Most students tend to travel around the states during their spring break, but I spent my spring break 1,172 miles away, lounging under the Freeport, Bahamas, sun.

In addition, instead of flying to Freeport, I sailed my way across the Atlantic Ocean on the “MS Grand Celebration,” which left port in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Of course, Spirit Airlines flew me from Detroit to the Sunshine State.

It was my first time on a cruise ship so the “woozy” feeling was uncomfortable but bearable.

Although the Grand Celebration was one of the smaller ships, it was still difficult for my family and I to find our way around.

Though we spent most of our time being lost on the ship, we had many belly-aching laughs because of it.

On the morning of April 14, we docked in Freeport. It was a hectic morning, too.

We were supposed to be out of the ship at 8:20 a.m., but we did not realize that our phones were set back an hour until we arrived at the bus station and they told us that our bus left.  That is how we started our trip in the Bahamas — sitting on a bench under a pavilion watching other tourists boarding their buses on time.

After waiting around for an hour, we found a vehicle that would transport us to Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach, where we were going to be spending the next two nights.

The hotel was a 20-minute drive from the bus station, and it was one interesting ride.

Instead of driving on the right side of the road like in America, the Bahamians drive on the left side. Every time a car came barreling down the road on the opposite side, I feared that we were going to crash.

When we arrived at the Wyndham, I was stunned at how gorgeous the resort was.

No wonder it was a 5-star resort. The front office was a wide-open space covered in ceramic tile floors, giving a splendid view of the palm trees from the reception desk.

The resort had remixes of songs playing through speakers at the pool all day and the workers kept everyone on the resort busy; the resort provided many games throughout the day, starting with Bingo and a unique Front-back game like Simon Says.

In that game, the worker would lay down a string in front of a line of people and every time he said front, the contestants jumped over the string and every time he said back they jumped backward. But if someone jumped the wrong way, she was out.

The great thing about traveling is having the option to do something that you would never see yourself doing.

Later that day, I did trapeze on a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or straps from a support. Even though I am severely afraid of heights, I found enough courage to climb a 50-foot ladder and jump off of a platform (harnessed, of course).

The next morning, my family and I woke up to the sight of palm trees and the annoying sound of seagulls.

The seagulls were horrible. I watched plenty of people set down a full plate of food, then get up to get a napkin or a straw they forgot, only to come back to a flock of seagulls fighting over the last fry on their empty plate.

That morning I accomplished another first-in-my-life event — snorkeling.

Although my goggles fogged up multiple times and I got salt water in my eyes, it was the neatest thing I have ever done.

The amazing variety of fish were curious about me; they would come right up to me and swim around me.

It was freaky, and at first I screamed (which was not easy to do with a snorkel in my mouth underwater) when I came face-to-face with a fish. By the end of our session, I got the courage to stick out my hand and graze the tail of a fish, before it swam away quickly.

I suggest everyone try snorkeling at least once in their lives.

Not only did I get to touch a fish, I saw a starfish, a lobster, and even found my bracelet that fell off of my wrist.

For lunch, we went to a shack that provided great food and drinks.

After grabbing our food and sitting down in a shaded area, because we (my family) were all sunburned, we watched the seagulls sweep down and take food off of plates that were left unattended.

My mom actually wondered if they would take food right out of her hand, so she grabbed a fry and stuck it out. Sure enough, a seagull swept down and took it out of her hand.

After feeding the seagulls, we went kayaking. Kayaking in the ocean was exercise. The waves were definitely not friendly, and my friend, Jennifer Delong, and I worked against them so we would not end up back on shore.

Kayaking in a cloudless sky at first sounds great, but once on the water, the sun scorched us.

After a half an hour of work, we decided to call it quits and hunt for seashells, which we had no luck finding.

Around dinner time, we went to a Chinese restaurant at the resort, and I tried sushi for the first time. It was different tasting, but I enjoyed trying it.

Our last night in the Bahamas was spent sitting at the pool, enjoying the sound of the ocean’s waves and the warm breeze against my tanned skin.

The next morning I dreaded getting up. It was the day we were scheduled to go back home.

Although we did not do much the last day, just lying around was better than being back in the cold depths of Michigan.

When three o’clock rolled around, I walked up the bus steps slowly, trying to soak up the last few moments in Freeport. Sitting near the window, I glanced out, impressing each and every shape of the resort into my mind, knowing that I would not have a moment like this for a long time.

As the bus pulled away, I glanced back and read for the last time, “Welcome to Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach.”

Paradise would surely be missed.