Looking back at our trip to St. Martin, I keep thinking about the opening line of A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
That pretty much sums it up.
The views were absolutely gorgeous, the beaches looked like something straight out of a postcard, and we ate some of the best French food on a daily basis. But the normal, day-to-day things like driving, finding parking, and simply getting from Point A to Point B were quite the nightmare.
It often took us over an hour just to drive a few miles. Many of the public beaches didn’t have restrooms or places to shower. There were restaurants we wanted to try but couldn’t because we simply couldn’t find anywhere to park. These are such basic things that we take for granted at home, but dealing with them every single day created an enormous amount of mental stress. By the end of the trip, I felt completely burnt out.
I needed another vacation after coming home from my vacation!
I had chosen our Airbnb largely based on the views, and to be fair, they were truly spectacular. The downside was that it was in a fairly remote area and required driving up a substantial hill every time we wanted to come or go. Every meal, beach visit, or outing meant getting back in the car.
The biggest lesson I took away from this trip?
Location! Location! Location!
A beautiful view is wonderful, but not if getting anywhere becomes a daily ordeal. We would have been much better off staying on the Dutch side, where it would have been easier to walk around and get to the places we needed, and then driving over to the French side when we wanted to enjoy the beaches and incredible food.
For future trips, I need to look beyond the beautiful Airbnb photos and ask myself a much more practical question: What is it actually going to be like to stay here every day? Sometimes convenience is worth giving up that spectacular view.