• I spent years dreaming about floating in a transparent kayak I initially noticed on Instagram.
  • I lastly had the prospect to glide in a single on a latest cruise this July.
  • It wasn’t what I anticipated, however it jogged my memory that touring is about individuals, not Instagram posts.

In school, I launched into what was presupposed to be a kayaking journey to an island off the coast of Florida full with dolphin sightings and a campsite underneath the celebs.

However Florida’s temperamental climate rerouted us to mosquito-infested Everglades. The disastrous journey ended with me and my kayak getting towed for the final leg of the 13-mile kayaking route.

After that, I vowed to by no means kayak once more.

However each few months whereas scrolling on Instagram, I might spot a pair paddling in a transparent kayak.

I tried one of Instagram's hottest travel trends. While I didn't get a great picture, I regret nothing.
Pictures like this have flooded my Instagram feed for years.

graphixel/Getty Photographs

The plexiglass portal supplied views straight into the water, and the expertise enticed me.

The extra the images popped up on my travel-driven Instagram feed, the extra I forgot the ache of sitting crisscrossed for hours within the solar.

The Instagram picture satisfied me to present kayaking one other shot.

So after I booked a spot on one of many first cruises leaving the US this July, I began scrolling via Carnival Cruise’s pages of shore excursions.

A catamaran trip with champagne caught my eye, and I used to be tempted to zipline via a rainforest.

Then I landed on a pair of individuals smiling in a transparent kayak. It was an expertise I might thought of for years, and a spot like Roatán, Honduras, felt like the best vacation spot to present kayaking a second shot.

I tried one of Instagram's hottest travel trends. While I didn't get a great picture, I regret nothing.
A screenshot of the tour description.

Carnival Cruise Traces

“Glide over the reefs in your very personal clear kayak and see the ocean as you’ve got by no means seen it earlier than,” the excursion’s description read. I booked the journey for $76.

About two weeks later, the Carnival Vista ship dropped me off in Roatán, and a dozen individuals headed to a white sandy seashore.

I spent the 30-minute bumpy trip dreaming about floating above colourful corals, watching fish dart beneath a transparent kayak, and, in truth, snapping the right picture for Instagram.

Once we arrived, I discovered the kayaks weren’t the clear ones I envisioned. As an alternative, they had been common kayaks with the underside swapped out for opaque plastic.

I tried one of Instagram's hottest travel trends. While I didn't get a great picture, I regret nothing.
Our kayaks lined up alongside the seashore.

Monica Humphries/Insider

However earlier than disappointment might set in, the saturated blue water and sandy beaches distracted me.

It was slightly below a 12 months since I had final seen the ocean and simply over a 12 months because the park and its tour operators had welcomed vacationers.

Roger Miranda, the pinnacle tour information, bounced with pleasure. He eagerly welcomed us – the primary group of long-awaited vacationers.

Miranda gushed about his house. “We now have the most effective seashores on the planet,” he reminded us many times.

“I nearly teared up after I noticed you all strolling up,” one other tour information advised me.

As we launched into the water, the tour guides identified completely different corals and the luxury all-inclusive resorts lining the shores. “You may all have to return again,” they mentioned.

As I breathed within the salty, humid air, I listened to strangers from the ship bond for the primary time because the pandemic began.

It did not matter that I wasn’t sitting in a transparent kayak. I used to be surrounded by vacationers concerned about Roatán and locals itching to indicate off the fantastic thing about their island.

I tried one of Instagram's hottest travel trends. While I didn't get a great picture, I regret nothing.
A blurry picture because of a smudged digicam lens.

Monica Humphries/Insider

Because the afternoon winded down, Instagram did not cross my thoughts. I might later scroll via the images and notice a submit would by no means come to fruition – the photographs had been blurry.

After not touring for over a 12 months, I had forgotten why I thrive on visiting new locations.

It is not the Instagram shot or the satisfaction of checking one thing off a bucket listing. I journey for the individuals I meet and the locations I can uncover.



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