This post is less likely to be about the Dominican Republic the locals know or even the one that tourists who don’t stay at a resort know. Instead, it is a reflection of my week at an all-inclusive resort that happens to be in the Dominican Republic. I start with this disclaimer because some people associate the experiences at these resorts as representative of the country, when in reality they are a far greater reflection of how well the resort is organized and run their show. I will try and separate my opinion of the place from the country as much as possible, but it’s probably a good idea to take everything with a grain of salt.
So that all sounds fairly gloomy, right? Well, I will say that the week ended up being a mixed bag. There were times when I didn’t want to be anywhere else… and then there were times when I couldn’t wait to be home. Why the swings? If I had to summarize everything, I’d say it’s mostly because this type of vacation does not suit me.
I know a lot of people who love nothing more than to lie somewhere tropical for a week of doing nothing. This described a good portion of our week and there were times during the week when I thought to myself “this is absolutely perfect.” The problem arises during the fifth or sixth hour of doing nothing in a day. Maybe I’m just overstimulated, or my ADD is to blame, but as time passes I get bored pretty easily and that eventually leads to anxiety. I want to be doing something, anything and I couldn’t even tell you what that thing would be.
Looking around, I could see that most people spent their time lying/sleeping in the sun or reading a book. I think I might be in the minority when I say baking in the sun is not something I’ve ever been interested in. If I’m at the beach, I want to be in the ocean swimming… usually where I can’t touch the bottom. I am somewhat unique in this, since it doesn’t seem like a ton of people swim in the ocean. Melissa will swim for a half hour, but I’m the type of person who wants to swim out to where I can’t touch and float there for hours. I have known very few people in my life who prefer this, so I usually end up alone until I get bored. Reading a book? I tried that – made it about 50 pages into a book on something I find very interesting. Most of you know I’ve read less than a half dozen books in my life… so… yeah. This is something that does bother me, and I thought it would be my best chance to read something, but it just didn’t work.
All this means we spent a good portion of the week sitting by/in the pool drinking booze and doing nothing. Sounds pretty great, right? Yeah, it was pretty fantastic. By the fifth day, however, I’d had my share of being drunk in the pool all day. I know. I know. Even I have a limit to how much alcohol I can consume. I think we might be able to stretch that out were there a big group of people all getting drunk together, but my family are not big drinkers. No fault on them, it’s just that we had to make a conscious decision to be the drunken aunt and uncle and that loses its luster after awhile.
They do have a bunch of activities (excursions) you can do off the resort for an additional cost. Melissa and I decided to do an “Adventure Buggy” tour our final full day and this turned out to be a great decision. It was every bit cheesy and touristy, but it actually provided a great way to get beyond the walls of the resort to see what Dominican Republic is really like. As we drove from destination to destination in our buggies on public roads, we were afforded the opportunity see 1) how lush the country is, 2) how amazingly friendly the people are and 3) how very poor most Dominicans are. If anything, I was grateful to see just how warm and loving the children who lived in nothing short of poverty were. I felt guilty speeding by on my buggy, but the smiles on their faces as we waved to one another made me think I was probably more unhappy about the situation than they were. Sharing that moment with them may very well have been better than the other things that day, including visiting one of the most spectacular beaches I’ve ever seen and swimming in a cave (which were both pretty awesome).
Beyond that, the resort is best described as a cruise ship that doesn’t move. The staff are exceedingly polite, the food is the same mass produced marginal crap day after day (even if you go to a “nice” a la carte restaurant) and while everything looks nice, the closer you look the more you notice things are a bit rough around the edges. The food is really the only thing that bothers me… and I’m not just saying that because I’m a food snob. If I could Yelp it, I would probably give every restaurant 2 stars with maybe one 3 star thrown in. Most of the family, who are not nearly as particular about food as I am, tended to agree. I think the format is better suited for people who want to live like a celebrity, with every whim catered to. We met many families who appeared to fit into this category, with more than one that acted like they were the most important people there and were determined to have nothing ever be good enough. Melissa and I are somewhat opposite from them in that we like to find our adventure, not attend a resort designed to shelter you from every aspect of it.
I don’t mean to sound like everything was miserable and we had a horrible time, if that’s how I come across. It’s not lost on me that we had the chance to do something not many people can, especially in a relatively poor economy, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity. To be clear, I would choose a week of spending time with Kirsten, Addison and the rest of my family in a tropical resort over working or being unemployed 1000 times out of 1000. My point is simply that if I’m choosing a vacation, one of a similar type isn’t going to be near the top of my list.
I guess the one question I haven’t really answered is what about the trip I would recommend. If lying on the beach for a week with a good book or three and not having to lift a finger is your thing – definitely. If you like the comfort of the resort but want to see and do more, a cruise is a better idea. If you want to get away from the crowds and experience the simple life, DR is probably best suited for it… although I can’t say I was a HUGE fan of the weather.
For us? Our next major trip is likely to be a month backpacking in southeast Asia; a considerable difference.
P.S. – It’s amazing just how much of my high school Spanish came back to me during the week!
