Day 29–Toes in the sand

If you know me this topic is so obvious and natural to my personality. I have a real love for beaches, sand, oceans and swimming. So it is only natural for me to look up resorts and beaches that we would be able to vacation at when living in Shetland without paying an arm and a leg.

Living in Canada there are only a select few countries that offer the all-inclusive option at resorts and they are so overpriced, crowded and cookie-cutter. To name a few there is Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Jamaica. Then there are the higher-end resorts on islands like Aruba, St. Lucia and Turks and Caicos. These resorts definitely are a dream to visit but cost more for a two weeks stay for two people than we make in a month. To travel outside the resorts in these countries tourists are heavily warned of the conditions of poverty and it is recommended to never leave the resort grounds during your stay.

So I began my search on Expedia.co.uk for resorts in Europe to visit. I was astounded at what my search turned up. First though is to mention that I looked up vacation packages from Glasgow International Airport. Shetland to Glasgow flights would cost us on the high end about £150 for the two of us round trip.

Now to my results I found for resorts. Again I started by picking locales that I figured would cost about the same as Aruba or St. Lucia (read: outside our budget). Greece for example. Well my simple search for a vacation in May to Greece turned up these results: One week all-inclusive at a resort in Crete, Greece would cost all of £440 per person including flights!!! (to give a bit of comparison to “cheap” resorts in Cuba or Jamaica, they would cost around £1050 per person)

So to push my luck I searched more on these criteria: one week all-inclusive, four-star resort, flights included. This is the result of several destinations…

- Algarve, Portugal: £420 per person

- Bodrum, Turkey: £398 per person

- Costa Del Sol, Spain: £432 per person

- Malta: £492 per person

Doing my research and looking into different places to go I think this will add to our experience of living in Shetland immensely. Besides the amazing prices it is also the experience in these countries, I can only imagine the great day trips we can take in places like Greece and Turkey! There is so much history and the countries are tourist destinations in and of themselves even without the resorts.

After all the summer daytime highs in Lerwick average about 13-14 degrees everyday. Who wouldn’t want to jet away to Portugal or Greece to soak up some vitamin D?? Especially at these prices I better start stocking up on bikinis and sunblock!

- Michelle