The Love: Turks & Caicos

I immediately fell in love with Turks & Caicos before I even landed. Of all the islands I've been to, the bright turquoise water looked so milky and smooth from my window seat. I had never seen anything like it. I've come to realize that every island I've visited has it's own personal shade of shimmering blue waters. This was just so surreal, I hadn't ever seen anything so beautiful and couldn't wait to dip my toes in it. 

Prior to arriving in Turks I had been nervous about this trip in particular. This would be my first time traveling outside of the states alone. I wouldn't be entirely alone in Turks as I was going as part of a group called Restoration Weekend. There would be other women there; some I already knew and others I would meet. I had booked last minute though and got a pretty good deal on a flight (though it had 2 layovers each going and coming back). I will never sacrifice like that again! I usually don't skimp on comfort but I made an exception for Turks :-)

I spent 4 days and 3 nights on the island in pure bliss. I was six weeks pregnant and this would be my final trip before giving birth. It was a special time for me to reflect on motherhood and how I would soon be fitting into that picture. Restoration Weekend is a spiritually filling one with specially curated workshops dedicated to helping women improve their overall health, spiritual well-being, internal and external beauty (glam session with celebrity hairstylists and makeup artists). During my time in Turks, there was also a love and relationship seminar with Tony Gaskins that was really insightful. 

In addition to all of the above we also got to enjoy a night out on the town at the Thursday night fish fry, a sunset cruise, dinner on the beach and a masquerade banquet with Kelly Price. 

Oh and did I mention the amazing accommodations? We stayed at The Somerset on Grace Bay. I had a huge suite to myself (upon first entering I remember thinking "is this ALL for me?!"); the apartment had a full kitchen, dining area, living room, washer and dryer, 2 bathrooms (one of which was really HUGE), 1 bedroom and 2 balconies, one facing the front of the resort and the other overlooking the gigantic pool and beach. My dining room table invitingly welcomed me with a large bowl of tropical fruit salad. All was very well. 

I like to refer to these type of trips as "semi-solo" because if you choose to go alone as I did, you sort of feel like you're alone but you really aren't. It also gives you an opportunity to make new friends and find travel buddies. 

This was a milestone trip for me in so many ways and to this day I am very thankful for the experience. Life has been in the way and I haven't been on a Restoration Weekend trip since that one in 2015 but it definitely won't be my last. 

Restoration Weekend occurs every year at the end of September, click here to learn more. 

The Love: Barbados, an Engagement Story

Barbados is another island that holds sentimental value for me. My then-future husband and I visited here in 2010 around the time of our birthdays. It was gorgeous; the weather was perfect and of course the island atmosphere makes everything great. At that time we had been dating about four years. We stayed at the Silver Point Hotel. BEAUTIFUL hotel and location. 

When we first arrived at the hotel, we were given a substandard room (dark, small, parking lot view). My love goes and has a nice chat with the front desk manager (I'm telling you again: Kindness goes a LONG way!). She tells us she will move us the next day to a better room with a better view. As promised, the next day we were moved a lovely bright suite with an ocean view. I couldn't be happier. 

The future husband then tells me to find a nice place for dinner. The day was August 29th; my birthday is August 28th and his is the 30th. At the time I was thinking that if he were going to propose that would be the day to do it (numbers are important to him, especially since our birthdays are so close. Remember: we met on August 31st!). We agreed on a romantic restaurant with outdoor seating overlooking the ocean called Champers. 

I didn't bring anything elegant or regal enough to wear to a formal restaurant so I did the best with what I had (a fuschia tube dress - to this day I still say I wish I would've packed better clothing options but oh well). At the restaurant we were seated on the large balcony above the ocean, waves crashing below us. My "soon-to-be-fiance-now-husband" leaves the table to go to the bathroom after the waiter takes our orders. He takes a while to get back which now makes me thinks something is up. I was about 95% sure he was going to propose. At that moment, I thought about everything leading up to this moment: his determination to go to Barbados (his dad is from there and he also has family residing on the island), having me select the location for a "special dinner", and now him taking unusually long in the restroom. 

Sure enough he returns* and as he does, he gets down on one knee, takes my hand in his and spills his heart out to me (which I sadly can't remember because I was so blissfully overwhelmed). I just remember being impatient and wishing he would hurry up and finish so I could say "YES!". 

The night was beautiful and unforgettable (though I don't remember what I ordered, I just know the excitement prevented me from finishing it). Five years and one bambino later and we are still very much happy and in love. 

*He took so long in the bathroom because he had tied the ring to the drawstring on his pants and couldn't get it off! 

The Love: St. Lucia

Beyond the award winning views of the pitons, beautiful beaches and lush countryside, St. Lucia means so much more to me than what aesthetically meets the eye. The love of my life is from there and we have a child who also has the beat of St. Lucia running rampantly through his veins. A real true soca baby.

I met my husband on MySpace (remember that?) in 2006. After emailing and chatting for about a month we finally met around our birthdays (mine is August 28th and his is August 30th). From August 31st on, life was never the same for either one of us as we quickly became inseparable.  

Fast forward to 2008. I spent my first Christmas holiday in the islands living locally. We stayed at a family member's quaint and cozy home in the village he grew up in. There was no AC, no hot water, the roosters woke me up at the crack of dawn and I could hear waves crashing somewhere off in the distance. I never felt more at home.

We spent Christmas Day walking along the beach. Coming from the big city this was a new experience for me and I absolutely LOVED it. The beach on Christmas?! Life couldn't get any better!  

We stayed through to New Year's Eve and attended a party at one of the all inclusive resorts nearby. We watched fireworks by the pool at midnight. I was in heaven.

After two years of dating exclusively I knew then in that moment he was definitely the ONE.  

I've been back to St. Lucia countless times since that first visit in '08 and each time I go back I seem to fall deeper and deeper in love with this man who I now call my husband.

Some sun and sand will make everything all right. I'm telling you! 

My Time: Cancun, Mexico

Around some time in 2006, my sister-friends and I (same group I traveled to Nassau with) planned a trip to Cancun. This trip was designed to be the ultimate girlfriend getaway. This getaway was very hard to plan because we needed to find a time when all seven females would be available to travel. When we finally were able to find the time, the next hurdle was in accommodating everyone’s budget. It’s really hard for us to get together now (many of us have since gotten engaged, married and/or gave birth) so I’m not sure what the problem was back then and why it took so long for us to get it together.

The countdown for this trip was serious. I was in the BEST shape ever; I had been hitting the gym pretty hard (and consistent) for about a year and watching my carb intake. The main reason: we had planned to do a professional photo shoot.

Fast forward to the day of our long awaited vacation. We arrive on time to JFK and board our flight. We were all so excited. Our flight was slightly delayed and we had a connecting flight in Miami. I remember us literally running through the Miami International Airport to get to our gate. It seemed like we had ran a few miles and when we got there the boarding agent was just about to close the gate. We had made it.

We get to Cancun safely. All of us are going through customs getting our passports stamped when we notice one of our girls is taking longer than usual to get through the system. She tells us they won’t allow her in the country using her Jamaican passport. They wanted to see her green card. She didn’t have her green card.

The situation had begun to get a little tense because my friend said she has always been able to travel using her passport. The Mexican authorities weren’t having it. I remember another one of my friends arguing with one of the agents and him threatening to have her arrested. Mind you, this was around the time Locked Up Abroad first started airing on the National Geographic channel. I remember thinking “this can’t be happening… We’re going to be a Locked Up Abroad story!”, we were able to get my angry friend away from the man to cool off.

Things were still tense though.

They took my friend to a small room. One of those secret hidden rooms that they take people accused of smuggling contraband. The customs agent asked if there was a way she could access her green card. She was able to call her then-boyfriend who had a key to her apartment. He was able to get the green card and fax it to the agents in Mexico. The agents were able to look up her status in the system, plus they now had a faxed copy of her green card. However, this still wasn’t acceptable. The big boss in charge said they needed the actual hard copy of the green card.

We landed around 10pm.

It was after midnight and we were still in the airport. No more flights were coming in and all of the workers had gone home.

Lights were off.

Except in that tiny room.

I’d never seen an empty airport in my life, but I did there in Cancun.

There was nothing left for us to do. The agent had advised us that our friend would be sent back to the states on the first flight out at 7am the next morning.

We felt horrible that we had to leave her alone with a guard in an airport in Mexico. We were able to keep tabs on her though and found that she was able to leave on an earlier 6am flight.

Our trip continued as planned but we weren’t able to truly enjoy ourselves after that incident. My friend has never went to back to Mexico and doesn’t plan to.