There are lists to be made....

Yes I am a large gray haired old man but NO I am not Santa Clause, however I will be making my lists and checking them twice!!

Major list;
Flight purchased…check
Room Reserved….check…kind of.
(Have the week on SXM but still need an overnight and 3 nights on AXA)
Car reserved…check
New point and shoot camera purchased….check

Most of the major things are done!!!

Still to be done;
Passport renewal….have forms but have to get my wife’s beauty shot and my mug shot taken.
Book room for three nights in Anguilla (know of availability where we want to stay so this one is easy)
Book room for arrival night on ST Maarten (don’t have a clue on this one)

Planning lists; Money, Activities, Gear

Damn, going to be busier than I would like on this trip.
We used to go to the island to relax, now we have agendas, I think we have this backwards but there are reasons this is happening and can’t share all of them just yet.

Money; We have already put away nearly as much money as we normally take to the island and still have 4 months left to go. This time we do intend to spend a bit more eating out than we have in the past. There are a few things that will need to be purchased before we go and have already started on those.

Activities; We as you know from reading the drivel that has been previously posted are taking ST Maarten virgins with us this trip. Though it is a lot of fun for us it does cause Sir Plans-a-lot to be even more forward thinking and plan slightly more than usual.

I need to plan things like….beaches we would want to take our friends to…as well as those we want to visit without them (wink, wink). There is the prerequisite visit to Orient beach as well as a couple of our other favorites like Baie Rouge and would like to get to Friar’s as well as Happy. Remembering these are friends from home so no French style sun bathing

Our friends are avid golfers and want to play the course on island….I tell them I fully understand and respect that they want to play, however, this may possibly be the worst course they have ever had the chance to knock that little dimpled ball around on. That being said, they do want to play golf one day.

They are also interested in a day of diving. I am looking into going thru the dive shop in Grand Case, Octopus Dive. This will allow for access to a different part of the island and they gear their dives towards a smaller group than some of the shops on the Dutch side of the island.

One evening we want to head up to Fort St Louis above Marigot and have cheese, crackers and split a bottle of wine while watching the sun set in the distance.

There will be of course the required (when traveling with Rob) return trip to Anguilla so we can share a few of our favorite things from that island like a visit to the Pyrat rum bottling plant and to enjoy the beach of upper shoal bay and lunch with Gwen.

There will also be several evenings that we will partake in some fine and not so fine dining at a number of fine establishments all over the island and who can skip an evening at the Red Piano Bar? We can walk back to our room from there!

In all of our visits we have never been to Pinel Island…that has to change as well as we will make another trek to Green Key but it will be just the two of us.

Gear; We are once again entering into discussion and decision making about how much to pack. Issue is dive fins or no….We have a great interest in using our own fins and do plan to dive and may snorkel just a bit so my bet is they will come along. Since they are dive, not snorkel, fins both sets are rather long, equating to the need for a suitcase (more like rolling duffle bag) to go underneath on the flight. With the fins on board it also means more rum for our return!!!! I think we will bring the big bag again this year.

Clothes are pretty easy for us.
A couple of swim suits each
Wife brings three sun dresses a couple of shirts and pairs of shorts and of course appropriate undergarments. Shoes are a minimum we both bring 2 pair and a pair of flip flops.
I bring three pair of shorts, 4 shirts underwear and a shaving kit.

We take a bit of time to do some laundry while there of course, this just makes it so much easier when we pack.

Packing mantra. A week before you travel, lay out everything you think you will need, the day before cut the amount of clothes in half and then go by the bank and get twice the money you planned. This makes for an excellent trip and I think every time we have traveled, something makes it home without being worn while on vacation.

As you can see there are many reasons to make the list and check them twice. Only thing I won’t do is assign a day to each activity because believe it or not Rob hates that much structure. Roll eyes here…