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!!!