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As much as a I lament about the word "iconic" being overused as of late, I will also admit there are instances when the word "iconic" just hits the right spot adjectively. Is that a word? I dunno. Is now. So what. Move on.

This brings to Club Med. Which in my mind is an icon of world travel all-inclusivity. Is that a word? I dunno. Is now. So what. Move on.

Maybe you are like Mom101 and me, remembering the swinging singles days of Club Med. Not that it was a bad thing, it wasn't,. While I hadn't visited the Club Med of Old, my mother's best friend met her husband at a Club Med back in The Day. Must have been an appropriate place to find a life partner because they've been married for over 25 years. I'd say they both look back with fondness on their Club Med vacations. Much like honeymooners look back on a honeymoon, because Club Meds are also popular honeymoon spots. (The gauntlet has now been thrown, use honeymoon more than 3 times in a sentence. GO!)

You know who else looks back with fondness on a Club Med vacation? Aviva and me. In January we shared M.O.M(AKA Mommy Needs a Margarita) get-away at Club Med Cancun. Neither Aviva nor I had ever been to a Club Med, so it only made sense for us to visit before we began writing our new family travel column for the Club Med Insider. And so we were off to Cancun.

Oh the working conditions! Unbelievable! Don't take my word for it. Look for yourself. But besides the obvious hit we took for the team, we were there to look over the resort and and programs while wearing a multitude of hats; expert, parent, spouse, woman. Our purpose was part anthropological, part sociological and part gastronomicological. Is that a word? I dunno. Is now. So what. Move on.

What Aviva and I noticed is while Club Med is often compared to summer camp, it's not really summer camp. There are no counselors herding you like sheep from one activity to another. Everything offered at the resort is "opt in" or "opt out." The staff are attentive not intrusive. No one is going to make you feel pushed to participate in anything, whether you are an adult or a kid.

Unless your traveling companion forces you to get up at 9AM and attend Salsa Dancing. You'd think after 30 plus years of being friends I would know Aviva is an alarm-setting- caffeine-depriving-salsa -dancing- taskmaster. Even so, I tried something new and did not experience public shaming for my mildly dyslexic left handedness which meant I always started on the wrong foot. (Do you hear that Mr. Petruski? Gym teacher from hell who made fun of me in elementary school because I suck at softball.) The pictures of the salsa dancing will never see the light of day, but even so, remembering the experience, and the threats of kicking Aviva's ass with my right foot, makes me grin from ear to ear.

We'll be keeping it real over there like we do over here. There are no perfect family vacations, just like there isn't a perfect way to parent, we don't expect anyone to feel pressured to plan the perfect vacation. In addition to writing our weekly column, we'll be hanging out in the forum section answering questions and swapping stories.

Please belly up to the side bar and join us for a grin and iconic!