When this Austin Family's Travel Plans Fell Apart, They Found Exactly What They Needed

Months ago, like many busy Austin families, we had to block off a week in the summer for a family vacation. As we got closer, I kept asking the kids to let me know when they’d be free.

If you’ve got teen or adult kids, you know where this is going.

Between work, internships, girlfriends, friends, and all the commitments that come with this stage of life, our family summer vacation wasn’t going to happen.

My husband and I looked at each other and said... well, we still want to go somewhere.

With two kids in college, we had a small budget to work with, but we did have a stash of airline miles.

One evening, I started searching for somewhere warm, somewhere with a beach, somewhere that didn’t require a long travel day from Austin.

Then a St. Lucia deal popped up.

I didn't know much about St. Lucia.

And then I thought, "Why not?" - taking my own advice.

Note: Austin doesn’t have a nonstop to St. Lucia; in fact, no Texas airport does, but getting there is still pretty easy. You can connect through these U.S. cities with nonstop UVF service: Miami, JFK, Atlanta, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Chicago, Newark, or Boston. We used miles and routed through a hub, and it worked perfectly for a last‑minute getaway.

We only had five nights, so we split them between two resorts. We thought about renting a car for about five minutes...until we learned about the winding mountain roads, the rough drive to our first hotel, and one detail that completely changed our minds.

They drive on the left side of the road!

We arranged private transfers and spent the drives enjoying the scenery rather than wondering whether we were turning into oncoming traffic.

As we wound up the mountain switchbacks from the airport, our eyes kept bouncing between the lush towering palms, bright tropical flowers, and brilliant red flamboyant trees (yes, that’s actually their name — confirmed with my Seek app), and the glimpses of the Pitons (the two iconic, dormant volcanic peaks) appearing around each curve.

We stayed at a small hillside resort with open‑air rooms; our room didn't even have a fourth wall, just a view of the Pitons to the left and the beach to the right. We fell asleep listening to frogs, cicadas, crickets, and the gentle waves. It felt like staying in a treehouse in the middle of the rainforest.

Waking up and seeing the Pitons first thing, from the canopy bed, and then, even while showering... what a unique, unforgettable experience.

For the second half of the trip, we moved to a quiet boutique resort. With only 26 rooms, it felt peaceful from the minute we arrived. We stayed in a cottage with our own plunge pool, a first for both of us, and spent our days paddleboarding, enjoying lingering meals (Spanish has a wonderful word for this: sobremesa), and chatting with the staff at the pool swim-up bar, who taught us all about the island and the culture.

Normally when we travel, we're constantly on the go. We want to see everything, try local shops and restaurants, and squeeze as much as possible into every day.

This trip wasn't like that.

It was a much-needed break, reconnection, reset.

We slowed down. We watched sunsets. We slept. And we didn't feel guilty for doing... well... not much at all.

And the kids...?

They had a great five nights, too. They worked, spent time with friends, and enjoyed some independence.

It wasn't the vacation I'd imagined, but it turned out to be exactly what everyone needed.

Rachel K. Belkin, M.Ed., is an Austin‑based educator, writer, travel advisor, and marketing director. She is the founder and editor‑in‑chief of Probe the Globe, a travel publication with nationally and globally syndicated content. Rachel collaborates with businesses and community organizations to produce storytelling and content that inform and connect audiences. Her work has been featured by HuffPost, Matador Network, Yahoo News, and the Associated Press, and she regularly appears on local news and speaks at industry events.