03 Monday Apr 2017
Posted in Island Lifestyle, Travel
Tags
blues festival, Caribbean, island life, lifestyle, monkeys, music, Nevis, Travel
I’m going to Nevis!
My excitement has been almost uncontainable since I received an invitation from our national airline Winair and the Nevis Tourism Authority to attend the Nevis Blues Festival on April 7th and 8th and to spend a few days exploring this gorgeous, unspoiled Caribbean jewel.
27 Monday Mar 2017
Posted in Beach Life, Island Lifestyle, Travel
You would think that living in the Caribbean gives me the opportunity to visit and explore the other islands in the area frequently. Alas, nothing could be further from the truth. Inter island travel remains quite expensive and besides, my hunger for exploring new destinations, chasing adventures and experiencing other cultures sometimes has me jumping on planes to destinations far from the Caribbean. As an island girl I sometimes get quite desperate for city life, urban noises, the ballet, the opera, things the Caribbean does not offer an abundance of. But no matter how far I travel I always look forward to returning home.
I have always wanted to promote the Caribbean as a destination to those who live on the mainlands as well as inter-island travel for us islanders. It is one of the main reasons why I started this blog. The Caribbean islands are all so diverse. It is this diversity that makes me want to catch a short flight to one of the islands every chance that I get. At the moment I have my eyes set on 7 Caribbean beauties, two of which I am lucky to be visiting this year.
20 Monday Mar 2017
Posted in Island Lifestyle
I should mention that I actually do not like the word patient. I dislike it as much as I dislike the word victim. It leads to believing that patients and victims are helpless and powerless. Endo sufferers would be a better term and we are definitely not helpless or powerless. We are fighters, we are strong, we are survivors.
March is Endometriosis Awareness month and as a supporter of this campaign as well as a long time sufferer it is my duty to enlighten all of you fine women (and men) reading this blog post right now about this incurable disease, a disease that continues to affect millions of women and their families.
15 Wednesday Mar 2017
Posted in Island Lifestyle, Travel
Tags
As a guesthouse owner I make it my duty to make sure all of my guests feel welcome and at home when staying with us. Every so often someone checks in and it immediately clicks. These are the guests I tend to take under my wing, like a mother goose wanting to show them what a beautiful island I call home. I don’t do it for money, I don’t do it for great reviews, although these are ever so welcome. I do it purely because I love this little rock and want the world to appreciate it as well.
The Back Bay trail is one of those St. Maarten beauties few people know about and fewer even get to experience. Although I am hoping this would change after you read this post. I fell in love with this hike after my neighbors, sweethearts that they are invited me and a friend to go hiking with them a year and a half ago. Yes, you read that right. I’ve only recently discovered this trail myself.
11 Saturday Mar 2017
Posted in Travel
If you’ve read my previous posts on Miami and on my experience flying with PAWA, you know that I got my hands on some rather inexpensive tickets but that it came with a 6 hour layover in Las Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic.
In all honsety, I was not ready yet to return to the DR and was adamant that spending the 6 hours at the airport was the best way to go. I downloaded as many episodes of my favorite tv shows as I could, I packed two books as well as a coloring book and I practically already saw myself sitting on the floor at the airport, bag of chips and some drinks next to me, binge-watching shows like Chicago PD and How to get Away with Murder for 6 hours straight.
04 Saturday Mar 2017
Posted in Travel
On February 8th 2017 I boarded a PAWA Dominicana flight with destination Miami. It was my first experience with this Dominican based airline and I must say it was one of the best flights I’ve taken in a while.
PAWA added St. Maarten to its itinerary back in August 2015 but it isn’t until Curaçao’s Insel Air started leaving passengers stranded all over the Dutch Caribbean, that PAWA really got a boost in popularity. It gave the people from Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten another option and much needed hope that they could now actually get to their destinations.
PAWA now joins my other favorite Caribbean flagged airlines Air Caraïbes and Winair in my book of most reliable.
27 Monday Feb 2017
Posted in Travel
Tags
art, food, miami, Restaurants, Travel
Miami has long felt like a second home to me and like many other islanders I have been visiting the city regularly since early childhood. The reason for visiting is always the same: shopping or as a layover on the way to Orlando to see the famous mouse. I understand why we islanders choose Miami out of countless other destinations in the world to visit again and again. While most people visit Miami for its beaches and sexy nightlife, we islanders choose Miami for the simple reason that it is affordable, at least it used to be, we get to shop till we drop, something that is not possible on most islands and we get access to items and restaurants that we’ve only seen advertised on American TV. Beaches and sexy nightlife are two things we are very familiar with already. It doesn’t get any sexier and the beaches don’t any sandier than in the Caribbean.
20 Monday Feb 2017
Posted in Travel
Tags
art, graffiti, miami, murals, street art, wynwood, wynwood walls
I decided to start this blog post with a shocking confession. I always thought I knew Miami like the back of my hand, at least the areas I used to frequent but it wasn’t until my Instagram obsession began a year and a half ago that I first learned about a magical place called Wynwood.
I was ashamed to call myself a mural chaser without ever having set foot in what is known as Southern United States’ mecca for street artists. I vowed to make Miami a must-do trip this year regardless of the promise I made to myself at the start of this blog that I wouldn’t re-visit destinations like Miami, a place I am used to visiting at least once a year.
An opportunity finally arose at the beginning of this month that made it possible for me to travel to Florida, making Miami my first destination for 2017.
15 Wednesday Feb 2017
Posted in Food & Drink, Reviews
Tags
I love food and there is nothing anyone can do about it. So, imagine my delight when I received an email from Flavors of St. Maarten Food Tours inviting me to join them on their next trip. As you can imagine it took me exactly 3 seconds to decide and reply with a “Hell Yeah”.
The day of the food tour could not come fast enough. I was so looking forward to this and was sure I was going to have a blast. The day of the tour however, I started feeling a bit apprehensive. I was going on a bus with a bunch of strangers for half a day touring an island I know like the back of my hand. Would I be able to get along with everyone? Would there be vegetarian options for me? Would I be able to enjoy it seeing that I call this island home and know most of the restaurants on the list? Would I look stupid with my selfie stick? I pushed those insecurities aside and decided to just go with the flow. I made sure my camera and GoPro were charged and ready for action.
11 Saturday Feb 2017
Posted in Travel
A few weeks ago, after a particularly epic weekend with lots of booze and everything that’s bad for you, I realized I no longer recover like when I was in my twenties. Staying up way passed bed time on a school night, drinking and eating crap, no longer agree with me.
As I watched myself in the mirror with horror the next morning it dawned on me that it is time to do what I’ve been dreading the most: to start living a healthier lifestyle. So I called up my friend Omarie at the Health Factory and scheduled a two week detox meal plan to be delivered at my house every morning. I then made the dreaded phone call to my fellow barflies and told them I would not be showing up for a while, in case they thought I had died. I locked myself up in my house and refused to even go to work at my own bar in case the temptation proved too strong.
After two weeks of intense detoxing with salads, smoothies and lots of water and a couple of pounds lighter it was time to start my new healthier lifestyle. I started yoga, drank a lot of water, avoided alcohol whenever possible and after viewing male baby chicks being thrown into a grinder alive! (Thank you Facebook) I decided that I could no longer proclaim to be an animal lover and still partake in the cruel massacre of millions of animals every week. So, much to my husband’s annoyance I started a vegetarian diet.
