5 Days in Belize

The puns are true – Belize is, well, unbelizeable. Visited a few weeks ago and it was the perfect, easy getaway to relax and recharge post-holiday rush and before setting into my new home in NYC.

Located in Central America, Belize – home to just 320,000 – is bordered by Mexico, Guatemala and the Caribbean Sea. We spent our time in Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker, where the island vibe reigns, subtly mixing with indigenous culture. Belize, however, is a true melting pot: the Belizean people come from Maya, Mestizo, Kriol, Garifuna, East Indian, Mennonite, Arab and Chinese descent.

Here’s the itinerary.

Passport Snapshot
Who: Me & travel buddy, Jaimi
What: Getaway between jobs
When: Friday - Thursday in January (5 days, 2 travel days)
Where: Ambergris Caye
Why: Warm weather + post New Years' rush (though still high season)
How: Delta = $880
Spend: $750 per person (including hotel & in-country TropicAir flight)
Tip: Island transportation is by taxi, golf cart or water taxi 
Budget Tip: Wait to book a flight over the Blue Hole - with some flexibility, you can book @ half price the day-of (pending availability)
Fun Fact: Belize was a crown colony of England until it gained full independence in 1981. English is the official language

Day 1, Friday

  • While flight times are short, Belize is a bit of a haul [logistically] from NYC – we traveled Newark –> Atlanta –> Belize City via Delta, then hopped on a Tropic Air Flight to San Pedro (Ambergris Caye)
  • Highly recommend taking a puddlejumper flight vs. water taxi to the islands given the incredible aerial views – if you time it right, you’ll fly in at sunset
  • Settle into Mahogany Bay Resort – a Hilton Curio Collection property. We scored an excellent $149/night rate (plus a 5 night, get the 6th free promo) for a 1 bed bungalow – well worth it, even if it meant we had to share the comfy king
  • Recover from the day’s travels with welcome drinks & fresh ceviche, poolside
  • Flight into Ambergis Caye
  • Mahogany Bay
  • Mahogany Bay

Day 2, Saturday

  • Hang onto your hats as you hop on the resort’s boat, which has hourly service to Mahogany Bay’s private island – yes, you read that correctly
  • Spend the day basking in the island’s 80’s and sunny average temp, with breaks for shade under one of the numerous cabanas. Complete with a bar, restaurant, volleyball court, hammocks and paddleboards, there’s no need to leave until sunset
  • Being the island nation it is, you may experience intense tropical thunderstorms causing you to hunker down for dinner #2 at the resort, and calling it an early night before the following day’s adventures
  • Mahogany Bay
  • Private island
  • Private island

Day 3, Sunday

  • A 5am wakeup call comes quickly but is worth it for a day on the water visiting The Great Blue Hole & various snorkeling spots
  • Amigos Del Mar picked us up across the street from our hotel and took us to San Pedro to meet our group & rent our gear before setting out on a 2.5 hour boat ride
  • Watch the sun rise over the Caribbean before arriving to the Blue Hole, a giant marine sinkhole off the coast of Belize. One of the most desireable and dangerous dive spots in the world, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site
  • Snorkel the Blue Hole before heading to Half Moon Caye, a private island, for more snorkeling and lunch before your final, 3rd snorkel at Long Caye
  • Tip: While the water is insanely clear everywhere, Long Caye was by far the best snorkeling spot (saw a shark and schools upon schools of brightly colored tropical fish). New to snorkeling, this is a great option but if you’re more of a pro and want a shorter boat ride, would do a bit more research for other options
  • After a 2.5 hour boat ride back to San Pedro (may I say *bumpy* boat ride), enjoy a waterfront dinner at Caliente – highly recommend the coconut shrimp curry and pina coladas
  • En route
  • Edge of the Blue Hole
  • Half Moon Caye
  • In action
  • Half Moon Caye

Day 4, Monday

  • Bike down to Estelle’s for brunch on the beach – don’t miss their fry jack and eggs special. Fry jacks: you’ll love me and your waistline will hate me
  • Explore San Pedro, popping into various shops and getting a sense for the local way of life
  • Hop back on your bikes and head over to South Beach, a quiet place to relax & read for the day
  • Note: we opted out of Secret Beach, given mixed reviews from friends. No regrets, since we didn’t want to take a 45 min ride and since we visited The Split in Caye Caulker – more on that later
  • Freshen up and head back to San Pedro for dinner at El Fogon – the live music is excellent and the local stew and drinks are on point
  • Note: My travel buddy Jaimi is a classically trained chef and she approved (and chose all the dining locations)
  • Estelle’s view
  • San Pedro
  • Local transit
  • Shh, Secret Beach
  • Belizean sunsets

Day 5, Tuesday

  • Time to experience a local water taxi – hop on the Belize Express to island hop over to Caye Caulker, which epitomizes the definition of ‘laid back’
  • Stroll the sandy, car-free roads with a drink-in-hand and truly soak in island life – you can walk the whole island in an hour
  • Unexpected excursions are the best kind – we stumbled upon a 1pm flight over the Blue Hole with space available and were able to negotiate $200/person (compared to the normal $400/person rate)
  • Golf-cart over to the airstrip and hop on a puddle jumper with a local pilot – in our case, Eaglefeather Thunderfoot Hew, born to Chinese and Irish Rastafarian parents (you cannot make this up)
  • Take in the awesome, and I mean truly awesome, views of the Blue Hole from above. There’s nothing like it – this is a MUST do as long as you’re okay with tiny planes and okay with a bit of fear (did I mention it was a tiny plane?)
  • After circling the Blue Hole and the gorgeous surrounding area, descend (after about 45min total flight time) back to Caye Caulker reveling in what you’ve just seen
  • Head over to The Split, head still spinning, and enjoy live music and grilled lobster at the Lazy Lizard (tip: perfect for some drinks and great party vibe but touristy when it comes to food, can get grilled lobster from a street vendor for a fraction of the price)
  • Ferry back over to San Pedro for happy hour and drinks at Palapa Bar – head out to the deck after dark to watch the spotted rays gracefully swim about to the tune of you guessed it, live music
  • Dine at local staple, Elvi’s Kitchen for a great ambiance and more coconut shrimp curry and pina coladas
  • Caye Caulker
  • Caye Caulker
  • Adventure
  • Blue Hole
  • Aerial
  • Shipwreck

Day 6, Wednesday

  • Lay low for your final full day in Belize with a redux of Mahogany Bay’s private island
  • Read, nap, volleyball, eat, drink, repeat
  • After some quick afternoon thunderstorms, nosh on the freshest sushi at the on-site sushi bar. Lobster sushi? The chef (and my friend Jaimi), highly recommends

Day 7,  Thursday

  • After a leisurely last morning at the resort, head back to San Pedro for your Tropic Air flight to Belize City and the beginning of the trek home

Admittedly, I knew little of Belize before visiting but I hope to return. There’s something special about this small, island country – a mix of locals and expats co-existing in a beautiful place – that makes you think about your tiny place in the universe. Everyone seems welcome in Belize, and perhaps Maya Angelou said it best:

“You are only free when you realize you belong no place – you belong everyplace – no place at all. The price is high. The reward is great.“

6 Decision Making Hacks for 2020

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to attend the Massachusetts Conference for Women, where I found myself soaking in wisdom from the following, among others:

  • Nobel Peace Prize-winner, Malala Yousafzai
  • Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year, Megan Rapinoe
  • Leadership expert & TED talk phenom, Simon Sinek
  • Author of the best-seller, “Educated,” Tara Westover

As with all conferences, main stage speakers are designed to wow. They delivered; what I didn’t expect, was that the most fascinating, applicable advice for everyday life to be found in a breakout session by Annie Duke, decision strategist, former World Series of Poker Champion & author. Her session, “Thinking in Bets: Lessons in Unemotional Risk-Taking and Decision-Making” centered around one main question:

 Do you know when to cut your losses?

She elaborates (courtesy of the event program): “In poker and throughout our lives, we are more successful when we maximize the time spent in favorable situations and minimize time in unfavorable ones. But many of us are too quick to quit when we are winning, or refuse to walk away from a losing game.”

Annie’s found that the key to long-term success is to think in bets. My takeaways from her workshop are below, adapted from her slides.

What strategies do you employ to avoid these decision-making pitfalls and take a long-term view?

Annie’s Tips

1. The average person spends a significant amount of time on trivial decision making.

  • What to eat? 150 min / week
  • What to watch on Netflix? 50 min / week
  • What to wear? 90 – 115 min / week

 

2. This leads to time accuracy trade-off.

We flip back and forth, agonizing over questions like ‘which show will I like best?’ when increasing accuracy, in fact, costs us something much more valuable: time.

 

3. Employ ‘The Happiness Test’ to determine the value of the time accuracy trade-off.

Ask yourself: Will the outcome of this decision, good or bad, have a significant effect on my happiness in a year?

If no, you can make a speedy decision. Trade accuracy for saving time when it won’t impact your long-term happiness.

If yes, slow down and save time in order to improve your accuracy.

 

4. When a decision is hard, it’s actually easy.

When weighing 2 close options, you can’t really go wrong as the difference between the two is so small.

She used the example of deciding between a trip to London or Paris – both are great options, so just choose [don’t spend hours comparing and contrasting] and don’t look back.


5. Employ ‘the only option’ test.

For big decisions, ask yourself: “if this were the only option I had, would I be happy with it?”

 

6. To narrow options, use a ‘menu strategy.’

Spend time on the initial sorting – this is the heavy lifting and the place where you’ll get the most value out of slowing down. Once you’ve sorted and have one or more good options, there’s no penalty for speeding up.

Duke ultimately calls this process ‘decision stacking:’ finding ways to make easy-to-make, low impact decisions in order to free space for harder-to-quit, higher impact decisions.

 

I’m committed to employing this approach in 2020 and hope it’s beneficial for you as well. Annie’s latest book, “Thinking in Bets” can be found on Amazon. Thanks for sharing your wisdom, Annie!