First impressions are always important. Did our mother's not drill that into our heads?
My first visit to Aruba I hated it and could have cared less if I ever returned. I said, "what the heck is the big fuss all about"? I had parents who went to Aruba for 2 weeks every February and RAVED about this place.
Granted, I was only there for one day on a cruise, a honeymoon no less, but it RAINED, no, it poured, the entire day! EVERYONE says it "never" rains in Aruba. Since then, 18 or so trips, I've stayed on the island for up to 2 weeks at at time and never had that happen again. Others who do not do their research before their trip find the semi-arid climate a huge disappoinment when they were expecting a lush tropical island such as St. Lucia or Dominica.
My impression of Aruba was that it looked like Florida...condos everywhere (what I know now are timeshares)...reminded me of Grand Cayman...gee don't all the islands begin to look the same? Evidently my bad memories of Aruba lasted about as long as that marriage...18 months...
Don't know why, but by chance, God dragged me back to Aruba 6 years later, with a different man, who is now my husband, and THEN it was love at second sight, Aruba mi dushi tera.