What to Expect While Off The Beaten Path In Jamaica

Adventures from Elle was founded nearly four years ago as a creative outlet where I could share my travel experiences with other like-minded individuals who wanted to enjoy Jamaica’s hidden treasures. Since then, I’ve expanded my niche to include more ‘touristy’ destinations because sometimes commercialized spots are easier to visit, but off-the-beaten-path gems remain my first love. In this post I share the good, the bad and the ugly about exploring off-the-beaten-path in Jamaica because it’s really not for everybody. However, if you make the venture, you’ll be glad you did.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle29 Comments

Chatting with 5 Creative Jamaican Medics (Part I)

You’d never believe how often I get asked about how do I make time to blog as a doctor. People are often in awe, and I get it. The hours are horrible, but we are human too with other talents, interests and callings besides medicine, ranging from cooking, baking, sewing and more! Today I feature five talented medics who are doing amazing things while balancing their careers in medicine.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle21 Comments

Best Cafes for Coffee Lovers in Jamaica

Coffee culture is the collection of traditions and behaviours surrounding the consumption of coffee, which includes the social acceptance of caffeine as a stimulant. Many people cannot start the morning without a brew, and as such, cafes give these coffee lovers their fix of lattes, espressos, cappuccinos and the like. However, cafes offer more than just coffee. They offer spaces for work, meetings, socialization and even meals, as most serve light meals and pastries alongside coffee and tea. European and North American culture strongly influences trends in the Caribbean so it was just a matter of time before their café culture trickled down to us. Most Jamaicans start their morning with a hot beverage as inherited from our British colonizers. Thus, it isn’t surprising that coffee culture has caught on in Jamaica. We have the right audience for it.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle25 Comments

Giving Back In Jamaica This Christmas

One of the things I adore about Christmas is the increased service and volunteerism at this time of year. There are tonnes of Christmas drives and I get nostalgic remembering the high school tin food drives I used to host annually by that great institution located at 105 Hope Road for the Mustard Seed Community. Donating our time, talents and in cash or kind shows how much a little, when done consistently, can make a significant impact. There’s a lot to gain from living a selfless life and God blesses the cheerful giver.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle10 Comments

Where to Get Christmas Breeze In Jamaica

If you ask a Jamaican what makes Christmas Christmas, someone is bound to mention that welcome dip in temperature. Geographers call it the north east trade winds; we call it Christmas ( or Crismus) breeze. Jamaica has a tropical maritime climate which means that our climate is hot all year round due to our close proximity to the Equator, and the weather is also influenced by the sea. As a result, we don’t experience distinct changes in seasons and certainly there’s no winter or snow during Christmas. Christmas breeze is therefore the closest thing to winter we can look forward to, but these days with global warming, Christmas breeze isn’t as constant as it used to be say ten years ago.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle24 Comments

Celebrate Christmas with Jamaican Reggae Tunes

Today I’m taking you on a reggae Christmas musical journey with 12 Jamaican Christmas songs. Jamaica’s predominant religion is Christianity so we play a lot of traditional Christian carols in our homes and we sing them in our churches at Christmas. American Christmas classics make it on our airwaves too and a lot of us can sing these songs word for word, BUT it’s not really Christmas in Jamaica until the reggae Christmas tunes start playing. It’s a bit ironic that even devout Rastafarians have thrown their hat in the ring at remixing Christmas classics and putting a Jamaican spin on it, but regardless, these are a mixture of reggae Christmas classics which have made their way into our hearts and homes, and a few others which.. well, you’ll just have to see.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle20 Comments

Jamaican Stocking Stuffers

Is there anyone out there that dislikes getting gifts? I hope not. I’m a sentimental person so tiny trinkets are great, but those mostly tend to gather dust. Instead, I’m a sucker for functional and practical gifts. I also enjoy supporting local brands and small businesses, so I thought I’d compile a list of some of my favourite local companies which offer great products that would double as practical gifts. Most of these brands I’ve used personally and enjoyed, and the rest come highly recommended from friends. These items are small enough to serve as stocking fillers so take out those stockings from last Christmas, dust them out and let’s get ready to fill! I’m 100% sure all these gifts will be loved– none of them will end up regifted in the New Year.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle28 Comments

Where To Enjoy Seasonal Eats & Drinks This Christmas

2020 has been an eventful year and not for the right reasons, but Christmas isn’t cancelled! If there’s one month which can save 2020, it will be December, and not because it’s the only month left. The festive season is my favourite season of the year— the religious significance, the get-togethers and parties, the cheer, the charity, the decorations, the gifts and best of all, THE FOOD! I love the aromas and flavours of the festive season: the rum-spiked sorrel, the Christmas cake made from fruits marinating in red label wine for months, the ham, candy canes, Christmas cookies, egg nog, and knowing that my favourite dishes will be on the Christmas breakfast and dinner table. As if those weren’t already enough reasons to look forward to the holidays, many restaurants and eateries across the country have joined the festivities to deliver delicious seasonal treats on their menus. Here are my recommendations for where to enjoy festive flavours for 2020.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle19 Comments

What’s Elle Up To?

I decided to do this check-in post for my consistent readers who may be wondering where I am and how I’m doing. I’m alive and well, just busy, so I haven’t posted all month. I’ve been posting consistently on my blog’s new Instagram account though which is inching closer to its first thousand followers and I’m happy about that. If you use Instagram, and aren’t already following, please go follow right now!

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle23 Comments

Rediscover Jamaica at The Iberostar Selection Rose Hall Suites

The Iberostar Selection Rose Hall Suites in Montego Bay on Jamaica’s North Coast is a five-star all-inclusive hotel that prides itself on luxury as much as safe and responsible tourism. Jamaica reopened its borders on June 15, but in spite of this, there has been a huge push for locals to explore home and experience the sights, scents and tastes of Jamaica which are not often marketed to us. This campaign by the Jamaica Tourist Board is known as Rediscover Jamaica and has been hailed as a huge success thus far, with more and more locals making reservations at the country’s leading resorts, and is possibly the largest wave of locals exploring yaad. This uptick in ‘staycations’ is also due in part to the numerous deals and specials put in place by these large all-inclusive hotels to appeal to a local crowd, and I’m here for it! Millions of people save for months and years to afford a trip to Jamaica, while Jamaica is our birthright. With that said, if you’re looking for another great location for your next staycation, look no further than Iberostar.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle23 Comments