This whole trip started with me sitting at my computer searching for how to get paid to travel. There I was, on the brink of quitting my job. No real plans, but I do my best thinking while on vacation, and I always travel for my birthday.

When you search for travel deals and ideas as much as I do, your social media feeds and Google searches are flooded with ads. Enter Spirit airlines “deals”. I promised myself that I wouldn’t fly budget airlines now that I was a bougie traveler….but BOS to STT for $120 r/t?! Booked.

But Kelly, you hate hot weather and you hate sitting on the beach and in the sun. Yes friends, you are correct. This complexion needs shade and air conditioning. Although, not my ideal vacation, I am not one to turn down a deal.

I’ve been to St. Thomas via cruise ship a bunch of times, but this was my first time staying more than a day. Now that I had a dirt cheap flight, time to secure somewhere to stay. I did a few quick TripAdvisor searches and ultimately ended up booking through Hotels.com to earn some free nights. I’ve already broken so many of my self proclaimed travel rules this trip, so what’s a few more. I booked a stay at Margaritaville St. Thomas.

My journey to the island started well. My flight from Boston to Ft. Lauderdale was uneventful. I boarded the next flight only to have to deplane due to a mechanical issue. Fast forward SIX hours, we boarded a new aircraft. Imagine the amount of drinks you can consume on a 6 hour delay. My fellow passengers and I learned the effects of that when 14 people were hauled off the flight because they decided to fight over a seat.

Alas, I checked into the hotel. $17 gets you a nice shared ride from the airport to just about anywhere on island. My room exceeded my expectations. I am 12 steps out the back door to the bar and 23 steps to the pool and about 43 steps to the ocean (yes, I did count) Margaritaville has two pools, a restaurant, and a small shop for some essentials and quit bites of food. There is direct ocean access although hurricanes have washed away much of the beach, but resort shuttles will take to you to a nearby beach for free. There are also taxis available almost always to take you anywhere you need to go.

Since this is sort of a budget trip, I decided to try a grocery delivery service for some snacks and drinks. There is a hefty delivery fee involved, but I ended up saving on resort food and drinks. If you try this service, try to order 2 days before you arrive so you don’t have to pay a “rush” delivery fee. They have a contract with the resort, so when the orders are delivered the staff brings everything to your room and if you aren’t there, they put it all away for you.

I took a taxi ($5) to Red Hook where I caught a ferry over to St. John ($16 r/t) over on St. John, I took a hike through Virgin Islands National Park to Salomon Beach. I had expected this hike to be a .3 mile nature walk. It ended up being quite a bit longer with some climbs my troubled legs didn’t find easy (an average person wouldn’t have an issue)

Salomon Beach is only accessible from this trail, which meant no crowds! I had the whole beach to myself for the whole time I was there.

As a reward for my efforts I ended my day trip to St John with a visit to Beach Bar for their famous Painkillers. Pro tip: go between 3-6 for happy hour, Painkillers are $4 cheaper. The bar has a live webcam, so be sure to text the link while you’re there to make people back home jealous 😉.

The rest of my trip was spent pool/beachside at the resort. Extremely relaxing and still not busy at all! I met many animal friends, and once the rum hit, I entertained many back home with a series of snap chat stories.