More on the friends thing.
My buddy John went with us to SXM in Nov of 2005. He had just suffered thru a divorce and was needing a break from his newly altered reality….actually his wife was supposed to come along too as we had been planning the trip for about 18 months…..told you I am obsessed with this travel thing. John got us in the divorce settlement as she had a need to split up their friends so, needless to say she decided that this trip probably wouldn’t be for her and she backed out….(worked out for the best obviously)
John and I are kind of peas in a pod….I seem to be the dreamer and instigate and John seems to be the action guy and makes things happen.
Quick little John story here to drive the point home…
We are from a conservative area of the country, wife and I had been to SXM a few other times and had been to Orient beach and even done the gawkers walk thru Club O…. But never in the nude. We shared with John that when you cross the rocky area by Pedro’s you were supposed to drop trow and do the walk in the buff. John decided that he would take the walk…came back and I asked him….so did you drop em? He sheepishly replied that yes he had and I busted up in laughter…he asked what was so funny…didn’t you when you went. Thru teary eyes I replied no, we just walked it but weren’t brave enough to go bare….John hounded me for two days till finally I did the walk too…..brought wife with but she stayed fully clothed and was less than happy to go with me….
As obvious but the story above we had a blast but since John was sans partner on the last trip we hung out a bit too much and consumed way too much beer, rum and even tequila while there….we have promised the Mrs (mine) that we would behave at least a bit better this time.
Whether or not John brings someone this time is his choice…..ladies…want his number???? We will have rooms in differing sides of the resort and will rent separate cars. We are even thinking about different travel days so only 4 or 5 days of the 10 overlap.
John and I have started a couple of web pages that are SXM based
(his)http://www.bbdjohn.com/
(mine) http://www.axarob.com/
(ours)http://www.beachjunkie.com/
We are looking to snap up lots of pix while there and gather more ideas for our pages….hence part of the reason for us going at the same time. Besides we thought it would be fun to travel to the island together….group travel seems to be as much fun as couples travel as long as there is space for couples stuff when you get where you are going….
The start of planning activities for the trip
Yes we are already making plans and no we probably won’t do two thirds of them but it is fun to plan. John is planning on taking a little GPS with him to plot our where we have been, we will both bring digital cameras as I am currently in the market for a new digital SLR. John has a video cam and editing abilities so I would imagine that next May….just 10 short months from now….that our sites will be filled with streaming video, pix and some mildly humorous adventures.
Plans so far are;
1. for us to all day trip on a cat to Prickly pear island for some snorkeling.
2. He is talking about doing the Tiko Tiko trip…don’t think my wife is up for that.
3. We are discussing a morning of diving…if wife will go. Yes we are both PADI certified.
4. Lots of sun on many beaches
We have never been to Pinel island but will make it there this year and maybe even to Green Key island in front of Club O too.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
In the beginning....
Where to start….hmmm….I’ll share some of the basics. The wife and I have been married 24+ years and I am planning a return trip to ST Maarten. This will be our 5th trip in 7 years to the island and probably our 10th or so to the Caribbean.
Rob is a tad obsessive and is a long term planner. Some times thinking of and enacting said planning is part of what gets me thru the crazy hustle and bustle of the daily grind.
History
We are timeshare owners so I can plan as far as 14 months in advance and typically do just that. So my blog is a bit behind as I have already scheduled our room for return in April 2008..wooo hoo!!!! We love St Maarten (SXM) in April. We have survived the Midwestern winter but there is still a bit of nip in the air here at home and it is also during our anniversary so what better reason to travel someplace warm and inviting.
Travel friends
We will be going with a friend of ours and his girlfriend. No we don’t see this as a recipe for disaster but much more an opportunity at having some friends along for some of but not all of the fun stuff. He has been with us to the island before so knows the lay of the land so to speak. We have had very frank discussions about things such as…. there will be several days during the trip in which we will be going to one beach while they go to another, need for rental cars, and of course rooms that wont connect.
The Next TRIP
Ok, room booked for 7 days and we are giving strong consideration to another 3 days on Anguilla. Looking at a 10 day trip. Travel from the KC metro area is obviously indirect…and on some airlines more indirect than others.
Most of my postings here will be around that subject for a while…..
I frequently check a few sites for airfare….know that the round trip price from KC averages $750 but that there are certainly bargains to be had…..Have found best days to check are Tuesday and Wednesdays. Have learned that we can travel for less if either going to the island of coming home mid week.
Some of the sites I use are;
http://www.sidestep.com/
http://www.onetravel.com/
http://www.cheapoair.com/
and the airline sites.
Most direct route from KC seems to be….KC to Charlotte and Charlotte to SXM.
That is on US AIR
American offers many many alternatives…all less than pleasant but if the price is right we will either struggle thru San Juan or Miami customs and enjoy flying on at least three planes…..
If you are still awake, stay tuned there will be more to come…yawn!!!
Rob is a tad obsessive and is a long term planner. Some times thinking of and enacting said planning is part of what gets me thru the crazy hustle and bustle of the daily grind.
History
We are timeshare owners so I can plan as far as 14 months in advance and typically do just that. So my blog is a bit behind as I have already scheduled our room for return in April 2008..wooo hoo!!!! We love St Maarten (SXM) in April. We have survived the Midwestern winter but there is still a bit of nip in the air here at home and it is also during our anniversary so what better reason to travel someplace warm and inviting.
Travel friends
We will be going with a friend of ours and his girlfriend. No we don’t see this as a recipe for disaster but much more an opportunity at having some friends along for some of but not all of the fun stuff. He has been with us to the island before so knows the lay of the land so to speak. We have had very frank discussions about things such as…. there will be several days during the trip in which we will be going to one beach while they go to another, need for rental cars, and of course rooms that wont connect.
The Next TRIP
Ok, room booked for 7 days and we are giving strong consideration to another 3 days on Anguilla. Looking at a 10 day trip. Travel from the KC metro area is obviously indirect…and on some airlines more indirect than others.
Most of my postings here will be around that subject for a while…..
I frequently check a few sites for airfare….know that the round trip price from KC averages $750 but that there are certainly bargains to be had…..Have found best days to check are Tuesday and Wednesdays. Have learned that we can travel for less if either going to the island of coming home mid week.
Some of the sites I use are;
http://www.sidestep.com/
http://www.onetravel.com/
http://www.cheapoair.com/
and the airline sites.
Most direct route from KC seems to be….KC to Charlotte and Charlotte to SXM.
That is on US AIR
American offers many many alternatives…all less than pleasant but if the price is right we will either struggle thru San Juan or Miami customs and enjoy flying on at least three planes…..
If you are still awake, stay tuned there will be more to come…yawn!!!
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