean in the dark before, especially when I knew there were big fish in the water right next to the boat. Shane hopped over the railing at the back of the 2nd story of the boat and motioned for Trevor and I to join him. Feeling a little bit more courageous, I followed him and made my brother come with me. We all jumped into the water together and had a blast! The next day, I wasn’t as scared to jump 25 ft into The Toilet Bowl. 
 
3. Prettiest Views. Ever!
 
From breathtaking beaches to amazing rainbows, you can’t beat the scenery here! The powdery white sand beaches and the crystal clear blue water are just some of the amazing perks of booking a trip to the BVIs aboard the Guiding Light. If you love sunsets, you’ll see ones that are better than professional pictures. My favorite view that I saw, was the almost full moon shimmering across the water at night. After the sun set, and we were finished with dinner, my family would sit out on the trampoline in the front of the boat and just stare at all the stars. Those are moments at turn into memories!
 
4. Fun for the whole family!
 
From my experience, this trip is perfect for all ages. There is so much to do that it is impossible to be bored! A typical day aboard the Guiding Light consists of an early rise, waking up when the sun comes up to get the most out of your day, relaxing with coffee or juice that is already made courtesy of Shane, and then sailing off to the next adventure! Whether that be a wonderful snorkel spot or an exploration of a new island, it is bound to be exciting. After the first stop, you are off sailing again, trying to make the most out of your vacation here. And once anchored in the place where we would sleep for the night, it was time to relax with Shane’s Drink of the Day, one of my favorite parts of the day (don’t worry it’s legal). Afterwards, we would either go to shore to eat dinner and explore or Shane would make is something, which usually included dessert! Every day of the trip was filled with fun things to do and we still didn’t get to do everything we wanted to do. I guess that just means we will have to come back! Since Shane made our itinerary, we came into this trip not knowing where we were going to be the next day. I really enjoyed how relaxing the whole experience was knowing that everything was being taking care of for us in such good hands!
 
5. Things my family did not expect to encounter!
 
First off, we had no idea we would visit more than 9 amazing snorkel destinations all in one week. While snorkeling, I didn’t expect to have a personal guide who would point everything out from starfish and hermit crabs to nurse sharks and sea turtles! My family also didn’t expect to receive a complete USB drive off all of the pictures he took of us. Another thing I didn’t expect, was to learn so much about boats and sailing. Previous to this week, I knew absolutely nothing and now, after helping out and taking notes, I feel as though I could do a lot more on my own. Next, I did not expect the Drink of the Day to taste so delightful every day! It quickly became my favorite part of the day to sit down with my family and reflect on all of the amazing things we did. Lastly, I didn’t expect to want to do this trip again immediately. This has been the vacation of a lifetime aboard The Guiding Light and I hope to be back very soon! 

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