You were a magnet
You fit me like a glove
This is the story of evasion, loss and rewards. The loss of my fitbit, how it happened with the bird poo evasion and the hunt for my new watch.
The journey to my Garmin smartwatch.
It all began over the Christmas holidays when I was at the Hotel Isla del Encanto. I had just wrapped up a refreshing dip in the ocean, swimming around and exploring the underwater world. I retired to my lounge chair under a large shady tree.
I was just relaxing and feeling extra peaceful when a few minutes into my stress free lounging the bird above me caught my attention. Let’s be clear about one thing, this bird was plotting. He was wiggling around on the branch above me, stepping left and then right as if he were taunting me. As he continued to do his mysterious jig, I watched in anticipation of his evacuation.
GARMIN FOR THE WIN
Moments later, it happened. I saw it coming and it all played out as if it were in a slow motion movie reel cut. The bird poo descended on my chair and with incredible stealth like evasion I managed to throw myself off my chair AND grab my towel in the process narrowly escaping the bomb screeching in my direction. Had I not been so elusive, the bird had bombed precisely where my belly button was, it would have been a vomit inducing incident.
Nice try bird, you failed and you should be ashamed.
I wasn’t even remotely embarrassed about who might have seen me throwing myself on the ground because I was a ninja in that moment. As I collected my self off the sandy ground and searched for something to extract the poo from my lounge chair so I can return to my peaceful and now proud state of mind.
Then I noticed it….during the kerfuffle I must have hit my Fitbit watch face precisely on the wooden chair next to mine and the face had popped right off and was now dangling like a bobble head.
I am not one to be emotionally attached to objects (except my Japanese Umbrella, I would break you if you touch it) but I was sad about the loss. Don’t get me wrong, it was the top of the line from Fitbit 4 years ago when I bought it. I had the Ionic version, which has since been replaced with the Fitbit Sense. The Fitbit Sense is a far superior watch to my Fitbit Ionic. I wore that watch every day and it had become part of me and watching my steps was a sort of daily ritual (addiction maybe). Now I am naked and alone with no one to tell me that I am not ‘stepping up’, no one telling me it’s time to move my butt or telling me it was bedtime. LOL.
So Begins the Hunt For a Replacement
But I am in Cartagena and finding a Fitbit here is Impossible
Some of the selling features for me when I originally bought my fitbit were the ability to control my music from my watch, receiving text messages on the screen of my watch, being able to use my watch to tap pay for stuff in stores, the built in GPS and of course…the fitness tracking.
I also have the Fitbit Aria Air Smart Scale at home which connects via bluetooth to my watch, so when I step on the scale I can connect and measure all sorts of crazy Jetson Type things. It displays your weight and syncs it to the Fitbit app where you can view BMI, track trends over time and more.
So naturally, I was drawn to replacing my Fitbit with the latest and greatest from Fitbit to sync with my scale. I tried hard…I contacted many places, I even entertained purchasing it on Amazon to have it shipped here but the timeline was just too tight and the import fees were too high for my taste. So, I either had to wait till I get to Panama or see if there is a comparable Smart Watch that will make my heart happy.
Enter Garmin 
I Poo Pooed the Idea of a Garmin at First
It was suggested to me by a friend that MAYBE…just MAYBE I could consider a Garmin Smart Watch. I will be honest, I am embarrassed to admin that at first, Garmin was a hard pass for me. Mostly because of a jaded history and so I never gave it a second thought. A history that has 100% NOTHING to do with Garmin the brand or Garmin the products, but just an association. You know, if you see someone wearing a white and black striped t-shirt…you automatically associate that with either a referee or a criminal…sadly and selfishly the Garmin brand was that association to something else for me. Needless to say it was a ridiculous association…I reevaluated my mindset and moved on…
After doing a lot of research, I discovered that this Garmin Fenix 6s Pro was exactly the watch I needed. I am sorry Fitbit for this next comment because I still love you. But the Garmin is a far far superior product.
The watch face looks and feels far more durable. The Fenix 6S Pro is fit for a smaller wrist and looks super high brow (ie. rich and classy. LOL) It has rose gold finishings and the straps are white which I loved about my Fitbit. I will also comment further on the straps and say that I had to replace my Fitbit straps about 6 times over the duration of owning it and also the charger was replaced twice. So much so that I actually purchased and packed a backup charger and two back up straps.
GARMIN FOR THE WIN
The Meat and Potatoes
Why the Garmin is superior enough to warrant a price tag nearly twice as much as the Fitbit Sense.
It has a million super super rad features, but here are my favourites:
- On board memory. This means that not only can I control my spotify playlist from my watch, but I can also load the playlist on my watch. So now technically, I don’t even need to carry my phone with me.
- Built in GPS. Garmin was built for navigation, let’s face it…they weren’t originally Fitness tracking intended, this makes the built in GPS second nature to the brand.
- Tap Pay. This was an important feature for me.
- Waterproof. While my fitbit was waterproof and I could swim with it I believe the max depth wasn’t much. I believe the Fitbit Sense is up to 50 meters now though. The Garmin is up to 100 meters…twice as deep. Seriously, I will probably never be that deep, but now no one can tell me I can’t. HAHAHA
- Various Health Tracking. Women’s health tracking, sleep tracking, ECG, abnormal heart rate detection, blood oxygen saturation levels, compass, acceleromater, thermometer, barometer.
- Smart Notifications. Now I get email notifications, text messages and social media notifications. This is notifications on steroids.
- Find my Phone/Find my Watch. Bonus.
- Fitness Routines/Workouts on the watch face.
- A Million Sport Specific Tracking Details…running, swimming, golf, etc…it’s nearly an endless list.
- LIVE TRACKING AND INCIDENT DETECTION. This watch can track where you are and detect if you have been in an accident. WOWZERS!
- Customizable watch face. I can change the watch face to a million different looks and layouts and pick and choose which tracking measurements I want displayed.
It really is the Smart Watch that out smarts all other watches.
Jackelyn Approved 
Please note that I have not received these products for free or at a discounted price in exchange for my opinion. There may be links that are affiliate links but at the time of posting this review, I have not received any monetary kickbacks.