My husband and I just got home from the trip of a lifetime, all paid for by my company, Young Living. It was a luxury cruise through Italy and Malta, and the entire ship was bought out for Young Living brand partners who earned the trip.
Feeling beyond grateful to have been able to be there and to take my husband with me, so he could experience what it's like when Young Living roll out the red carpet for you!! The cruise was for 7 days/7 nights and each day we were docked at a new location through Italy and one day in Malta.
We boarded the ship as giddy as ever... Suuuper excited to see our room!! And when we made it inside we couldn't believe just how beautiful this ship was!! Luxury was an understatement.
Our room was gorgeous!!! Bigger than many hotel rooms I've stayed in ha!!! With an incredible balcony and luxurious bathroom. We surprised and delighted (as per usual) with some incredible swag!! On our beds were YL branded water bottles with a gorgeous picture of the Amalfi Coast, and a faux leather brown cross body satchel which were gorgeous and so handy for our day trips!
We also received two YL branded functional travel toiletries bags (so good!!!) filled with oils, ningxia and shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and even some aroma rings for seasickness!!
Then we were of course ELATED to see a bottle of Ningxia Red in replace of Champagne in a wine cooler, with glasses ready to crack open and enjoy.. Which we of course did, right away!
The first night started with a sail away party where we were all out on the top pool deck as we sailed away, cocktails in hand and getting to watch the most beautiful sunset while we sailed away!
Pure magic, and I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my company and the gift this business has been for our family and SO many others!
The next day we stopped in Naples.. Many people had booked a tour of Pompei or over to Capri Island. In hindsight I wish we'd gone to Capri, because Naples wasn't at all what I was expecting. It was incredibly dirty and ugly, old and poor. Rundown, broken streets and lots and lots and lots of people. We still stopped at a restaurant for pizza - the plan was to go to the famous pizza shop from the movie "EAT, PRAY, LOVE" but clearly everyone else had that plan too, and the wait was too long for our liking. We got a margherita pizza and then took advantage of the day being a slow one, and went back to enjoy the ship, and watch a movie... during the day... from our bed... what even was this life?!?!?!
The next day and one of my absolute highlights from the trip though, was visiting our Bella Vista Bergamot essential oil farm in Calabria! Any opportunity I get to visit one of our farms, is so special to me. Our farms are TRULY magnificent and what set us apart from all other essential oils in the world.
We got to walk through the fields of bergamot trees, and although they weren't fruiting (we just missed them - harvesting season is only two months of the year, January-February), the trees were flowering and absolutely gorgeous.
Then we got to have a tour through the distillery onsite, where they discussed how Bergamot essential oil is produced. The entire process is so so fascinating, and I just LOVE to learn more about what goes behind producing the most pure, high quality essential oils. Our Seed to Seal commitment really is out on display at our farms, as you get to learn about the science behind growing, harvesting and distilling specific oils, but you also get to see that the farms aren't perfect mono crops. they are a little bit wild, as there are often cover crops and weeds. I LOVE seeing this... Because it only validates the fact we don't use weed killers, and any other chemical sprays, and we use cover crops to continue feeding nutrients to the soil, as our plants pull nutrients from it, to grow optimally.
Our Aussie market Brand Partners at our Bella Vista Bergamot Farm!
That night we sailed away again, and headed to Sicily... Jono and I were so freaking in love with Ortigia - The town we landed in, and she did not disappoint!! A quaint island right off Siracusa. Again, walking the streets always just has my eyes wide with glee... So much amazement for the rich culture, the history and architecture. The streets were magnificent, the water was superb! Jono even jumped in! Freezing but at least HE can say he's swam in the Mediterranean, unlike me ha!! Ortigia had some gorgeous markets and we ate pasta at a restaurant overlooking the water with friends (and one of my team members from Germany who also earned the trip)... Perfection! We ended our day trip with a little visit to one of the small beaches, which were covered in sea glass! Stunning bright turquoise and white "stones" that looked like pieces of glass (without the sharp edges). I definitely brought some home with me!
We took off again and the next day we woke up as we were pulling into Malta. To get to Malta, we had to catch a ferry over to Malta, where we got chatting with some other YL fam.. and when we got off, we had to walk a little ways to then take a huge elevator up to Valetta..
We walked around the city, admiring the gorgeous architure and narrow streets, and then found the tiniest little hole in the wall coffee shop, which served "Superfood Lattes"... The name is Kir Royal Cafe (IG: @kirroyalcafe). The tastiest coffee we had on our trip, and I had a delicious tumeric latte which was to die for as well.
We then made our way back to the ship, relaxed, and then got ready for NINGXIA night! Dinner with friends, and all the ningxia you could imagine!!! Every restaurant on board, had a Ningxia Mocktails menu, and we tried all of them!! YUM! Let me tell ya... when you are a YL lifer and love your Ningxia, this is what dreams are made of!!!
Look at those MOCKTAILS!! Divine!!!
That night was definitely the bumpiest night on the boat, wind and choppy water meant I was definitely feeling the ship move, and my tummy didn't love it. I called it a night pretty early because I didn't feel great standing.
Due to the weather, we were unable to dock at the original port of Giardini Naxos, Sicily.. The plan was to take a short cab ride to Taormina and explore, but we ended up in Messina, which was further away.
We took a little stroll through Messina in the morning and Jono had a coffee, I had some icy mandarin drink.. I had no clue what it was but saw some people on the table next to me having it, so I decided to try it. Not many people spoke English here so communication was limited... Which we loved.. We had to work hard at our Italian. Makes you feel like you're truly in their country.
Many people had tours booked so had transport, and we decided we wanted to take the day to just really relax and enjoy the ship... Hey, it's not everyday that you have a luxury cruise ship, with gorgeous a pool and jacuzzis, all inclusive food and beverage... We enjoyed a nice virgin Ningxia Pina Colada by the pool and then had an afternoon snooze before getting ready for the night! It was so nice to have a couple of days to really relax and soak it in.
That night we had our recognition in the evening. The corporate team recognized everyone for their hard work and dedication to be there.. We had Jacob Young (Gary and Mary's oldest son) on the cruise with his wife Kait and he spoke to all of us too. It was so nice to hear form our corporate team and have the Aussie market together in one room for a little.
The sense of community and camaraderie is second to none.
A big part of why we do this business, is because it has created a sense of purpose and community that we were desiring before. It's knowing that you're part of something that's bigger than yourself.
We then headed to the top deck for a sunset dinner with our friends and their little lady! We drank ningxia champagne and ningxia limoncello... I know, don't even get me started on that! Having Ningxia at every bar was the best ever!!
We ate, we talked business, family, life, we laughed a lot.... And we stayed up wayyyy too late.
And then our finally day exploring Italy and on board the ship, was in Sorento. The ship had to be docked out in the ocean, so we had a small ferry take us from ship to land, and from Sorento we caught a cab to Positano!! The drive there was windy and we both felt like we were going to puke (few too many ningxia champagnes?) but our cab driver let us out at the top of Positano, at a look out, and it was MAGNIFICENT.
It felt like it wasn't real life... Like we were on a movie set. Surreal.
We then walked down thousands of stairs to get to the bottom... My calves were so sore for about a week after 😂
Positano was so so beautiful... I only wish that we'd had at least 3-4 days to explore the whole Amalfi coast. We weren't able to see the town of Amalfi because the ferry ride times were limited and our ship was departing to early, to get back to Sorento in time...
So we spent the day in Positano, walking around, standing in the ocean, eating at a seafront cafe, looking in the shops and enjoying the magnificence all around us...
We then caught a cab back to Sorento where we walked around the city center and did some shopping for the kids. Everything in this region was citrus!!! Citrus grows like wildflowers here so all you see are citrus trees everywhere!! And all the merchandise have lemons on them too! Super cute!
Then back to the ship in the ferry ready for the final night on board...
When we got back to the room we were overcome with the view from our balcony, so we got some content (obviously), we packed our bags and set them outside our rooms by 11pm (requirement of the ship) and had a lovely quiet dinner at our favorite restaurant on the ship (Silvernote). We ate here two nights over the week. It was a restaurant which had live jazz music, and served small plate meals, so you would order 3 each to feel satisfied.
Then back to the room and watched a movie in bed enjoying our last couple of nights together alone in a room 😂
In conclusion, it was the most incredible trip of a lifetime, to which I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to be on.
Our company sure pulls out the red carpet for us, and make us feel so incredibly valued and seen, which just feels so good in the work we're in.
If you're curious how you, too, can be on an amazing trip like this, for free, by serving others and building a wellness business, let's chat.
This business has created so much for my family and so many on my team, it's hard to even articulate.
Email me essentiallywellandco@gmail.com or on IG @bec_kinderman and let's have a conversation.
xxx
Comments