Its April 28th. We are at the beginning of week 6 since the borders closed. It is a strange new world. A little recap to remember this moment in time... The beginning of the end here was the weekend of March 14th. We spent a spontaneous weekend on the island...
Belize Vacation Blog
Ms. Jess’s Family Blog
Punta Gorda Overnight: Maya Kitchen, Earthship, Fancy Hotel
After living in Belize for almost 3 years, there are still many parts of the country I do not know well. One area I haven't visited very much is in the south of Belize, Punta Gorda (PG). PG is consider (even) more rural than the rest of Belize; there are...
Our amazing B&D team, our amazing Hopkins community
This week was a tough one. One that we couldn't have gotten through without such an amazing team at Beaches and Dreams and without the help of our amazing community. This week, I saw people go above and beyond their jobs and rearrange their personal lives to help others. And...
Culture Day at School
Every November, at school, the kids learn about and celebrate all of the cultures of Belize. Belize has so many cultures and communities with rich histories and present day traditions that make Belize a truly unique place. It's not a melting pot -- some communities consist of ONLY those people...
The Slow Pace of Slow Season
When you run a hotel there is a busy season and a slow season. Even with the relatively consistent weather that we have in Hopkins Belize this seasonality applies to us as well. For us, December through April (Christmas through Easter) is high season. This is when hotels and restaurants...
Hopkins Day 2019
This weekend was Hopkins Day in our village. The name may sound redundant since we live in Hopkins, Belize. What it means is the village council of Hopkins creates an event that gives residents (and the village itself) an opportunity to make money and to celebrate Hopkins. People of Hopkins...
Residency Approved!
We applied for Belize Residency in August 2018 after living here for a full year. We were extremely limited in our travel that first year because when establishing residency you cannot travel more than 2 weeks in a year. After submitting the application, we were still limited but with slightly...
Maya Immersion with Mom
Mom arrives in Belize! My mom made her second visit to Belize in January, just one month after our Christmas visit to the States. We had planned her Belize trip long before our Christmas trip so it was not intentional to see each other SO soon again, but certainly welcome!...
Newbie bloopers
I think my mistakes in life are the things that make me laugh the hardest. Once enough time has passed, the most embarrassing moments are usually the funniest to think back on. It will be fun to put some of these in writing and have them to look back on...
To the States for Christmas
During our first year in Belize (last year), we wanted to establish Belizean Residency (you can think of this as a green card...we will still be citizens of the U.S. but, as residents, we no long need to deal with student or work visas). In order to apply for residency,...