Category Archives: Podcast

Episode 98A: Part 1 of October 2017 Aruba Trip Report

I’m down here on location in Aruba with my ever loyal sidekick Maggie for our October 2017 Aruba trip. This time, Maggie brought her daughter Jess along. The three of us have so much planned for this trip and we can’t wait to show Jess what the amazing island of Aruba has in store.

What I’m planning here is a blow by blow recap of our experience on this trip. We started it with leaving Delaware for Newark where we stayed at the Courtyard Marriott for the night before heading to the airport in the morning. We arrived smoothly on the island at an ideal time, which was followed by probably the fastest transition we’ve had from airport to car rental company to our rental house.

EP97 – Get From Under the Palapa and See Aruba

How many years have you been going to Aruba? Have you explored Aruba during those years you’ve been there? On this episode of One Happy Podcast, Maggie and I discuss why we encourage people, especially the Aruba lovers, to go out and explore the island. There is so much to see and do!

It all started from a post I saw on the Aruba Forums of someone taking a picture of the menu of Fermin’s. One comment read that they have been going to Aruba for more than 50 years but have never even heard of Fermin’s. It made me kind of sad. To me, the experience of Aruba is not complete if you haven’t seen all the wonderful things that island has to offer outside the resort areas.

I know that there are some people who just wish to decompress and relax, and that’s perfectly understandable. It’s your vacation. Your time. Your call. But you may never know what you’re missing out on if you never step out of that comfort zone.

Bottomline is, I urge all of you who are tuning in right now to take chances and see what the entirety of Aruba has to offer. Rent a jeep. Just take off. Find a little nook or cranny of Aruba that you can call your special place. We’ve found ours. And it’s our wish that you will find yours too.

On another note, if anyone will be down in Aruba on the 24th of October, come join us at Legends Pub at 7:00 p.m. for One Happy Podcast’s 3rd Anniversary Party. We would absolutely love to meet you there. Come, let’s chat, drink, and be merry!

EP96: Aruba Curt Talks about Eat Local Aruba Restaurant Month 2017

Coming up is a delectably exciting event on One Happy Island. For the entire month of October starting from October 1-31, the island of Aruba will celebrate Eat Local Aruba Restaurant Month. This is an event which encourages tourists to explore the culinary heritage of Aruba with locally inspired dishes.

On this episode, Maggie and I talk about what we know regarding Restaurant Month.

EP95: 3 Key Financial Concerns of an Aruba Vacation

For 8 glorious days, Maggie and I will be down in Aruba on the 22nd to 30th of October for our third trip of the year. As it is the third trip, we have to adhere to a stricter budget this time around while not skimping on the fun.

The three most important factors to keep in mind when traveling to Aruba are airfare, accommodations, and spending money.

For airfare, where you live and where you choose to fly can have a huge impact on your flight. We like to find flights on CheapAir.com then follow it up with checking on the actual airline websites afterward. It works well for us and gives us the best bang for our buck.

As for accommodations, there are plenty of choices: hotels, condos, all-inclusive, and timeshares. We personally love going for a rental because it fits our needs perfectly. Plus we really just need a place to rest and sleep that is comfortable, clean, has a convenient location, and gives us privacy so a rental home is our go-to.

EP94: Travel designer Beth Johnston gets familiar with Aruba

Hello, everyone! We are in for a fresh and informative episode of One Happy Podcast as Beth Johnston, a travel designer and Aruba first time visitor joins us to recount her familiarization trip with the island.

Beth is the first ever travel designer that I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing. As a travel designer who specializes in destination weddings and honeymoons, Beth’s job involves handling all the arrangements for her clients in their trips. It’s a career that Beth pursued after having the time of her life in a destination wedding vacation herself.

For the first time just last month, Beth decided to head off to Aruba, as a new travel destination offering for her clients. Well-known for being out of the hurricane belt, Aruba is the absolute perfect place to plan a destination wedding. This was a familiarization trip which is something travel professionals do as a way to get to know more about the island. As you can imagine, in the process of becoming more familiar, Beth fell in love with Aruba as well.

EP93: Talking Aruba Restaurants with Regina Crusan

Get your pen and paper ready because Regina Crusan and I are about to list down restaurants in Aruba that you should definitely check out! On this episode of One Happy Podcast, Regina talks about her upcoming trip to the island in a couple of weeks and we discuss the restaurants that she plans to…

EP92: Returning to where it all started with Marcia and Ray Frost

Fresh back from their trip to the island are Marcia and Ray Frost, who are joining me for this episode of One Happy Podcast to talk about how they celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary in Aruba.

I first had the pleasure of interviewing this lovely couple back in episode 23, in which they told the story of how they fell in love with Aruba. You can listen to that here: http://onehappypodcast.com/ep23

Marcia and Ray, who are Aruba veterans, find comfort and enjoyment in exploring the island to interact and make friends with the locals. They just love to take in the vibe, the music, and the friendly atmosphere in a small island where everyone knows everyone.

They talk about their great experience in an all-inclusive deal with Divi Aruba, which is according to them, the best deal in town and a no brainer if you just wish to sit back, relax, and have everything ready for you. For a reasonable price, they got to enjoy accommodations, endless food, and drinks, as well as entertainment. It’s perfect for anybody who wants to take a trip in a pinch.

For their next trip, Marcia and Ray are planning to take a bunch of newbies with them to the island who will be experiencing the wonders of Aruba for the first time. They can’t wait to be the excited tour guides. In their words, “We love to take people for their first trip and for them to see Aruba with fresh eyes.”

Lastly, but also very important to note, they recount their heartwarming tale in bringing puppies home on a plane to be adopted. As huge animal lovers, Marcia and Ray can’t feel a lot of compassion for the stray animals on the island and they set out to do what they can to help.

EP91: part 3 of my Summer 2017 Aruba Getaway with Maggie G

It has been a week since Maggie and I left the paradise of Aruba and we’re here again to bring you the conclusion of our Summer 2017 Getaway trilogy. Don’t forget to check out episode 89 and 90 for the first and second parts of this series.

I have to say, this has been one of the most laid-back vacations we’ve ever had. There was no adventuring involved this time. We just kicked back, relaxed, and basked in the calmness of the One Happy Island. Let me give you a summarized recount of our experience from our recent 8-day trip.

EP90: part 2 of my Summer 2017 Aruba Getaway with Maggie G

So this episode of One Happy Podcast was recorded down on the island.  What I wanted to do was capture the excitement of checking in with you guys on location.  So here we have yours truly and Maggie G. discussing some of the highlights of our Summer 2017 Aruba Getaway. While Aruba is widely regarded…

EP89: Part 1 of my 2017 Aruba Getaway with Maggie G

In just a couple of days, Maggie — who you may be familiar with in a lot of previous episodes — and I are heading out to Aruba for our second trip this year and we are ready to go beach hopping and have some fun in the sun!

This will be the first part of what I’d like to call our Summer 2017 Getaway trilogy. We’ll be doing an episode before the trip which is this one, another episode during our trip, and then the finale, after the trip, as a post-vacation wrap-up.

The last time we went to Aruba was on March earlier this year, and now we are going back to the One Happy Island this summer just in time for the Fourth of July, in celebration of America’s 241st Independence Day. This is our first time joining in the festivities while on the island and we’re excited to see the fireworks display from Palm Beach. We’ll make sure to have a toast for all of you listeners too.

We also talk about the things that we’re looking forward to the most in this trip which include soaking up the sun in Aruba’s beautiful beaches as usual, dressing up in red and white to celebrate Canada Day with friends on the 1st of July, gearing ourselves up for a night of laughter in Aruba Ray’s Comedy show (EP87 went more in detail with this), having our curiosity piqued with Guy “Master of the Mind” Bavli’s mind-bending performance, and of course, getting out tummies filled with delicious food. We list out a bunch of restaurants that we’re planning to check out — from pubs to traditional restaurants to the most recommended places by our listeners to the best pizzerias in the island to Italian ristorantes. So many places, so few nights!

Maggie and I can’t wait to see what the island has in store for us this time! We have no doubt that it will be a blast.