Cancun Highlights & Lesser Points (formerly a sidebar)

Cancun Highlights (Hudson Awards, Feb. 2008)

Incredible view and lovely surf noise from our 5th-floor room - looking out the window was a mini-vacation.

All-inclusive (i.e. free to Craig and me) food and drinks at the resort's 3 restaurants and 5+ bars - when we finished eating and drinking, we just got up and left instead of waiting for a check - it will be hard (though very necessary) to break this habit, back in the real world.

Well-stocked, well-priced downstairs jewelry store - I made so many trips there that the clerk started laughing when I took a photo of the store's sign on my last day.

Vigilant hotel security - little fear of leaving valuables in the room or at one's table while overloading one's plate at a buffet.

Very clean facility with fresh-smelling rooms and public areas - and no visible insects.

Unobtrusive service that seemed sincerely friendly - the staff appeared healthy and well paid, minimizing this North American liberal's Third World guilt.

Overall a very efficient operation, but just enough "manana" delays to slightly slow the North American personality - waiting for elevators forced us to take deep breaths and chill, etc.

Seeing Craig happy and relaxed (also well-beveraged and well-fed).

Bearable sunshine varied by clouds - cool for swimming but good for photos, napping and reading.

Constant humidity made bearable by the constant breeze - my skin never felt dry and my hair never went limp.

(Due to the fresh air and free booze), early bedtimes and deep sleep, not just for me but also Craig, Mr. Night Owl.

Being treated as a VIP - feeling truly appreciated by Hudson management.

Meeting other Hudson winners and getting reinspired about the company and our potential.

Guilt-free time for reading & napping.

Completely relaxing massage in a beautiful private room - one of the best massages I have ever had (a real compliment since I trained as a massage therapist and have friends & relatives who still practice massage therapy).

Constant refills of bottled water - and the caps were so hard to remove, there was little question the water had been industrially treated.

High hygiene standards at the hotel - OK to eat raw vegs & fruit.

Same time zone as Texas, no jet lag (just a culture lag).

Rain forest showerhead, draft-free room - I was less obsessed with being covered up than usual - Craig will confirm that in Texas I wear sweatshirts about 360 days of the year - I'm cold in the winter, and I'm cold from the summer air conditioning.


Cancun Lesser Points

It was never purely hot while we were there - it was less rainy than predicted but often windy, which made the weather a bit cool for swimming or even sitting outside.

Our room had, literally, 18 light switches - some of them I never figured out - a couple of times at midnight Craig yelled at me to just shut down our whole electrical grid (it required a key card to activate) instead of clicking things on and off to figure out what did the jacuzzi mood lighting, what did the closet backlight, what did the makeup mirror, what did the nighttable under-marble light, etc.

Drinks were never really cold and food was never really hot - this suited the climate, and the food was safe to eat, but sometimes I missed frosty glasses and steamy entrees.

It was depressing to contemplate the unlikeliness of my ever being able to afford the resort on my own dime.

Occasionally the poolside canned music got to me - Vangelis' theme from "Chariots of Fire" at 8:30 a.m. seemed a bit much.

The Le Blanc never offered paper napkins - this assuredly cut down on airborne trash but made one's fingers perpetually sticky.

Being at a company event did not provide the anonymity one usually experiences at a hotel - we kept running into people we were supposed to know and should make chitchat with.

It was hard to get used to no cell phones (the roaming cost was prohibitive), which meant we had no way to track each other down. Craig developed a complex (I believe the word he used was "abandonment") when I veered off schedule 3 times in one day (to take self-portraits, sneak to the jewelry store, etc.) and he couldn't find me at our designated meeting places.

The constant humidity made me more puffy than usual - now back at home, I am waiting to lose 5 pounds from fluid correction, but that hasn't happened yet...still waiting...patiently waiting...