It was over a year ago that I attended the Brother Benno’s Annual Fashion Show and bid on a week Timeshare many places in the world – it could have been Costa del Sol in Spain, Colorado, Cancun, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta all in Mexico. One woman was bidding against me and really pushed the price up. She begged me to let her have it. I ended up winning and had a year to choose where I wanted to go and when.

The year was almost up – after numerous surgeries and various health challenges; I called Brother Benno’s and asked for an extension, which I received.

Each time I wanted to book – another severe health challenge would haunt me. Finally, I decided that I would book December 10^th to December 17^th, 2005 at Conchas Chinas. I chose Puerto Vallarta because it was on the coast almost equal to San Miguel de Allende where I had lived several years ago for several months. My thinking was that I would go to Puerto Vallarta for the week and then travel to San Miguel de Allende for Christmas and New Year’s since I love it so much.

I invited a neighbor to join me, to pay half of the timeshare and her own expenses. After doing the math, she decided she could not do it. I invited both of my sisters to join me – it would be our first vacation together since very young children. At first, they were both excited and agreed they were going to come. The deadline for booking their flights at a reduced price was looming, when my younger sister’s husband would not permit my younger sister, Gloria, to go because she has multiple health problems and MediCare does not cover anything in Mexico. My older sister is also disabled and has numerous health problems – and her family would not allow her to go either.

I was doing the math myself at this time – and realized this was going to cost me much, much more than I had spent for the week timeshare. I decided to try and sell it. I ran an expensive ad – and did not receive one telephone call or inquiry. I tried to list the timeshare week on EBay – the first time I tried, it said I had to register with SquareTrade which is an auditing group of EBay to prevent fraud in selling timeshares or travel packages. So I went to the SquareTrade website and had everything entered to register and pay my fee – when their entire website crashed! I then found ‘Other Travel’ on EBay and discovered that I could list the timeshare week. However, TWICE EBay stopped the auction. The first time, I thought I had ‘fixed’ the offending line in the description of the auction. The second time, was told I had to register with SquareTrade. Sheesh! By now, it was too late to try and sell it on EBay. In the meantime, I discovered a dear friend sells timeshares and has one of the most visited web sites and he allowed me to post a free ad. Nada! Zilch! No one inquired or was interested.

Everything else in my life was flowing – but trying to sell this timeshare was totally blocked. I had just gone through a month of having a severe allergic reaction to MSG – including Hives –, which I have never had in my entire life. I had to do a search on the Internet to find photos of the ‘welts’ that would form under my skin and then disappear. I did more research on allergic reactions to MSG and discovered that I was unknowingly ingesting MSG in ‘hidden forms’ such as in Whey Protein Powder with organic fruit in smoothies. I could not eat solid food at all without breaking out in hives and itching inside and out all over my body.

Thank heaven; a new neighbor was moving into my community from his organic property he sold in Solana Beach. He gave me cases of organic fruit including oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, lemons and limes, crabapples and kumquats. Another neighbor gave me organic Persimmons from her son’s property inland from San Diego. The Persimmons worked miracles for me because they stopped the itching and hives immediately!

The timeshare week was looming closer and closer. I kept thinking – what will I eat? What will I do there? Finally, I surrendered and prayed to Virgin Guadalupe to guide me. I asked, ‘should I lose the week? Should I use the week?’ I traveled, worked and lived around the world for 18 years – alone, all alone. So it was not about traveling alone. My prayer was answered with my own question, "What would I remember? Doing it or not doing it?"

I decided to go with the flow. I booked a courtesy airline reservation on a direct flight from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta through America West. I had 24 hours to decide. Turned out, the flight cost was CHEAPER than it had been a couple of week’s prior by over $75.00! I called before the 24 hours was up and requested another 24-hour extension on the courtesy reservation and was granted the extension saying the price would not increase so it was fine.

Now I had to book Queenie at the Holiday Pet Hotel in Encinitas. I was surprised when they gave me a reservation during this prime holiday vacation time.

I checked the airline fares on the Internet and found the prices had increased by over $100.00 for the same flight! I quickly called America West. Another obstacle – my one legal name of Jussta. I had not flown internationally since the end of 1994 when I flew back to Australia and returned – before 9/11 and all the new security measures were put into effect.

The airline ticket must match the name on the passport or identification exactly. Well both my passport and my driver’s license have the one name of Jussta. The reservations clerk had to check with several supervisors prior to issuing the electronic ticket and it was decided to use Ms Jussta – both for my ticket and my new Flight Fund membership. However, she urged me to arrive at least 3 hours prior to boarding because of security measures telling me that the plane could not be held for me to board if I had problems. I agreed.

Now I wondered how to get to the airport? I checked many of the airport shuttle services – and found they were very expensive (almost a hundred dollars), and I knew from experience how much additional time was required because of pickups and dropoffs.

I searched the Internet once again for off airport parking and found the cheapest was $10.00 a day. I called; the woman gave me directions and said they would have space.

Off airport parking made sense, because I would have to drive Queenie to Encinitas that morning prior to leaving – and if I took the shuttle, I would have to drive back home, only to be picked up by the airport shuttle service. I packed on Friday.

Saturday morning, I had to pull the futon out from under the bed to get Queenie out – she knew something was up and was not going for it. Queenie bellered all the way to Encinitas, and I lost my tapper on my IPAQ because I got lost trying to find the residential street for the Encinitas Pet Hotel. I was tapping their contact info to telephone when my tapper flew into the air in the car and went somewhere under the seat. We got there – I was only two blocks away and had turned too soon.

Queenie had a corner condo with a window view and was hissing at the other cats in their condos. I placed her scratcher, her bucket, and her 24-karat rimmed glass for water, her Chinese bowl with her food in her condo. I kissed her hasta la vista and ordered playtime every other day.

I arrived at the off airport parking within 20 minutes from Encinitas! There was a disabled parking space right next to their entrance and exit gates. As I stepped out of my SUV, the free airport shuttle pulled up behind my SUV. The young man grabbed my bags and loaded them as I searched for my tapper. It was nowhere to be found and I had to board the shuttle.

I was at the airport in five minutes. The porter took my check in bag and I pulled my carryon up the escalator to the check in counter. Instead of a person – there was an electronic push screen for check in. The young porter helped me figure out how to work it. All I had to do was enter my Flight Fund number. The machine confirmed my boarding pass – but nothing came out! An America West counter person came over to me and I told him nothing came out. It turns out the boarding pass and baggage claim check come out in back. He asked to see my passport. I showed it to him and he stamped my boarding pass with Secure Documents Verified! Sheesh, this was it?

Uh, no. He told me to ignore a call for Secure Documents check but advised me to go through security in about an hour – no longer. I went back outside the terminal to smoke. The sun was shining and it seemed like everything was going to be just fine.

I was talking with a young woman also smoking who turned out to be the PA for a cruise line and had just returned to San Diego from Tennessee where she had been vacationing. I could see the massive cruise ships in the harbor across the way. I told her some friends of mine many years ago had told me that a person can get really cheap cruises at the last minute – but I could never figure out how to do it.

She told me all I had to do was pack my bags, come to the offices of the cruise ships at 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays, and ask to be put on ‘standby’. By 3:00 p.m., the cruise lines would notify me if I had secured passage – at a really, really cheap price – like a couple hundred dollars for First Class accommodations. Now that I realized, I live about 35 to 40 minutes from the Cruise Lines and knew how to get these great deals – I am going to do it after the first of the year.

She left her cigarette lighter, so I used it and when I was putting it into my purse pouch – I noticed that my diamond bracelet on my right wrist was GONE!

I searched the area – I looked inside my purse and carryon bag. It was nowhere to be found. I went back up to the check in counter and asked the clerk if anyone had turned in a diamond bracelet. Nope.

Now I had lost my tapper AND my diamond bracelet. What kind of signs were these??? They certainly were NOT Divine!

Time to go through Security, which I was dreading. The TSA woman asked to see my boarding pass – then she asked to see my Passport. She barely looked and said, "Put away your passport NOW, Jussta," and smiled at me. I walked up to the scanners and placed my carryon and my beach bag, which also contained my video and digital cameras and my purse onto the conveyor belt. I was about to take off my shoes, the girl said metal? So I stuck my foot with a shoe on into the body scanner and it didn’t go off. So I didn’t even have to take off my shoes!

My stuff came through, I picked it up and I had cleared dreaded Security! I think America West had spoken with TSA and told them of my dilemma – they gave other people a lot more inspection than me.

Now I had more than 2 hours in the airport prior to boarding. I went to Starbucks and had a Caramel Frappacino. I walked around the shops. I ate a turkey sandwich and was delighted that I didn’t start itching or breaking out in hives.

I telephoned the off airport parking and asked if they could look around my SUV for my diamond bracelet. He put me on hold and went and looked, returned to tell me nothing there.

I could have sworn I heard something drop when the young man was taking my luggage out of the back of my SUV.

So my diamond bracelet was gone. My tapper was gone. I was on an adventure which I was determined was going to be healing – and only healing!

Eventually, I went to the boarding gate and took a seat. The clerk started telling people this was a small plane and the overheads were smaller than usual and we would all have to check our carryon bags. Bummer. So I opened it and took out my digital camera and my IPAQ. Now my beach bag was really bulging. My carryon with the wheels was much smaller than anyone else’s. So when another clerk came up to the counter for boarding, I asked her about checking it and she said, ‘no, yours will fit’. But now it was too late to reopen the carryon and replace my digital camera and IPAQ.

The boarding was fast – the flight was only 2 hours instead of 2 hours and 20 minutes so we arrived early – even though Puerto Vallarta is 2 hours ahead of California so it was almost 8:30 p.m.

I followed the instructions and flagged a taxi after a porter helped me with my luggage. I was off to Conchas Chinas!

I arrived at 9:00 p.m. and the security gate was still open. Gabriela was still at the desk to check me in. She told me I was one level down. I was so bummed! I told her I wanted an ocean view! She insisted several times that I would have an ocean view. Yeah, I was thinking as the taxi driver followed the two of us as he carried my luggage down the flight of stairs – yeah, an ocean view…a little slice. Ah well, I was here.

She opened the door and the blinds were closed. I paid the taxi driver and he left. She walked across the room and opened the blinds and the double glass doors and I gasped!

I stepped out onto the balcony and could not believe my eyes. I had a 190-degree ocean view of all of Banderas Bay, the city of Puerto Vallarta and down the Coast.

She showed me the kitchen, which had everything anyone could possibly need. Then she showed me the two bathrooms, one with a shower, the other with a full bath and a shower. The closets had an ironing board and iron, beach towels, extra pillows, blankets and sheets. The bedroom was huge and she opened the center window, which had no screen. More ocean view! I could hear the waves pounding beneath me on the rocks and on the shore. She showed me the ‘comment book’ where guests entered their comments on Conchas Chinas and things to do and not to do in Puerto Vallarta and the tour binder and the television list of channels and how to work the remote control.

I walked back out to the balcony and was still in awe. I looked down and could see the pool and Jacuzzi to my left. I asked when they closed and she said 9:30 p.m. By now it was 9:15 p.m. – I told her I was going to take a quick Jacuzzi. She left – I jumped into my bathing suit and down and down I went to the Jacuzzi. She appeared and showed me how to turn on the jets.

So there I was, under a waxing Moon with millions of stars, with the Jacuzzi bubbling away all the tension and stress of making up my mind to come on this healing journey – and now, the healing had begun.

The healing Jacuzzi – taken from my balcony in the daytime

at Conchas Chinas – Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.