Fun in Fuerteventura

It feels like a life time since I was on a beautiful beach doing nothing. But it was actually just a week a go, it’s crazy how quickly time flows by when I got back to Sheffield! I went to Fuerteventura for the annual family trip! Last year we went to Barcelona. Unlike my other adventures this year, this one was most of a relaxing trip so we didn’t do much. Doing nothing and “relaxing” was actually really difficult for me especially for the first few days! I had just finished my placement so my mind was pretty much occupied by worries of forgetting something. Thankfully, this passed after a while and I got to fully enjoy the present moment on such a wonderful island.

Fuerte-what?

For those who don’t know, Fuerteventura is one of the Canary Islands. Located off the coast of Africa, in the Atlantic Ocean, and a part of Spain. Apparently, Fuerteventura is translated to by some as “Strong Winds” which is no lie. Even though the sun was scorching hot, it got pretty windy at times. It is divided into six municipalities: Antigua, Betancuria, La Oliva, Pajara, Puerto del Rosario and Tuineje. We mostly stayed in Antigua. Once we landed after a 4-hour flight, we waited around an hour or so for our bus to the hotel. Only to find out that if we took a taxi, it would’ve only taken 10-15 minutes. ? After the long and uncomfortable flight (with RyanAir ?) all I wanted to do was drop all my stuff off and watch the sunset at the beach. Sadly, by the time we got to the hotel, the sun had already set and we were just looking for food!

Hotel

We stayed at the Geranois Suites Hotel which is located right by the beach! To top it all off, I luckily scored a room that had a view of the beach. Whenever I organise hotels, I always try and get the best room (i.e. the one with the best view!) So far, I’ve been pretty successful with this (apart from the one in Nice, of course.)

Food

We had breakfast and dinner at the hotel. At first, this actually put me off and I was eager to look elsewhere for food because I was scared it’d be the same as every other hotel, the same things every single day, and after a while (especially if it’s not particularly healthy) it can get a bit sickening. BUT the food at Geranois was always varied and they had healthy options! I got my shot of fruit smoothies every morning just like I did at home. ? At lunch, my dad went to some local supermarkets and cooked some food for us – it was such a treat because seafood was much cheaper ? so we had seafood almost every day!

Things I did

As I’ve said, it was more of a relaxing holiday so compared to my previous travel posts I didn’t do much at all, I did, however:

• Go to the gym with my parents. On the photos, the hotel gym looked amazing. But in real life, just like the one in Lisbon, it was quite small with limited facilities.
• Workout (in my hotel room, I actually filmed this on my Instagram story) because the gym opened at 8am. If you went any earlier, the machines wouldn’t have any power. You could use the weights, but in the dark (because sunrise was at 8? I was confused too?) ?
• Workout at the beach ?

• Lay down on the beach -burning- tanning, reading, writing my positive habits posts, singing, listening to music, trying not to get sand in my eyes (because the winds were so strong omg)

• Swimming. Nothing better than the waves pushing you back and forth. It’s so relaxing ?

• Go on walks with my family, but mostly by myself because my family got too tired and so literally just took naps in the hotel. I saw some beautiful places though – like small markets, colourful houses, shopping centres, more beaches!

• Meditated on the beach ?

• Force my sister to buy the same dress as me at a shady shop so we could take cute shots (she actually loved it!)

• Break my selfie stick because I tried to get a cool shot and accidentally dipped it in the ocean. ?? Someone remind me to get water-proof cameras/equipment next time or in fact, someone remind me to just buy a drone??
• Rent a car and explore La Olivia (my dad drove, obviously ;)) where we saw more of a “city” – we went shopping, ate food, ice cream and found more beaches!!

• Stop by a desert. It was incredible, I’ve never been to one before, but Fuerteventura was just full of them! After a walking around for a while, I started to understand why some people start imagining sources of water. The sun can get to ya!

• Took a selfie with a camel who got scared and nearly attacked me (I have this on video and it shook me ok ? Maybe I should stop taking selfies)

• Spent most of the time in a bikini, running around frreeeeeeee~ (this is my natural state, oh and wearing GymShark but seriously why can’t the UK allow me to do this)

• Got a henna tattoo done. For 15 euros (yikes) but then I slept on my hand that night so I got a free one transferred onto my leg. Buy one get one free. Win.
• Entertained groups of people by singing along (very loudly) to Little Mermaid songs.

• I saw a real life mermaid and lined up with all the little kids who wanted a photo with her. I have no shame.
• Bonded with my family ? We’re always so busy with work life that sometimes we forget to spend some quality time together; this was a great chance for all of us to bond! ?

Video

Because words and photos don’t do the place justice… I created a quick video with all the clips I took! Watch till the end or skip to 3:52 for the best part ? ✨ I came back refreshed and ready to take on my upcoming placements after finishing a year of full-time work at the University! ?? Side note: Thank you for all the comments and messages on my last post, it warms my heart so much knowing I’ve motivated and inspired some of you. Always choose to live your best life, folks. Prioritise yourself!