For a milestone birthday, a girl needs a good splurge. For many, that translates into a new pair of Jimmy Choo’s, a Caroline Herrera bag or a quick getaway to a luxury hotel in the Caribbean to eat caviar and sip champagne? With 50 trips around the sun, I was definitely dreaming….destination. Sure, a new purse would be nice, but I much prefer experiences to possessions.
This year of travel has been spent experiencing some very special and unique global locations. This birthday year was all about traveling to these chosen locations and occasionally as in this case, going all out and indulging in luxurious experiences I would normally not treat myself to. For those that follow my travel blog @carryonforone you know I have had quite the travel ball in 2019! But the year is almost over, so where to close out the year with an ultimate luxury bang ?
I travel solo all the time however there are some places I would not attempt solo travel. This can be due to a country’s overall danger level, places of civil unrest or locations that pose security concerns for a single female traveler. As well, there are places I would prefer to experience with someone. Well, waiting for someone to go with can have it’s challenges so bucket list trip solo was a no-brainer.
Located in the Indian ocean, made up of close to 1200 atolls (Islands), there are few beach places in the world that are as beautiful as the Maldives. Well, known for it’s luxury over-water villas and white sand beaches, it has been on my bucket list forever.
The Maldives are considered a favorite honeymoon destination. I am a romantic but how would I feel traveling there solo? I guess I just figured on having my love affair with the clear waters, white sand beaches while gazing into and sipping some champagne.
As you can see from my previous solo trips, I am not one to miss out on a destination because I am waiting for another person to share the experience with, so Maldives, here I come!
Maldives is a place that takes quite a bit of time to plan. I had my plane ticket way before I had a hotel plan as it can get so confusing. Which atoll? What size resort? Adult only resort? How many restaurants on island are included or is it mostly buffet meals? While some atolls are close to one another, many require a seaplane to get to with an average $500.00 additional price tag. After I had done all the research, I actually ended up using a UK travel agency which was perfect. They could coordinate all the transfers between resorts and it ended up being cheaper through their services. I highly recommend https://www.angelfish.travel/ Clare actually came to surprise me at one of the resorts and check in with me!
You can choose from budget (yes it’s possible), a la carte or all-inclusive resorts (some with butler service). I decided to try three different all-inclusive resorts. Two were booked as Beach villa’s and one resort was booked with an over-water villa. I will review them on a separate upcoming blog post along with one of the spa visits I had. I started with https://www.atmosphere-kanifushi.com/ next on to https://www.emerald-maldives.com/ and finished at https://www.ozen-maadhoo.com/. They were all fantastic! It pays to research what you get for all inclusive. I’m really glad I tried all three as things can vary by resort.
