Diaries of an Urban Jetsetter

So I finally decided to step out on faith and take my first solo international trip.  After a little research I decided to travel to St. Kitts, an island in the Eastern Caribbean that is extremely laid back with very little crime (hey listen, a girl has to take certain precautions). As the date of my departure approached I thought several times about canceling but decided to stop being a punk and go, I needed this trip, I needed to get away to clear my head, to regain focus. So I hopped a plane and took off on this journey alone.

Day 1

I travel often so getting there wasn’t an issue.  After clearing customs I grabbed my luggage and jumped into a cab and headed to the hotel. Visiting a new place is always an experience. I will always be in complete awe of people that drive on the “wrong” side of the road. As we made our way to the hotel I cringed as we wound our way around curves and cars whizzed by to my “right” (yikes!!!). Fact – there are no stop lights on the island of St. Kitts. Traffic flow is dependent purely on common courtesy (would NEVER happen in NYC).

After checking in my first stop was the tour desk. I had been advised by a friend to tour the island of Nevis by taking the ferry over and grabbing a taxi but I wasn’t sure I was too comfortable doing this alone so I instead signed up for a “sunset dinner cruise” to Nevis that night. I ran to the room, changed and came back to the desk ready to set out on my excursion. Being the oddball of the group (the single girl) I expected it to be a quiet night of taking in the sights. BOY was I wrong.   I met an awesome group of people that “adopted” me in. We spread out on the catamaran taking in the breeze, the landscape of the hillsides of St. Kitts, the clouds hanging over the mountains and drinking rum punch. As we pulled up on the beach on Nevis we got off of the boat and waded thru thigh high water up onto the beach then off to dinner.

 I spent the next few hours eating, drinking, sharing my history as well as learning about the adventures of the rest of the group. We laughed at the folks trying to dance to the calypso music of the restaurant, a few of them even tried it themselves (I hadn’t had enough liquor to do this).  I indulged in jerk shrimp, with rice and beans, watched a local performer that kind of resembled Abe Lincoln perform a song which I’m not sure but may be have a little inappropriate for dinner. Before I knew it, it was time to head back to St. Kitts. We waded our way back to the boat and settled in for the hour and a half long trip back to our resort under the moonlight.

Day 2

Good move going on the dinner cruise. I met a few folks, specifically an elderly couple from Massachusetts traveling with a widowed sister who sort of adopted me as a pseudo-grandchild.  After speaking with a bellman they hired a taxi driver, the Original Anthony B, and for the next few hours we traveled the island taking in some of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen in my life.  

As I stood on a cliff and looked out over a thin portion of the island that featured the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Caribbean Sea on the other I thought it does not get any better than this.  We visited another site where I saw the most amazing black rocks that were formed by a volcanic eruption in the 1500s and was a witness to the fighting tides where the two bodies of water physically met. We stopped on the roadside to pick fresh fruit, wandered around a closed rum factory and I climbed to the top of a fort to view neighboring islands while learning the history of how this beautiful island was inhabited and developed.

 Afterwards we returned to the hotel where I separated from the group to have a late waterfront lunch  as I listened to steel drums serenade me with  Donnell Jones – yes that one. I then retired to the beach with my drink and promptly fell asleep in the ocean breeze.

The Finale

The next two days I spent lounging on the beach and taking in the sun and doing as little as possible. I enjoyed the solidity, the peace and fresh air.  What I found most amazing is how much I did WITHOUT the company of someone else. Meeting new people and exploring a new place alone turned out to be not as scary as I thought it was going to be. I feel extremely blessed to have experienced this journey  and cannot wait to try it again. All suggestions for a new destination are welcome ;)