Its Club Med baby!

The first time my husband suggested Club Med as a destination for our next getaway with the kids I doubted that I would enjoy it. I thought of myself as an easy person to please. Give me a beach and a good book and I’m a happy camper. I thought of Club Med as camp and I refused to be “organized” by anyone but myself. We never travelled in groups…you know, of the bus variety with the lady holding up the flag and leading us to our next destination. “Its Tuesday…it must be Belgium” was never my style of travel. I thought Club Med would be just that. Fortunately, he didn’t listen to me and insisted that we try it. We ended up with four active kids in Club Med Caravelle, in the little island of Guadalupe.

As a fledgling Club Med “G.M” (gracious member) I eyed the “G.O’s” (gracious organizers) with suspicion as I claimed my bit of sand on the beach that morning. I thought that any minute any one of them would come and recruit me to play some sort of sport or insist that I participate in a game. Lunchtime came and not only had they not even come near me, neither did my 4 kids! They were all busy in different activities and my husband was nowhere to be seen. He was playing volley ball somewhere in the premises. So far so good. Lunchtime came along. The food was fabulous and our chef excelled in most of the delicious offerings. Interesting…maybe they’ve got something here. The week passed far too quickly. I was brown and relaxed. My family did not need my presence nor my attention. This was a true vacation at last!

We went to many more Club Meds in the Caribbean and in Asia through the years as our children were growing up. We also had different vacations every year when we went to lovely beaches in the US and flew to Europe a few times but my true time out as a 24/7 mother was when we packed for Club Med where everyone had something to do and when we got together for meals we enjoyed hearing about the different sports and experiences that everyone was having. I didn’t cook. I didn't drive. I didn’t fret, I actually enjoyed myself enormously doing next to nothing. It was MY vacation.

Now, so many years later, I’m in Club Med Bintan in Indonesia with my son and his family and it is nice to reminisce and I continue to find it relaxing among all the activities and offerings available to guests. I still hang out in some quiet corner reading a book or looking at the ocean, like I did back then. Now I can enjoy my grandchildren having fun and remember their father and his sisters doing the same. I also remember their grandfather whose bright idea it was to begin with! Life goes on.