Departure Day: Until Next Time, Bonaire

Our last morning in Bonaire started the way every day should—gazing out at the ocean from our bedroom window. I snapped a photo that barely does it justice. I’ll miss this most of all.

Our flight back to the U.S. wasn’t until 2:30 p.m., so we had a calm, reflective morning to ease into the transition home. Packing up was a breeze. After so many adventures together—many involving rapid hotel changes and shared bathrooms—the three of us have developed departure-day precision. With four bathrooms and a relaxed timeline, this morning felt almost luxurious. Alarms set 30 minutes before departure, and we were still ready five minutes early. Seasoned travelers, indeed.

Our first stop after checking out was, naturally, the gym. The boys stayed committed to their workouts all week. Me? Not so much. Reintroducing exercise into my life after this trip will be a shock to the system… as will early wake-ups, a normal work schedule, and giving up my vacation diet of sugar and sunshine. Wish me luck.

We then made one final pilgrimage to Rumba Cafe, retracing our arrival route from last Monday. There’s something so beautifully nostalgic about ending where we began. I ordered the "American breakfast"—bacon, eggs, cheese, toast, and a pancake—with a mango smoothie that tasted like pure sunshine.

And the soundtrack? Straight from a soft rock time capsule. Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl), Islands in the Stream, and We Just Disagree played as I ate—absolute catnip for my middle-aged soul. Punk rock G of the 1990s might cringe, but current-day me was in heaven. Chef’s kiss. 😂

After breakfast, we made our way to the airport, returned the rental car, and breezed through check-in and security without a hitch. There’s something to be said for tiny airports with just a handful of daily flights—no long lines, no chaos, just an easy, stress-free process that lets you ease out of vacation mode gently. Even without lounge access, the wait was peaceful and pleasant, a final little gift from Bonaire before we boarded our flight home.

Our flight to Miami was punctual and mostly smooth—though the landing was a little bumpy thanks to what the pilot called “a bit of weather.” We didn’t think much of it at the time as we breezed through passport control (thanks to our Global Entry membership, which is one perk that comes with our favorite travel credit card), picked up and rechecked our bag, and made it back through security with time to spare. D stopped for a bite at Einstein Bagels (he’s not one for lounge food), and while he waited in line, I checked our next flight and found out it was delayed by over an hour. With an already late arrival time in Raleigh, the new estimate of around 1 a.m. wasn’t thrilling. We checked to see if we could hop on an earlier flight instead—only to discover it had been cancelled. Clearly, that “bit of weather” was wreaking more havoc than we realized. Bracing for a possible overnight in Miami, which would have put our trip delay insurance (another perk) to work, we headed to the Turkish Airlines lounge in Terminal E, hoping our Priority Pass membership (another perk) could buy us some comfort. Despite a crowd of similarly delayed travelers, we were seated right away at a tiny table we quickly covered in luggage, desserts, salads, drinks, and later, made-to-order entrées.

And then—good news! Our flight delay reversed slightly; departure was bumped up by half an hour. Encouraged, we packed up and headed to the gate. Boarding was calm and smooth. The pilot and flight attendants gave their usual welcome, and we settled in. But then… we sat. After several long minutes, the cabin door reopened and new passengers trickled on—folks who had missed connections and were being rerouted through our flight. I overheard one passenger say they’d fallen asleep en route to Miami and woken up in Jamaica. Suddenly, it seemed miraculous we’d even made it to Miami at all. And then came the announcement: the plane had a mechanical issue, and we’d need to deplane while they figured out whether they could get us a new aircraft. So instead of arriving in Raleigh at 1:00 a.m., we were now looking at a 1:00 a.m. departure—if we were lucky. Still, we reminded ourselves: plenty of fellow travelers around us were having a much rougher time. In the end, our replacement plane came through, and we landed at RDU at 3:14 a.m.—exhausted, but deeply grateful we didn’t have to drive 12 hours home from Florida in a rental car.

Home sweet home. You might think this is where the Bonaire story ends… but not quite.

This trip, originally dreamed up as a celebration of B’s high school graduation, also marked a major milestone: our first official scouting trip for Wanderful Journeys.

 🌍 What is Wanderful Journeys?
Wanderful Journeys is a brand spanking new travel club for curious, community-minded explorers who want to see the world without breaking the bank—or handling all the logistics themselves.

Our plan is to create beautifully organized, flexible group trips focused on connection, culture, and local impact. Whether you’re traveling internationally for the first time or just craving a better, more meaningful way to explore the world, we make it simple and affordable to go farther, together.

One of the benefits of the club? The chance to help shape future trips by contributing ideas, giving feedback—or even joining us on our scouting trips.

Because Bonaire was our very first scouting trip, I’ll be developing our trip plan into a formal destination itinerary for our library. Over the next week or so, I’ll publish a follow-up post covering the details: total expenses, budget breakdowns, how we could’ve saved more, and what the cost would look like if we traveled as a group using the Wanderful Journeys model.

Thank you for following along on our adventure—can’t wait to share what’s next! ❤️✈️🌴