The Damiano Dispatch · Edition 05
Begin Anywhere. Even If It’s in the Middle.
The Begin Anywhere issue. The two words that followed us from a plane to a mantel to my spine, five seats in Premium that still came out ahead, Mexico all inclusives sorted by who’s going, and the first journal in the library that’s for you, not the kids.
By Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel
Where in the world are the Damianos?
Where in the World Are the Damianos
We’re back across the pond. This week it’s Devon, England, in a big rented van, with a dog who has more siblings than she did a month ago.
First, the flight, because a lot of you asked. We flew Norse Atlantic Airways one way from the States to London. Economy was very cheap. Too cheap for an overnight, honestly, because I knew none of us would sleep in it. So I priced Premium for all five of us, and here’s the part that made me laugh out loud. Five Premium seats on Norse cost less than five economy seats on Delta.
Premium is real room. Footrests, pillows, blankets, movies, pretty good food, drinks, everything you’d expect on a long haul. The crew was the surprise. They bent down to talk to you. They walked the aisles. Nobody rushed anybody. The flight was smooth, not a bump, and we landed 45 minutes early on a tailwind. I would 1000% choose it again, as long as we can do the Premium seats.
The catch, and it’s a real one.
Luggage is not included, and the carry on rules are much tighter than you’re used to on an American airline. The personal item is a canvas bag, not a backpack. The carry on suitcase is smaller than the one you own. We ended up paying to check five backpacks and three small suitcases at the airport, which I did not plan for. Read the bag rules before you fall in love with the fare. Then fall in love with the fare.
Where in the world are the Damianos?
A Van, a Dog and a Stone Circle
At Gatwick we picked up a big Volkswagen van to drive to Devon. It drives great, it’s good on gas, and the back seats have flip down tray tables, which in America would be called a hazard and here is called Tuesday. The narrow lanes are another story. We’ve had a few close encounters with hedges, and I backed hard into one bush. No damage. The bush and I have agreed not to talk about it.
Poppy lost her mind when she saw us. She’s been with our friends while we were in Florida, and we’re sharing her between the two families now. Co-parenting, basically. She has extra siblings and she seems very happy about it, and I’m choosing not to be jealous.
Where in the world are the Damianos?
A Farm, the Cold and a Night Out
Our Airbnb this week is a farm. Actual chickens, actual pigs, actual mud. The kids feed the chickens in the morning and come back smelling like the countryside, and the pig eats like he’s late for something. I didn’t plan it as a lesson. It just is one.
Then there’s the cold. Fall here is beautiful. It is also not the sun, and I’ll be honest, it puts a damper on my mood almost immediately. I knew it was coming. You still have to be ready for it. I’m hoping the next place has somewhere outside to sit with a blanket, because I need to be outside even when outside doesn’t want me.
So we did a Primark run. Sweats, sweatshirts, jumpers as we call them here, all very affordable, all comfy and wide and wonderful. Winter wardrobe for five, one bag.
And Faith is back. Faith is my incredible 17 year old nail tech, and she did my nails again this week. I’m so happy to have her back. Then we all went bowling, because that’s what you do in England when the rain won’t stop and the kids won’t either. Some things about coming home to our friends you can’t put on a list.
The headline story
Begin Anywhere
It started as a card on a plane.
Our first trip overseas together was Costa Rica. Somewhere over the water I handed Adam a little card with two words on it. Begin anywhere. That was the whole gift.
It came home with us and it never left. It went in a frame, and the frame went on a mantel, then a wall, then another wall, in every single place we’ve lived since. Every time I walked past it, it said the same thing, and every time it meant something a little different.
I’m not a quote person. I own exactly two cards. This one, and one that says in dog years I’m dead, which is a different kind of philosophy. But those two words did something the long ones never do. They took away my excuse.
Because the excuse is always the same. I’ll start when the kids are older. I’ll start when there’s more money. I’ll start when I know how. I’ll start at the beginning, properly, with a plan.
Begin anywhere says no. Start here. Start in the middle. Start badly. Just start.
I didn’t know it yet, but that card was going to follow me for years. It was going to end up on a car, on a wall, on a website, and finally on me.
The headline story
It Kept Showing Up
The thing about two words is you can put them anywhere. So I did.
They went on the front of our car, where I saw them every single morning on the way to a job I was good at and ready to leave. They went over the whiteboard in my classroom, where a room full of kids saw them every day whether they wanted to or not, and I hope one or two of them still do. When I built adventuresweseek.com, they were the first thing on the page. Not a tagline somebody wrote for me. The actual words I live by, right under our family photo.
And then we sold the house. Five people, a dog, a few suitcases. That was the biggest begin of all, and we did not do it at the beginning of anything. We did it in the middle of three kids and two careers and a life that looked finished from the outside.
The headline story
Then I Put It on My Spine
So on a Saturday morning in Florida, I made it permanent.
The appointment was at 8am at XO Coffee, which is exactly what it sounds like. A coffee shop and a tattoo studio in one, and the best kind of morning. The placement took a really long time, because a line down your spine has to be straight and there’s no fixing it later. My artist, Miki, took the drawing I sent her and turned it into something I couldn’t have drawn in a hundred tries. She’s a true artist. It’s absolutely stunning.
Did it hurt? Not much. A couple of spots made me gasp a little. Nothing drastic. The hardest part is that it’s on my back, so I can’t see it unless I really twist in a mirror. Everyone else gets to see it before I do.
At the top, five constellations around one solid heart. That’s us. Down the middle, in cursive, begin anywhere. At the bottom, a compass rose, right above the flowers I already had. My necklace, the one I always wear, the one that’s a compass or a star or a sun depending on how you hold it, sits right at the top of it now.
The real thing. Stars at the top, compass at the bottom.
What the kids said
Avilene saw it first. “Oh my gosh, it’s beautiful.” Gavin and Jake asked a lot of questions. Gavin doesn’t really believe in tattoos at this point in his life, he didn’t see the point, but he said he could appreciate the art, and I’ll take that from our 13 year old, Gavin. Adam just said how beautiful it was. What they all keep saying is the part I love. It’s so artistic, and so beautiful, and so me.
The headline story
What the Stars Say
People ask what the constellations are, so here it is. Each one is one of us. Not a random pretty set of stars. Our five sun signs, drawn as their pictures, with the real stars inside them.
Gemini. Me. The Twins. Curious, talkative, always asking the next question.
Sagittarius. Adam. The Archer. Aim at a horizon and go.
Taurus. Gavin. The Bull. Steady, grounded, determined.
Pisces. Jake. The Two Fish. Dreamy, imaginative, deeply feeling.
Libra. Avilene. The Scales. Balanced, social, made for harmony and beauty.
Gemini and Sagittarius sit opposite each other on the wheel. Curiosity on one side, adventure on the other. That’s the axis the whole family runs on. Learn it, then go see it.
Then it gets a little spooky, in the best way. Our moon signs, the inside feelings, chain into each other. Jake’s moon is in Taurus, Gavin’s sign. Gavin’s moon is in Libra, Avilene’s sign. Avilene’s moon is in Cancer, the sign of the day Adam and I got married. Each kid carries the next one, and it loops right back to the day we started this family. Adam’s moon is in Gemini. Mine. I didn’t plan any of that. It was just there, waiting for someone to look.
And the sky itself. Adam and I eloped on Koh Samui, in Thailand, and for the tattoo we worked out what the real sky looked like over the water at five o’clock that afternoon. Not the horoscope version. The actual stars. Gemini was up in the west, near the sun and a thin crescent moon. Libra was climbing in the southeast. Sagittarius was just under the eastern horizon, rising within the hour. Taurus had just set. Pisces was far below and wouldn’t come up until the middle of the night.
My sign was up over the sea. Adam’s was rising. And the kids’ signs were still below the horizon. They weren’t there yet. They were waiting in the future.
That’s why the heart in the middle is solid. Five different people. One center.
The headline story
What It Actually Means
Here’s the thing I tell people when they say “I could never do what you’re doing.”
With anybody and everything and anything you want to do or accomplish or overcome, a dream or a hope or even a prayer, anything that becomes a thought in your head, no matter how hard or how impossible or how easy or how insane or how quirky or how dreamy any of that might be, all it takes is that first breath, that first idea, that first step, that first click on your keyboard, the first anything.
You just have to believe in yourself enough to take that very first step, to just begin, even if it’s in the middle, or the end, or ten years from now. You just have to believe enough to take that very first begin.
That’s where we are right now. Not at the beginning of anything. We’re in the middle. The middle of a two year trip with no return ticket. The middle of three kids who still want the newest phone and still have to be talked into a walk. The middle of building a business from a condo balcony, a plane seat, and now a kitchen table in Devon. It’s not tidy. It’s not a plan with a bow on it.
It’s just a begin. And it turns out that’s the only part you need to get right.
Begin anywhere. Even if it’s in the middle.
Travel it · Mexico all inclusives
Mexico, the Easy Button
Promised last week, here it is. Mexico all inclusives. The trip where dinner is handled, the drinks are included, and the flight home is short.
Honest part first. I get asked “which resort should we pick” every week, and it’s really hard to just say “these are the ones I’d choose.” They are wildly different. Different budgets, different sizes, different vibes, and what’s perfect for one family is a miss for the next. That’s not a problem with Mexico. That’s the reason you want someone in your corner who does this every week.
So here’s the Mexican Caribbean, Cancun down through the Riviera Maya, sorted by who’s going. These are the resorts the advisors who sell this coast every day keep voting to the top. Their picks, not mine, because they live there.
Little kids: Hotel Xcaret México · Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya · Hyatt Ziva Cancun
Xcaret comes with the parks included, so underground rivers and the night show don’t need a second ticket. Nickelodeon is a water park with rooms attached. Hyatt Ziva is the calm, close to the airport, toddler on your hip option.
Teenagers who need a scene: Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya · Moon Palace The Grand · Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun
Teens want a water park, a gym, a club they’re allowed into, and other teens. These three have all of it, and they’re big enough that your fifteen year old can disappear for an afternoon and still be inside the resort.
Just the two of you: Secrets Moxché · UNICO 20°87° · Atelier Playa Mujeres
Adults only, quiet pools, the kind of dinner where nobody asks for a crayon. Secrets Moxché and UNICO are Riviera Maya. Atelier is on Playa Mujeres, north of Cancun, and takes guests sixteen and up.
Water park kids: Dreams Natura Resort & Spa · Sandos Caracol Eco Resort · Riu Dunamar
If the slides are the whole point, these are the ones advisors keep voting up alongside Nickelodeon and Moon Palace. Dreams Natura has a water park in the jungle, Sandos has cenotes on the property, and Riu Dunamar comes with Splash Water World.
Watching the budget: Barceló Maya · Iberostar Waves Paraíso Beach · Sandos Caracol Eco Resort
These are the ones advisors trust when the price has to work for a family of five, and a couple of them show up on the water park list too.
Travel it · Mexico all inclusives
The Other Two Coasts
Puerto Vallarta: The Pacific side, with a real town
Mountains behind you, a long waterfront walk called the Malecón, and an old town you’ll actually want to leave the resort for. Water is Pacific, so it’s cooler and the surf is bigger than the Caribbean. This is where I send groups who want a resort and a Mexico.
Los Cabos: The desert meets the sea
Cabo is drier, more dramatic, and more grown up. Big resorts along the corridor between the two towns, whale watching in winter, and a lot of beaches where you look but don’t swim because of the currents.
Three things before you book any of them
Not all “all inclusive” is equal.
Some include the parks, the kids club and the à la carte restaurants. Some charge for all three. The fine print is the whole trip.
Room category matters more than resort name.
A swim up room on the right side of the resort is a different vacation than the same resort, back building, third floor.
Tell me who’s going.
Ages, who needs a nap, who needs a nightclub, who’s paying. I’ll match the resort to the family instead of the other way around.
Travel it · Mexico all inclusives
Not Everybody Wants the Same Mexico
One more page, because “all inclusive” is only one of the Mexicos. Some families want a swim up suite and a butler. Some want a jungle, a cenote, and no wristband. And some want Nickelodeon slime, which is its own category. Here’s the rest of the menu.
The upscale version: Grand Velas Riviera Maya · Rosewood Mayakoba · Banyan Tree Mayakoba
Grand Velas is the one I point to when someone says all inclusive but means it. Rosewood and Banyan Tree sit on the Mayakoba lagoons, with boats instead of golf carts and nobody wearing a wristband. This is the anniversary trip, or the one where the grandparents are paying.
Nature first: Sandos Caracol Eco Resort · Hotel Xcaret Arte · Sian Ka’an
Sandos Caracol has cenotes you can swim in on the property, with monkeys in the trees. Hotel Xcaret Arte is the adults only sister of Hotel Xcaret, same parks, quieter rooms. And a day in the Sian Ka’an biosphere, south of Tulum, is the thing the kids will still be talking about at Christmas.
Holbox: The slow island
A small island off the top of the Yucatán. No cars, just golf carts and sand streets, hammocks strung in the shallow water, and whale sharks in summer. Boutique hotels, not big resorts, so this is the add on, three nights at the end of a Riviera Maya week, not the whole trip.
Nickelodeon: Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya
Every room is a suite, Aqua Nick is the water park, and yes, you can get slimed. Character breakfasts, a kids club that actually keeps them, and the all inclusive includes the park. If your kids are between four and ten, this is the one they’ll ask to go back to.
Tulum: Boho beach, jungle rooms, ruins on a cliff
Tulum is not an all inclusive town, and that’s the point. Beach clubs, small jungle hotels, bikes, the ruins right on the water. If you want a resort down here, Conrad Tulum Riviera Maya and Hilton Tulum Riviera Maya All-Inclusive Resort give you the Tulum address with the big resort setup, and Tulum now has its own airport.
Small and quiet: Excellence Playa Mujeres · Finest Playa Mujeres · Isla Mujeres
North of Cancun the beach gets calm and the resorts get smaller. Excellence is adults only, Finest is the family version next door, and Isla Mujeres is a ferry ride away for the day with golf carts and a swim at Playa Norte.
Want the whole menu for your family, not just the beach chair? Tell me who’s going and what they can’t stand. The second question matters more.
Learning Library pick of the week
Dear London
Every week I show you one of the kids’ books. This week, for the first time, the pick is for you.
Dear London is a journal. A real one, the kind you turn the pages of, built for your iPad or your phone. Every page has a small watercolor of London tucked into the edge, a line from someone who loved the city before you did, and one short question. Not a workbook. Not homework. A place to write down the one thing from today you don’t want to lose.
I made it because I kept watching parents document everything for the kids and nothing for themselves. You were on the trip too. Some of it should be yours.
It’s the first of the Dear series. London is up now, and the next cities are already on their pages.
Find it in the London Learning Library at adventuresweseek.com
Book it · ideas and specials
Trips I’d Put on the Calendar Right Now
Thanksgiving in the Riviera Maya: Fly in Wednesday, home Sunday
The easiest holiday you’ll ever host. Somebody else cooks, the kids are in the pool by noon, and nobody has to do dishes. Resorts fill for the holiday week early, so this is a now conversation, not a November one.
Spring break, but adults only: Secrets, Dreams or UNICO
If the grandparents will take the kids for four nights, this is the one. Short flight, warm water, a swim up bar, and a dinner that lasts as long as you want it to.
The multigenerational week: One big resort, one big table
Grandma gets her own pool. The teens get theirs. You get a quiet balcony. Everyone meets for dinner. I plan a lot of these and the trick is the room map, not the resort.
Puerto Vallarta for a group: Corporate retreat, bachelorette, the whole friend group
I’ve sent groups to the Hilton Vallarta Riviera and it’s a great base for a crowd. Town in one direction, mountains in the other, and the group rates make sense.
Send me a message and we’ll plan it
On the blog: Mexico with kids · Past editions of the Dispatch
Meet your travel advisor
Hi, I’m Nicole!
I’m an ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel. I plan family trips. Japan more than anywhere, plus cruises, river cruises, Mexico and Europe.
I don’t start with the destination. I start with your family. Who’s going, what the kids love, and what you want the trip to feel like.
Then I handle the hotels, the trains, the transfers, the guides and all the pieces you don’t know to ask about yet. You don’t have to turn planning into a second job.
24 years of international travel, 60+ countries, 300+ trips planned. And I taught social studies for eight years, so your kids are going to learn something. 😂
“Over the years I have traveled extensively for both business and personal, in the USA and abroad. By far, the best travel advisor I have ever worked with is Nicole Damiano. She is an A+.”
Tom Edmonds, Google review
You know your family. I know travel.
Tell me where you’re dreaming about and who’s coming. We’ll work through it together, and you’ll have someone in your corner from the first idea until you’re home.
Nicole@FGLuxuryTravel.com · Email me and tell me what you guys are thinking.
Next week
South Korea in Bloom
Next week, South Korea. Cherry blossoms without the Tokyo crowds, a capital city that stays up later than you do, the best head spa of my life, and why I keep adding Seoul onto my families’ Japan trips. Plus what the kids ate, because that’s the part they remember.
See you Monday!
Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel. Adventures We Seek is my travel blog and planning resource. Trips are booked through Favorite Grampy Travels.
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