For the first time since the launch of MaldivesComplete, I am returning to the tropical paradise of my dreams. This trip has a bit of the old (the whole family getting together for another travel adventure which happens less frequently these days with the kids all grown up) and the new (a planned trip into Male for exploration and business).
Given the many hours of research on the Maldives intensified over the past year with MaldivesComplete, this trip has special anticipation.
Lots of traffic in the travel forums like TripAdvisor cover ‘what to pack’. Being a generally quite seasoned traveller and this my 6th trip to this particular destination, you would think that I would have the whole preparation thing down. It is curious the packing decisions I grappled with…
- Fins – On one hand there is a comforting feeling having all your own snorkelling stuff that’s yours and fitted for you. On the other hand, all the resorts offer plenty of fine quality free snorkelling gear for convenient use through your stay. We debated whether it was worth the space and the weight to bring them and decided to in the end.
- Computer – The Maldives trip used to be associated with such complete and utter relaxation that it was the one of the few holidays where I didn’t bring my computer. Now out of the corporate world, my laptop is no longer the spectre of tooling evil. It is just a handy device. With Wifi in the rooms, I decided it would be fun to carry on my MaldivesComplete blog with ‘live’ reports. Also, it is a handy large screen DVD player for the long haul (10 hour) flights. Our daughter is bringing hers as well and my wife and our son I think will be queuing up for access. Some might think that this digital obsession is sad, but frankly the devices are useful and fun tools. We can send updates to friends, not have to worry about the house because we can be in touch in neighbours, etc.
Other than that, the packing list was pretty much the basics – shorts, under garments, t-shirts, short sleeved shirts, sun glasses, dive logs/cards, snorkelling gear, sandals, games, books, cameras, US dollars,reading materials.
Paradise, here we come!