Caribbean Vacation Travel

Many of us work for someone else and look forward to spending a caribbean vacation relaxing under an umbrella on a deserted beach. We think this is good therapy for stress and we do this ritual year after year.

But sometimes we have to reevaluate what we do to see if we can do things better. Of course, this is not easy because over our lifetime we form many habits. This means unless someone pushes us “over the cliff” we would remain on the ledge of survival. After all, why change something that works, when we don’t know if we will jump into a more challenging adventure.

While I do favor a holiday to get away from ordinary life, I am quick to say that it is crazy doing the same thing every time. We need to mix things up and get a new perspective on life, our life and the lives around us.

Hearing the sound of a jet engine landing in Montego Bay is akin to watching an adventure movie on your ipod. Hustling into your air-conditioned room at a luxury hotel brings on an adrenaline rush like the jetlike flow of a waterfall. Boarding a bus to tour the attractions of Port of Spain makes life feels like the Garden of Eden without the apple, of course.

All these activities are stress busters and will send you home with renewed energy to face your difficult moments. Then you have to wait another year to do the same thing all again, once you have built up enough vacation time for the year.

Tapping is an alternative to a 2-week vacation. In this case you don’t have to spend any money, but you get to feel like you are on an island excursion every day. I mentioned this because I have been listening to some audio broadcasts where therapists use tapping to help many people feel good about themselves.

If you don’t know what tapping is, then you must check out this site. If you know what tapping is, you can begin listening to these audio files before the series end. Site organizers set up two audio files each day for 24 hours. It is worth it, and I am sure you will thank me for sending you to the site.

What events would drive you to booking a caribbean vacation on a sunny island. Well, for me I didn’t have to stray too far away from home to find at least 6 reasons for wanting to pack and go hide in some cave on the Bahamas. Perhaps, you are different and prefer to plan your holiday a long time in advance and escape with great fanfare on one of those cold winter days.

During the past two months I have had so many administrative boo-boos that I wonder if anyone works for an honest living anymore. Companies fight so hard to get your business, then when they capture your time and money they look the other way and just don’t understand why some people dismiss sales representatives or advertising messages that come into their lives.

We felt bone-chilling temperatures here in North America in December and the same continued for most of January. The last few days of December were downright frigid and it was the time I decided to move house after many months of stalling. But it doesn’t matter when you move. What counts, is the services that you depend on, and many people who don’t move a lot take this for granted.

People in the Caribbean don’t move house as many times as we do in North America. Take the case of someone who lives near the Grand Anse beach resort. If you haven’t visited him for ten or more years, you are almost certain to find him at the same location if you decide to drop in to see him when you are holidaying in Grenada. Even a bed and breakfast hotel will still be around long after the cows come home.

But in North America we move because of work, family, school, or just plain luck. Well, my luck ran out after I moved and still have a hard time getting the post office to redirect my mail. I call almost everyday but I just hear what the policy is and what they can’t do for me. It gets even worse when I offer a solution. “No, we can’t do that….” It is so frustrating getting any service completed these days.

My new landlords didn’t do much better. I had to spend precious time trying to get one of the two cards we received to gain access to the building and garage. They fixed the problem after the holidays but we still couldn’t get into to the garage. When we finally received a proper card for the garage, we found another car in our parking spot.

There’s more but I will save that for another time. With February fast approaching, I can see myself basking in the Caribbean sun or catching a quick shade under a palm tree.

I must confess that having a digital camera is only part of the solution to taking great pictures on a caribbean vacation, and all year round. The other part is using the camera to capture all the grand moments in your life.

I say this because I remember buying my first digital camera about seven years ago. You wouldn’t believe this but the camera stayed in the shipping box until two years later when I attended a family reunion. Perhaps I was terrified about using the digital camera, so I left it to collect dust in the shipping carton. Anyway, I finally got the nerve and took the camera with me to the family event. While on the plane on my way to the reunion, I began reading the instructions guide. I then realized that I had to initialized the camera before using it if I wanted to process the photos I took during the great time I had at the reunion.

You guessed it, I had to leave the camera home during the entire week of activities. I then watched on as other family members snapped and shot their favorite scenes. It was an eye opener for me and I promised to get the gadget installed as soon as I returned home. I even saw one attendee from New York using a printer to send out photo after photography. It certainly put things in perspective.

Perhaps you were like me and avoid new technology. But you don’t have to be like that. New technology can be scary at times but once you get used to it you will smile all day long. Most technology is useful if you use it wisely and to make your life easier. A digital camera is good to have on your vacation and anywhere else you want to capture precious moments.

A long time friend and her mate just returned from a caribbean vacation in St. Lucia. She was all excited about the people she met while visiting the island and had received many invitations to return next year. She did not make any promises though because she had booked the vacation as being the last one for a long time.

My friend had been bored with her 9-5 job for some time and was looking for something to give her the get-up-and-go feeling. She had explored many business opportunities including MLM, buying a flower shop, and bookkeeping for small companies. She has been an accountant for many years with a medium size company and found the accounting cycle a drag on her creativity.

Anyway, she had decided on opening a flower shop in her hometown catering to the local traffic. She had recently received a small amount of money from her parents estate and thought this might be enough to get things started. Everything was all set to go so she decided on a having a vacation before she made the transition from her daytime job to self employment.

While on holiday she met an American couple who lives in Kansas city. They got along well during their stay at the resort, and even took trips to several beaches on the island together. Her new friends own and operate a medical transportation business in Kansas. They shared with her many nuggets about opening and running a small business. Their passion for the business obviously rubbed off on my friend who called me as soon as she got back to her home in PA.

She absolutely floored me when she told me she decided to open a similar business to the one her friends own in Missouri. Not wanting to be a dream killer I wished her well with her new business and moved on talk about her suntan and the local foods she ate in St. Lucia.

Some people consider a caribbean vacation is an expensive proposition. Well, it could be if you consider that you have to pay for airfare to Jamaica, Barbados, St. Lucia or another Caribbean island. On top of that you have to find somewhere to stay, because you can’t hop on a plane and get to the islands and live on the beach. Believe it not, some people have this idea in their mind. First, it is not safe and second the government officials might not like it, and you could find yourself escorted to a plane for a return flight before your prearranged time of departure.

With accommodation you also have to think about food. I reduce my intake of solid food during my stay in the Caribbean, but I still get hungry. So you need food and other personal items like water or sweet drinks during the day and night. Depending on where you are staying you might need to rent a small car or scooter to get by. But if you stay at an all-inclusive resort your total price includes everything. You get accommodation and food for one price. Of course, you still have to come up with a budget and some real cash before you travel. You would normally put the cost of your airline ticket on your credit card. You would do the same for your accommodation. This will leave you to carry cash for small expenses. If you stay a week or two weeks you will run up a sizable hotel bill unless you get a travel package deal. So accommodation will be your main expense with airfare.

However, you could still get around the high cost of lodging if you know someone on the island who can put you up for the time you are there. In this case, you will still have to find money for food and personal effects. But if you can swing this deal you will be ahead of most tourists to the islands. You will most likely have to forgo the planned events that come with staying at a resort. But you can also make your own arrangements for tours or visits to local attractions like zoos, museums, calypso tents, nightclubs and so on.

If you are traveling with kids, your hosts can use makeshift beds to sleep your children. Sometimes this is a big deal with residents of first world countries but children on the islands normally give their rooms to their guests. Most times the host family offers their beds to the guests, or arrange that almost everyone will sacrifice a little while the guests are in town. However, you have to understand the cultural tradition here and not complain about inferior lodging. After all it is not your home.

On a recent trip to the Caribbean, I saw four kids sleeping on an air mattress in the living room of my cousin’s. The kids slept while the adults talked the night away. Again, you have to want to do this because it can seem hard to people who normally don’t share their bed, far more their bedroom or bedsheets with other people.

There’s a saying in the Caribbean that’s September is a time to remember. It refers to the hurricane season and the destruction that strong winds can bring to bear on these tropical islands. And if one catches you during your caribbean vacation travel, it can ruin your entire holiday.

But this year September, for me, means reflecting on the time I spent in Trinidad this summer. I met many friends and family who I have never seen, or haven’t seen in many years. Each day was perfect. You didn’t have to struggle to find something to entertain you, or challenge your physical and mental abilities. This does not mean that all the days included doing something exciting. But ole’ talk and camaraderie added something of value to each day.

And of course, playing with the children (nieces, nephews, and so on) was a delight. It was even more frolic when we visited the beach and had some friendly competition while in the water. The young kids loved every minute of riding the older children and adults’ back before diving into the salty water of the Caribbean Sea. Most of them could swim but it didn’t matter because wrestling and other horseplay made many young men and women swim without formal lessons.

On the islands you learn the hard way. Sometimes a lack of money forces you to become creative and you survive by your smarts. Many of the casual events we had while on vacation were instructional for the kids. Even when we had to punish them for something they did wrong, we tried to frame it as a lesson in hard knocks.

Most parents plan vacations itinerary around their kids, and rightly so. Kids need adventure to let off some steam. Sitting around in front of a computer playing video games is not what growing up is about. Kids also need to play in an encouraging atmosphere so they can grow healthy and naturally. And you know kids get it when you hear them talking about their experience while the adults go about their business.

If a kid enjoyed himself, you would hear about it. If they enjoyed what they do on vacation, they would be happy to report it to their classmates when they go back to school after the long summer break. Some of the children in our vacation party reported that their teacher expected a written report when they returned from their holiday.

This is great when you consider the children on vacation with their parents came from England, Canada, and the United States. They bonded well with their cousins and other relatives living in Trinidad.

Until the next vacation, we can use September to remember the one we just had. See you next year, kid!

The summer is winding down and if these are your last days of a caribbean vacation we hope you have had a wonderful time. Pretty soon everyone in North America and Europe will be back at school and work in earnest, and you might have to start counting your bills. However, the summer is not over and you can still catch a few major attractions at your vacation hideout.

If you have not yet reached a destination, you might want to give Grenada a look. It is good for tourists and can get you some good fun before you return to your busy lives.

The time is fast approaching when I will get on a plane and fly to the Caribbean for a family reunion. You can call it a caribbean vacation with many family members reliving the gold ole days.

This is my first family reunion and I look forward to it with mixed blessings.

First, I look forward to seeing all my old and new family members, some I have never seen, or didn’t know they existed.

Last month we had a brief reunion when a few of us met at one of my nephew’s wedding.

It was a fun time and old talk was the order of the weekend when we met. The scene was enjoyable and the couple seemed happy and hopeful.

On the other hand, I am leaving when I am deep in many projects, and I am afraid I will lose momentum when I get back home. But such is the life, once in a while you need to take a break from your routine and hustle, and go enjoy a delightful Caribbean holiday. It is especially important to have one when you will be in the company of good people out for a lime.

I don’t expect many surprises, but you know the odd one will happen whether we are on cavorting on the beach, or liming under the shade of a coconut tree.

Some will cry and all will laugh. Some will sing while the rest will hum. I expect many will dance and jump up in true West Indian style.

And of course there are the ones who will eat and drink as though there is no tomorrow. I don’t expect to find alcoholic drinks, but there will always be the ones who can’t stop hitting the bottle.

I, for one don’t look forward to the cooking or the eating because I am a vegetarian and can stand the smell of meat. I plan to walk with a few vegetarian ingredients to cook or to snack on. But mostly I would go hungry rather than eat anything that comes from the cruelty of animals.

All in all, I look forward to sunny days, cool nights, and much old talk among the folks.

Summer is here and many happy folks are looking forward to their caribbean vacation. If you haven’t booked your airline tickets yet, then you are in for a rude awakening as the fares keep going up faster than you can open your wallet.

This is the time when kids will be off school and concerned parents look for ways to keep their young ones busy and out of trouble. There is always television, video games, and sports, but getting away to an exotic island in the sun is a great family adventure. This is also the time when you can bond with your kids and make up for those days when you had to work late, or get out of town for a meeting with an important client.

Most kids love water and two weeks spent at an all inclusive resort in Barbados, St. Lucia, or Jamiaca will give them much to do. You need to remember to pack the suntan lotion in your suitcase and take precaution against the sun and its potentially harmful rays. Take along a good pair of sunglasses for you and the kids to help protect your precious eyesight. But it is always safer to allow your kids only so much time in the sun. You also want to schedule for activities for times when the suns rays are not as hot. Avoid the hours around midday and onwards to around 3 pm. Stay at the pool or indoor during these times to avoid sunburn and other harmful sun effects.

Make the best use of the summer by planning your activities before you go. However, do not overplan because you might create a stress-filled vacation for your family, and you might return home tired and annoyed.

Summer is a great time for beach activities and other fun-filled days, but you have to do things in moderation.

Follow these guidelines and you will end your summer vacation feeling relaxed and happy. Afterall, it is much better in the Caribbean!

Dear Traveler,

It’s time for a caribbean vacation! The weather is getting warmer and the clothes are coming off gradually. When you visit Antigua you just need to bring a few pieces of clothing and some sandals. You may want to pack a sweater for your late evening and early morning rendevous.

During the day, you can wade in the refreshing water of the Caribbean Sea or bask in the sun for as long as you need. You might also want to visit the local market to get fresh mangoes, oranges, and more. Or take a stroll along the beach with your favorite person.

Oh, it’s so lovely in Antigua.

Yours in spicy travel,

Sunny Dey