Saipan for the holidays

Well folks, we finally did it. We finally booked our first vacation together!! Like real vacation. A whole week, a far away island, palm trees, a beach, and us. Upon recommendation from one of JM's co-workers, we are headed to SAIPAN, part of the Northern Mariana Islands and north of Guam. It is a US territory, so JM will at least get the feel of being in a western place since he isn't going home. And trust me, after all the kimchi for 4 months, we really just want a burger. But they also have a good mix of local culture too since there has been a movement to preserve it.

Aerial view of the island. There is a reef that protects it.

Saipan!

There seems to be some great tours we can take, places and attractions to see, and things to do. Tripadvisor has been a great source of information and a blog/review I found recently from a guy who lived there really gave us some ideas for things we must experience on the island. The more I read about the island, the more excited I get!

Here is a map showing where Saipan is in the world. We are staying at the Hotel Galleria. It's not a resort or anything, but it seems nice enough. There are beaches all around the island so we are within walking distance of at least one. We have thought about renting a car for a day and driving around the island, but we haven't booked anything. JM's colleague told us to just meet one of the locals and hopefully they would show us around. So we are banking on their friendliness! It would be nice to get out of the touristy areas and see what the locals do.

We leave December 28 and return January 6th. I am definitely looking forward to 8 days of bliss! :)

Love,
Jennika

The airport.