Dad's House » vacation

A Fiji Five-Star Resort Vacation

dadshouse — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:00:29 +0000

Want to daydream for a minute? Check out the #1 Resort and Spa in Fiji – Namale.

It’s 525 acres of paradise, brought to you by Tony Robbins. Modern Bride magazine named Namale’s Honeymoon Suite one of the best in the world.

I had the pleasure of staying at Namale for a week back when I was married. It was one of the most luxurious, laid back, relaxing, wonderful, beautiful weeks of my life.

Think Architectural Digest meets World-Class cuisine on a tropical island, and you’re off to a great start. Opulant villas and bures dot the property, some buit in rainforests, others on lava at the edge of the ocean. The website for Namale has photos of the property that are beyond description. Go click around and daydream a bit, then come back.

We drank from a kava bowl when we arrived. We played tennis, lounged in hammocks, snorkeled over a reef, sunbathed poolside, napped at the beach. The staff seemed to sense whenever we needed a cocktail or drink, and they’d bring it right to us, wherever we were. Sunsets were amazing.

While you’re checking out photos from Namale, I’ll tell a funny story. There was a New Zealander with a wicked accent at the resort when we visited. At one point, she asked us if we’d seen “Tony’s dick.”

“Excuse me?” my wife asked.
“Tony’s dick,” the New Zealander said. “It’s wonderful.”
“Um, I think I’m not understanding you right,” my wife said. “Can you say it again?”

This exchange went on for a bit, before the woman got a bit frustrated.
“Tony’s dick. His dick! It’s by the blow hole!!!”

Okay, then.

Turn’s out Tony Robbins built a deck that overlooks a blowhole. It’s a wonderful place to watch water crash up like a geiser through the reef.

And on that note, I’ll leave you with Namale dreams. If you can ever get there, go!

And be sure to enjoy Tony’s “dick”.

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Single Parent Vacation Travel With Kids

dadshouse — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:11:25 +0000

When you’re a single parent traveling with kids on vacation, being around other adults helps a lot. Whether you travel with family or friends, or stay in a resort or condo where there are other families, the built-in connections to other people can’t be beat.

My kids and I have vacationed in summer rental houses with my brothers and their families, and we always have a great time. I can hang out with my brother and his wife drinking cocktails, having adult conversation. My kids can play with their cousins. Plus, when there’s an activity for adults and kids to do together – hitting the beach, horseback riding, water skiing, whatever – as a single parent I don’t have to be totally “on”. My brother and his wife can pick up the slack.

It’s a great vacation for the other adults, too. They can relax and I pick up the slack for them. For instance, when we get a beach house together, my brother and I do most of the cooking, and his wife can read and nap. Then his wife will take the kids to the park, and I can read and nap. It’s great!

When my kids and I vacationed in Hawaii, we stayed in a resort, a condo, and a National Park lodge. Very different experiences.

At the resort, it was very hard to interact with other families. Typically, the dads would go golfing on some exclusive course (I rarely golf), and the moms would hit the spa. Their kids would be dumped off in the resort’s Kids Club. Some children were happy enough with that, but others truly didn’t want to be there. (They’re your kids – spend time with them! Remember, parenting is a contact sport.)

I signed my kids up for one of these Kids Club at a resort in Hawaii, thinking they’d have fun while I relaxed. By mid-morning, they were begging me to take them out of it! (I did, and the three of us hung out together for the rest of the trip – and we had a blast.)

We had better results at a Family-oriented Club Med where the programs are much better run, and the activities are more fun. My children enjoyed that experience.

As for meeting other adults in resorts – I never had much luck outside of Club Med. Most women resort have a husband. Even at the beach, most singles who hit the tropics want to party, not hang out with a single dad and his kids.

Staying in condos was great for us. We could cook dinners at night if we wanted to, which was a huge money saver. It was fun, too. The kids played shuffle board while I cooked, and the condo was right on the beach. We made our own fun, and totally preferred it to a resort.

Our National Park experience was awesome, mainly because we saw lava flowing at Kilauea volcano.

Single parent vacations with kids are fun, especially when your travel allows you to conenct with other adults and families.

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Meet the Parents, Machu Picchu Style

dadshouse — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:03:52 +0000

One of my serious girlfriends, post-divorce, had family in Peru. We decided to visit them over Christmas and New Years one year. It was to be my Meet the Parents moment.

I’ve met girlfriends’ parents before, and I tend to be charming in person. But I’d never met a girlfriend’s parents when I was a parent myself.

Let’s just say, it’s weird.

I got along great with them, but there were definitely moments when I related to mom and pop better than to my girlfriend. It was that I’ve raised kids and know what you’re going through feeling that every parent shares. Strange having a deep connection with my girlfriend’s parents that they didn’t share with their own daughter.

Winter in California is summer in South America, and her family was vacationing at the beach. We’d sunbathe and body surf all morning, then after lunch my girlfriend and I would retire to our bedroom to “take a nap”. (The squeaky bed let everyone know we weren’t sleeping. What can I say? She was a hot sexy confident woman.)

My only previous experience of trying to get it on with a girlfriend while her parents were in the house came in high school. And in high school, we sure as hell didn’t say “we’re going into the bedroom to ‘nap’, wink wink, nudge nudge.” Her dad would have killed us.

But my Peruvian girlfriend’s parents were fine with it all, as they should be. Their daughter was an adult, and I was her boyfriend.

We partied like crazy on New Years Eve, and then my girlfriend and her brother and I flew high into the Andes to Cusco, with plans to see the ruins of Machu Picchu.

Word of warning – if you are flying high into the Andes, don’t do it with a hangover. I got sick, big time. Weak, dehydrated, pain in my gut – I thought I would die. Apparently, this is a common occurrence and most restaurants in Cusco serve “traveler’s soup” for people with similar symptoms.

A few days after arriving in Cusco, we took a train to Machu Picchu. (You can also get there by hiking the Andes trail, but that takes a week or more.)

Machu Picchu was amazing! It is ethereal, peaceful, close to heaven. The view is amazing – in fact, some say Machu Picchu has the best view in the world.

If you can ever go to Machu Picchu – do it! It’s an experience you’ll cherish forever.

Just don’t party too hard with your girlfriend’s parents before you go.

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Hawaii Kilauea Volcano Vacation With Kids

dadshouse — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:07:25 +0000

I love Hawaii. I’ve vacationed on Maui, Kauai, Oahu, and the Big Island. I’ve taken adult trips (wife, girlfriend, buddy) and family trips. So it was no surprise to me that vacationing as a single parent with kids in Hawaii can’t be beat. There are just so many kid-friendly things to do.

One of the highlights for my kids and me was visiting Kilauea, the active volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island. Yes, we saw lava up close.

We flew into Hilo, then rented a car and drove to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Forget luxury – we wanted to rough it in a lodge at the peak of the volcano. We were not disappointed.

The lodge is rustic, with photos everywhere showing what it was like when lava spewed out of the top of Kilauea. Volcano visitors like Mark Twain stayed at the lodge, and would trek to the nearby crater and watch the lava show.

These days, lava pours from the side of Kilauea, dumping into the ocean. It was near midnight when we checked in, but like Mark Twain, I knew the lava show would be more spectacular at night. I piled the kids into our rental car, and we drove down through the National Park to the ocean. Lava isn’t always visible at Kilauea, but it was this night. The road was closed, and we had to walk the last mile.

The scene was amazing, surreal. There were visible streams of glowing lava flowing across the dark landscape. Small fires blazed everywhere. Truly a vision of hell. Tons of people were roaming about, trying to get a closer view. Park rangers wore gas masks in the vog.

We walked right up to flowing lava. Red and white hot, oozing. We stood within a few feet of it. Unreal!

The next few days of our trip, rather than visit beaches, we spent all our time exploring Volcanoes National Park. We took ranger-led tours of lava fields, lava tubes, rain forests, you name it.

For a Hawaii vacation more memorable than any Mai Tai recipe or beach trek, visit Volcanoes National Park and the Kilauea volcano lava flow.

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Flickr photo by Luxtonnerre, Some rights reserved (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Vacation Food Pyramid

dadshouse — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:00:16 +0000

Summer means vacation, and vacation means good food. But who on earth wants to cook?

Um… my brothers and me?

Rest assured, we have our own unique way of choosing summer holiday menus, especially when traveling.

Vacate Dad’s House today for a trip to the Silicon Valley Mom’s Blog, and learn all about our

Vacation Food Pyramid

This is not your father’s food pyramid! And it’s not King Tut’s either.

Then come back, pull up a hammock, and hang out all week as Dad’s House celebrates summer with vacation-themed posts. Happy summer!

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What Goes Down Must Come Up

dadshouse — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:11:25 +0000

Barf.

Vomit.

Toss cookies.

Throw up.

When too much good stuff (not to be confused with good food) goes into a twelve-year-old boy’s tummy, the result is easily guessed. Come join me as I wheel my Dad’s House mobile home over to the Silicon Valley Moms Blog today, and you can find out what really happened on our vacation.

By the way – did you know the word puke was invented by the Bard himself?

I’m referring, of course, to Ralph Shakespeare. (Er, I mean William.)

Click here for the post, What Goes Down Must Come Up.

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A Great Vacation

dadshouse — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:00:45 +0000

I’m back from vacation! First off, I’d like to thank my guest bloggers for holding down the Dad’s House fort while I was gone.

Single Mom Seeking’s Rachel Sarah shared a heartfelt post on her daughter’s feelings about her dating
Lance from Honey and Lance provided dating tips for 40-something men like me
Lulu Notewordy’s Laila pondered love as a married mom
What Men Think gave us his views of luxury fashions
Honey from Honey and Lance shared some great vegan recipes

And a big thanks to all the readers who weighed in – looks like there were some spirited comments. You may have noticed I didn’t comment once on my own blog this past week. I was truly checked out. I’ll be sure to follow up in the coming days on some of the weightier topics from last week.

How did my kids and I spend our week? We rented a beach house in San Diego with my brother and his wife and two kids. We had a blast! Fabulous company. Great views of the ocean every night. Days at the beach boogie boarding, body surfing, skim boarding, building sand castles. Reading a ton. Trips to Sea World and the Zoo. Early morning Tour de France viewings. Nightly cocktails and home cooking featuring recipes from different countries, including:

Tapas night – garlic shrimp cooked by my daughter, gazpacho soup made by my sister-in-law, Spanish omelet by my brother, and a vegetable medley by me with beets, green chard, and Italian-style carrots
Italian night – rigatoni with sausage and tomato sauce
Kebobs – chicken, onion, bell pepper, tomato, pineapple
Grilled steaks – sorry, vegans like Honey
Enchiladas and nachos with margaritas! (The best margarita recipe ingredients are simple: tequila, cointreau, and lime.)

While I’m back on my Dad’s House blog, the vacation isn’t over yet. My daughter, her friend, and I will be traveling this week while my son is at lacrosse camp. But I’ll be posting, for sure.

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