Café Con Monica

On Spring Breaks in Punta Cana..part dos!

Heyo! I said I was going to share the rest of the Punta Cana pics on Thursday…I lied. So here they are!!

Drinking mojitos and listening to the band! 
We decided to take a chocolate making class they offered at a shop in our hotel. I discovered the amazingness of Chocolate tea and ended up buying 3 bags. It tastes like hot chocolate without the milk. It is amazing and I am going to be really sad when its all gone. 

My father & siblings were also in Punta Cana at the same time (our trips overlapped a couple days) We were originally going to do the buggie adventure with them but because of Easter weekend all motorized activities in the country were put on hold so they missed out. My father picked us up from the resort and drove us around Punta Cana a bit so we could see the different locals spots. Then we went to a very well known restaurant Jellyfish and the food was fantastic! Seriously. Apparently a lot of people have weddings there since is right on the beach and very well known. 
Can you see the resemblance?! 

We decided to leave the resort for some more adventure and did a tour with buggies/carts? and a visit to a co-op farm, a beautiful non-touristy beach and a cave with a natural pool. 

It was an awesome trip! I would definitely go back and highly highly recommend the Gran Bahia Principe if you are headed down there! 

On Spring Break Trips to Punta Cana, pt. 1

Finally I get to share with you guys! If you follow me on Instagram or Snapchat (Monipins on both) you got to follow along on my adventure and see some of the pics. Also after organizing the pics I realized I took over 200 so this is definitely getting broken up between today & Thursday!

First…we stayed at the Gran Bahia Prinicipe. On the website it said it was 5 resorts in one and we knew it looked large. It was huge. Seriously. We had to take these cute little trams to get from our room to the lobby/main diner and other sides of the resort. It was also probably the fanciest place either of us had ever stayed. I am 100 % a backpacker, airbnb girl. I did a lot of all inclusive back in my early 20’s and I realized they are all the same and you can basically be anywhere. That said…still one of the nicest I have stayed in.

Our room was right by the beach and one of the pools as well as a snack bar so we could just walk down to the beach or back to the snack bar!

On the tram…I was still half asleep! 

Some dancers in one of the main lobbys

Hanging out on the beach chairs! 

One of the ala carte restaurants!

Pina Colada! 

The pool lights at night  

My drink of choice the whole trip! Banana Mama w/a rum floater  

A Burlesque show one of the nights 

We also spent a fantastic amount of time on the beach and in the water. I’m sure I have mentioned before how terrified I am of open water so nope didn’t go past my chest. I know I know…Im a sissy.

or at the pool…

Thank goodness for a lifeproof case…seriously! I took that thing in the ocean, the pool, through mud and a cave and not a drop on the inside!! 
That is all for today…Thursday I will show you what we did when we weren’t eating, drinking or baking ourselves in the sun! 

Don’t overspend on Packing and Prep for Vacation!

I love to travel…love it.  Unfortunately, I am not in a place financially where I can take all the trips I want to so I have to keep my eye on cheap flights and book the best deals I can and find ways to keep everything budget friendly so I can afford more than one trip. 

Here are the top 3 ways I keep prepping and packing for a trip cheap. 

Carry On

Carry on always. I hate to check a bag so I do anything possible to make all my vacation essentials fit into a carry on and tote bag. EVERYTHING possible for a few reasons. 

  • 1. I’m cheap. I don’t want to pay $25-55 each way to check a bag they could possibly lose 
  • 2. I hate worrying that they will break something or lose my bag 
  • 3. I hate waiting for my bag
  • 4. I would rather spend that money on something fun  

Something to keep in mind for airlines like Spirit, Frontier or the economy seats on AA & United is the carry on bag fee. If they are going to charge you $30+ both ways for a bag think of that price in comparison to a flight that allows a free carry on but is slightly more!

The money you save by not checking a bag can be spent on an excursion, an awesome souvenir or even a massage, don’t waste it because you had to pack those 3 extra pairs of shoes you don’t actually need. Check out Helene In Between’s post about why she always takes a carry on! 

The Way Around Liquids

You do not need to purchase travel size things every time you travel. That can add up. Use makeup wipes, break sunscreen into smaller containers (this is better anyway because then you can keep one with you at all times)  Break down what you already have into smaller 3 oz bottles. You can buy a pack of the travel size bottles with a bag for under $10 one time and use them every time. Pour your shampoo, conditioner, blah blah blah into those bottles. I re-use my small Lush containers for travel. It works perfectly! 

Why? Because it is a slippery slope once you go out and start buying travel size items for your trip. Its starts with “I need a 3 oz toothpaste” and ends with ” I just spent $78 at Target for travel stuff”  I know that life believe me.

But I need a new _______

Nope. Actually you don’t. You just want it. I used to buy dresses specifically for the girls trips I used to take and all these new outfits and swimsuits every single time and then I realized if I am going on a trip to a beach I can wear my summer clothes from home. Most of us already have more than 2 swimsuits unless they get ruined or don’t fit anymore. We do not need to buy a new one for every trip. No one cares. I promise you. They aren’t cheap. Buying brand new clothes to wear on a trip? Nope. No gracias.  I know this doesn’t apply to every trip sometimes you might actually need to buy something specific but if not then don’t waste the money. 

Check out Pinterest for great ways to re-purpose clothes you already have. If you have a bf/husband steal a couple of his shirts and make a dress or a cute top with it. Free and cute!   

These seem so simple but they all add up and add expense to trips that we don’t need. If you are a budget traveler, or saving for a trip keep these in mind. Save the money you would spend for all of that for your trip or keep it in the bank for the next trip!

Do you have any other small ways that you pack/prep for vacation affordably?

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