Oct 3, 20217 min read

A Lux Maldives Vacay w/ My 4 Year Old

Updated: May 29

"Teary eyed and all not knowing what to expect traveling by ourselves for the first time ever, we were terrified".

(See below for resort experience, I get a little detailed here, but please read for a good story)

THE PLANNING

I’m in a season where nothing surprises me and I’m learning how to take it all in stride. But this one right here truly caught me off guard. This Mini Me Vacay started off as a trip planned for myself, husband and two girls. This was a trip for us all to recharge, especially my husband and myself. Myself and the girls just moved back to Saudi to be with my husband after a long 2 years being stuck in the US due to Covid. And what we thought would be fun to get back and get away became a bit overwhelming and frustrating for myself. When I arrived to Saudi I was met with a two week quarantine and then a lockdown due to my vaccine information not taking into their app system to allow me to move around freely. My husband was working long, long hours and not able to spend much time w/ us. Anyway, that’s another story for another day. So getting back to Saudi I needed a vacay from the vacay and my poor husband definitely needed one from all of the hard work, kids whining, wife whining, and ripping and running he had been doing.

So we set off for our dream vacay to the Maldives for my 41st birthday. We had been discussing this location for a while since we arrived in Saudi 3 years ago. I first did a ton of research on resorts, activities, family friendly, Covid protocols, and of course food and luxuries. I came across a beautiful, unique resort within our budget and family friendly, Lux North Male Atoll (Now Jumeirah). They do have a sister resort that still remains that we hope to visit Lux South Ari Atoll. The flight to Male, Maldives from Qatar is only 4hrs, and who doesn’t want to go to paradise. The sad part is though once we arrived to the airport in Saudi before ever leaving around midnight or so my husband realized that he hadn’t applied for our youngest daughter’s Iqama and his Visa was expired. At this point we were faced with the ugly truth of myself and my 4 year old mini me having to go without them. Mind you, my husband had never been left alone for more than a 1/2 day with either daughter and especially not this 1 year old tyrant. So this was a hard decision for me. I felt terrible that he wasn't able to go as hard as he had been working to keep us and the job happy. I felt guilty that I had been raising hell but I was the one getting a vacay. And I felt sad that we weren't able to get our marital reset that we so desperately needed. However, to keep from losing a crap load of money my mini me, (let’s just call her this for the sake of this story) set off to paradise on our own. Teary eyed and all not knowing what to expect traveling by ourselves for the first time ever, I was terrified leaving them. But she was siked and all ready for vacay.

Honestly, as soon as I saw that beautiful water those feelings all washed away. this was probably hands down one of the best vacations I have ever had. Because there was little to no expectations from anyone but myself. I didn't have to wear eye plugs for a loud snoring husband, no waking early in the mornings or randomly at night because of the 1 year old or changing diapers or any other demands. See, my mini me is not fussy, she’s actually very easy going, and doesn’t require a lot so a donut a day, the kids club, pool and beach was enough for her. My husband and little one survived and actually got along quite well, who knew she's a daddy's girl and was quite an angel. They needed the time together anyway being that they were apart for these first two years of her life.

THE DESTINATION

Now let’s get into this gorgeous destination. The flight was fine, we flew Qatar Airways, had a short layover in Qatar an amazing airport for kids and adults alike because they have these awesome play structures and super cute Instagram-able restaurants, also the airport is super clean and they have quiet rooms for families, smoking rooms, reading rooms, and prayer rooms. All of our flights were mostly empty going. Once we departed we were served dinner

and breakfast upon arrival on the plane. Being our first time in the Maldives we didn’t know what to really do so it was a long line once we exited the airport adjacent from the Maldives sign and we stood in it. For about 10 mins and of course I got anxious and decided to

start asking questions. Come to find out the resort we booked (Lux North Male Atoll, now Jumeirah) had their own booth so no need to stand in the line, which would have been at least an hour and a half or more. If you hadn’t booked with a resort with it’s own transportation you will need to stand in this line. Also, if you don’t have an international SIM card or phone plan or your resort doesn’t provide WiFi you will need to purchase an internet card if you want to stay connected which they have right outside of the airport conveniently. Finally we took a semi private speed boat ride which was part of our accommodations with the resort (for an addtl. fee about $250/adult & $200/kids 2-12 I believe) about an hour ride. They had air conditioning, bottled water to drink, bracelets for sea-sickness (the seas are rough and I did get sea sick leaving) and free wifi, no need to worry. The sea plane was an option but I wasn’t trying to ball out like that, lol! The sea plane ride runs around $500-600/ person.

THE RESORT

We were welcomed by the staff and our private butler who took care of us hand and foot. Risal, our butler provided us with a cell phone to call when we needed a ride to and from anywhere on the resort, he made reservations, took care of all of our travel departure paperwork and request and Covid testing, he set-up an AMAZING birthday evening for myself with candles, cake, and balloons throughout the room upon return from dinner (See pic below). Each evening he made sure we were well taken care of and that we didn’t need anything. All of the staff knew our names. It was top notch. My mini me enjoyed it most, they provided her with her own little personal robe, lots of attention, they knew her food orders too.

The kids club had a splash pad inside of the club, lots of bright colors, they painted her nails and all. We were going to do our own private movie night on our rooftop (I brought my own projector & computer however they can set it up for you for about $250 USD with their own equipment) this was one of the things we were looking forward to, but it rained just about every evening lightly so instead we went to the resort’s beach movie night one clear evening instead of going through the extra trouble, they played Ratatouille so cute. They set it out on the beach with popcorn and candy, soda, cotton candy, jelly beans, and so much more it was a kids dream. They had free snorkeling gear you could pick up along with a plethora of other water sport activities. We opted for a speed water raft boat ride one day and it was so exhilarating (boat ride was about 15 mins perfect timing and about $60/ per person, see IG highlights for the vid) Everyday we would do a mini photoshoot and dance party and she loved it, she thought she was taping for her own YouTube show. Oh, how could I forget she ate ice cream everyday at the ice cream shop (bubble gum IC w/ jelly beans on a waffle cone). We departed the island by going to have lunch at our favorite beach spot staring off into the beautiful Indian Ocean by the pool and ate a margherita pizza, french fries and a donut milkshake (BEST DAY EVER LUNCH). The vacation was amazing! I ate good, relaxed in our private pool, had lots of quiet time to reflect and think, took lots of pictures, and did lots of dreaming. My husband and I are already talking about going back to make more memories.

THE EXTRAS

Things I left off that the resort had and did very well and/or that I didn't get a chance to experience or photograph. They had their own photography studio, beautiful over water spa, coffee house, cute instagram-able spots (red phone booth), exercise gym, water motor activity rentals, live music, private dinner set-ups on the beach, swings & hammocks sporadically placed, pool and billiards area, ice cream shop, free fun workshops (ie. how to make a mocktail or ice cream shake or cocktail), hookah or shisha available, lots of bars and a few restaurants and room service for different food choices (which is awesome), private baby-sitting services and the resort will provide extra beds and/ or cribs for your room. And because our butler was the best he provided me with a power cord for my Apple computer the entire time because I left mine.

TIPS, SUGGESTIONS, INFO

Make sure to bring a universal plug converter outlet.
Pack light and airy, most of your time will be spent at the beach or pool in your villa, they're amazing
Bring sunscreen, I had mine but barely used it, and while I didn’t get burned, I definitely peeled and dried my skin out
Bring a sun hat, get braids, or scarves to keep the hair tamed and keep out the salt and to not have to deal with the fuss
Bring a tri-pod to catch all of this beauty with you in the photos, I broke mine as soon as I got their, ugh!
Traveling w/ kids bring some beach toys
Rainy season is anywhere between May-November, December being an almost perfect month, September was honestly perfect to me, the weather was beautiful, and it may have rained for 15 mins two nights of the 4 we were there, with one night storms into the morning, which I loved
This resort was very quaint and quiet, we didn't see a lot of people,except for at dinner