The last few months have been pretty rough.  My husband and I have both been working our butts off and have been very busy at the office. My husband has been filling in for a coworker on maternity leave in another office and has been making a longer commute than usual.  My commute is always terrible – I typically spend 2 to 3 hours in the car driving to and from work in soul destroying traffic.  Combine that with everyday work stress and we have both been a bit snippy lately.  However, in less than 2 weeks, we will be heading to French Polynesia.  In keeping with what I have learned during traveling (prior post), we are both taking off the day we leave (our flight doesn’t depart Dallas until 6pm) and the day after we get back to fully rest and decompress. I’m not scheduling too much on this trip because I mostly want to relax, read, take afternoon naps in a hammock and swim in that aqua blue water.

Departure day – Our flight doesn’t leave Dallas for LAX until 6pm but we both decided to take the day off and ease into our vacation.  The plan is to get up in the morning and work out, slowly get ready and finish packing our bags and then head to downtown to drop the dog off at the kennel.  Following that, we plan to have a leisurely lunch together, hopefully sitting on a patio with a glass of wine and enjoying nice weather before we head out to the airport.  Even though we are flying coach this trip, I have an Admiral’s Club membership so we can always hang in there before our flight and during our layover in LAX.  I also went ahead and got us the extra legroom seats on the leg to LAX because my husband is 6’4 and it makes a huge difference to him.

We also plan to follow the many tips that I have read and pick up some alcohol from the duty free shop in LAX because booze is SO expensive on the island.  We then have an overnight flight from LAX to Papeete, Tahiti, landing around 5am and we’ll just have to suck it up in coach for that 8 hour leg.

Days 1 through 3  – Once we clear customs in Tahiti, we will take a 30-40 minute ferry ride to the island of Moorea.

We are then staying 3 nights in a beachfront bungalow at the Sofitel Ia Ora Resort.  Honestly, I don’t plan to do jack the first 3 days of this trip.

I’m sure we will be somewhat jet lagged so the plan is to hang on the beach, swim, snorkel and chill out.  I haven’t made any sightseeing plans though we will likely get a cab and head into the main town to walk around one day.  Other than that, I will probably check out the spa and get a massage one afternoon.

Days 4 through 8 – From Moorea, we take a small plane to the island of Bora Bora where we are staying 4 nights at the St. Regis Hotel in an overwater bungalow.  The overwater bungalow is a huge bucket list item for me so I am super excited about this part of the trip.

I did make a few arrangements on Bora Bora including dinner reservations at the St. Regis’ small sushi restaurant our first night and dinner at the “fancy” restaurant, Jean Georges Lagoon Restaurant, overlooking Mount Otemanu for our last night.  In the middle of our stay, I have splurged on an all-day private tour with Bora Bora Romantic Tours, which takes us to a few different snorkel spots, swimming with sharks, a boat tour of the lagoon and then a private motu island lunch with grilled fish and lobster and champagne.

Of course, we will also be spending a lot of time doing nothing at our bungalow.

Return Home – we don’t have to leave Bora Bora until late afternoon as the return flight to LAX from Papeete doesn’t leave until 11:30pm.  I plan to have one last morning swim in the lagoon before cleaning up for the long flight home.  If all goes well, we should be landing in Dallas around 7:30pm the next day and we both decided to go ahead and take the next day off from work so we can get over the jet lag, do some laundry and go get the dog.  I hate jumping right back into the office when coming off a long and tiresome flight. I feel like I have earned the extra day off this year!  I’m just keeping my fingers crossed for good weather during our vacation.