Calling All Adventures
The last few weeks were a blur. In a good way, but a blur nonetheless.
Since my last post, we prepared for a vacation, took a vacation, and then recovered from vacation. And suddenly it’s March. I love March. March is full of hope and promise and every year, I feel my mood lift with just the turn of the calendar page. Sure, there’s snow on the ground. I still need my winter jacket most days. But there’s light when I wake up in the morning and there’s light while I’m making dinner. And it’s just getting started.
Today’s blog is an overview of our vacation. Our great Caribbean adventure!
Being adventurers. The last time we took a winter vacation as a family was right before the pandemic hit. We traveled to a lovely resort in Negril. Max spent his days stuffing himself with frozen yogurt and playing X Box with a friend. Luke subsisted on yogurt and Fruit Loops and wouldn’t touch the sand. Hubs caught a stomach bug mid-week (and the boys subsequently brought it home with them). As we rode on a group shuttle to the airport at the end of our stay, we sat behind a pair of teenage girls, who engaged in the brattiest, most entitled, disrespectful conversation I have ever heard, as they observed our surroundings. They
seemed to view travel with an expectation that they should be catered to, rather than as an opportunity to explore and learn about the world. It was on that very ride that hubs and I decided we would probably not be vacationing with our children at a resort like that ever again. We vowed to raise children who appreciate other cultures, experience wonder, and are willing to try just about any cuisine placed on their dinner plates. We decided to become adventurers, not vacationers.
Adventure 1. This year we traveled to the US Virgin Islands. I had visited once before when I was 10, and it was fun to return to the island with a 10-year-old of my very own. We stayed in a two-bedroom condo that we found on airbnb, right on the water, within a five-minute open-air taxi ride to Red Hook, the nearest town. Because we had a full kitchen, Max and I visited the local grocery store to stock up so we could eat some of our meals at the condo. We bought mangoes, lychees, and guavas. Max discovered a super cool self-serve smoothie machine and helped himself. I have never grocery shopped by taxi before and it was kind of tricky to hail a cab while holding gallons of water with plastic shopping bags layered up my arms. As I began to contemplate the best strategy for this, a woman appeared from a building across the street asking me if I needed help, and I accepted her offer for assistance. She jumped into the road and flagged down the next cab she saw and I tipped her for her efforts. Our driver hopped out of his ride to take the grocery bags from my arms and was wearing the raddest pair of all red low top Nike dunks, so naturally we engaged in a conversation about sneakers.
Adventure 2. As hubs will tell you, sometimes in social situations when I have imbibed a touch, I like to engage in deep conversations about big ideas like reproductive rights, systemic racism, and/or the implications of the electoral college…you know, things everyone likes to discuss when they’re taking a load off in their free time. So, I found it to be unsurprising when, after a few painkillers, I met a couple from Virginia on the beach, and they shared with me that their five children 1) had never been to a doctor, 2) were unvaccinated from EVERYTHING, and 3) are treated for all ailments with colloidal silver; and 4) that the family was very religious and followed the word of the bible quite literally. I am tremendously pleased with myself as I reflect on this conversation because my public health brain didn’t even touch upon items 1-3...I actually let some things go. I did, however, enter into a lengthy conversation with them about why they believe the bible contains the words of God, when it was actually written by men. Suffice it to say we didn’t land that plane.
Adventure 3. On one particular taxi expedition to or from our condo, I asked our driver where he likes to eat if he’s in the mood for Caribbean cuisine. See, I want to eat where locals eat…that’s where the good stuff is. So the next night, we trekked to Brooks, about twenty minutes away, which sat on top of a steep hill, overlooking a secluded bay. The daily menu was hand-written on a dry erase board and all the proteins came with plantains and peas and rice. We placed our orders and about ten minutes later I realized this was definitely the kind of place that only accepts cash and I 100% did not have enough in my wallet. (Dad, I’m sorry, okay? I know I should have known better.) I got up from my seat and approached two guys at the bar, who were chatting away with the bartender in a way that suggested they were regulars. I asked where the nearest ATM was. They started arguing amongst themselves about the least confusing way I could get there when one of them paused and asked me if I had Venmo. I said yes. He told me I could Venmo him $100 and he would give me $100 in cash. So that’s what I did.
This man, as it turns out, was named Angel. My Venmo Angel. I’m in awe of my problem solving skills, and also of the whole fish I ordered, which was amazing.
Adventure 4. We ventured out on a small snorkeling charter around the USVI one day along with a group of folks from South Carolina - and two were from Charleston! I resisted the urge to discuss all things Southern Charm with them and it used up all of my self-control for the day.
One of our
Charleston friends was a huge Kentucky basketball fan and a huge Alabama football fan. Max surprised the heck out of me by discussing all things sports with this kind man he had just met. We practiced cannon-balling off of the boat, swam, and snorkeled all day. We passed by Little St. James, home of Jeffrey Epstein’s compound, which we saw up close and personal. I’m still creeped out by it. Captain Judy invited Max to steer the boat on our return trip to St. Thomas and of course, Luke needed to sit with him. This trip provided us with the impetus to talk to Max about career options we hadn’t discussed before…like becoming a captain like Judy. Or being a bartender that summers on Nantucket and winters in the USVI. We embrace every opportunity we are presented with to talk about careers that don’t require a college education. It’s so important for kids to know that they have options. So thanks, Captain Judy!
Adventure 5. Our little family of four rented a tender boat on one of our last days so we could explore some of the secluded beaches we saw on our snorkeling trip. We headed over to St. John for the day to snorkel with sea turtles at Maho Bay, then explored the pristine beaches at Trunk Bay and Hawksnest Bay. We docked our little boat at Cruz Bay for lunch. As I sat at our table, placing my order for conch fritters with Luke in my lap, I felt a warm trickle of liquid that saturated my romper and remembered that I had forgotten to replace Luke’s swim diaper with an actual diaper. When lunch was over, we tracked down some cotton candy ice cream for Luke and a coconut for Max, and as I explored the town by foot, I reflected on how unaffected I was by being covered in someone else’s urine. I’m not sure if this means I have fully accepted how truly gross motherhood can be, or if I have given up entirely on presenting myself appropriately in public.
Our intentions to be adventurers is not just about our kids. It’s a huge part of it, for sure, but it’s not all of it. Being adventurous is a mindset - and it’s not just about travel. It’s the difference between settling for a life of monotony or slowing down enough to truly notice what is taking place around you. Sometimes wonder lives in the small moments…like when the daffodils start to sprout, or dinner time dance parties, or laughing at the sign near your house that is spray-painted with a twig and berries in reflective paint so you can only see it with headlights.
I want to keep learning and growing and experiencing. I want to laugh as much as I can. I want to see things that take my breath away. I want my kids to see me living life this way. I want them to know that the world is a beautiful, magical place. And I want them to embrace it all.
♥
