“You’ll get used to it.” “I can’t even sleep, now, if I can’t hear the frogs.” As I put my pillow over my head, earplugs in, I contemplated the advice offered on the Barbados Expats Facebook page on the sound of the frogs at night. Our place is right beside a field and the creaking, … Continue reading The Sounds of Barbados
“I envy your brilliant pandemic plan.” Wait, what? The comment from a friend whom I was messaging with, for the first time since I’d moved to Barbados, took me by surprise. I hadn’t thought of it that way. I did it for love. The closed Canada-US border meant that Scott and I were separated. After … Continue reading Caribbean Covid Plan
“Let’s go before it gets too hot.” It’s not one of Scott’s running days, so we head out across the street and take the beach trail. By the time we have sun screened, dressed and gathered our hats and water it’s 7 am. On the trail to the beach The surf is too high to … Continue reading An Ordinary Day in Paradise
The waiter brings another Rum Punch as we lounge poolside, deciding which catamaran tour to take the next day. Just kidding. We cling to the seat back in the ZR van as it careens at high speed around a corner, reggae music blaring, headed to the fish market. We’ll buy the catch of the day … Continue reading It’s Not a Holiday
“Covid test?” I had the printout of my negative result in my hand with my passport. I was sent to the left; those without or with a stale dated or non-PCR test went to the right. My plane had been full, because it was the last flight into Barbados from Canada where you could board … Continue reading Welcome to Barbados— 2020 edition
When my plane landed on March 7th, my mind was on mundane things: whether my son would be on time to pick me up, whether “our” friends I’d been skiing with would choose to remain “my” friends now that we were separated. (Yes, and no, by the way.) I certainly wasn’t thinking that I wouldn’t … Continue reading Flying in the Time of Covid-19 (Reprise)
I keep seeing pictures of my ex. (Thank you, Facebook and Apple algorithms!) It’s not surprising, when we were together for a dozen years before Facebook was even invented, and when I’d taken ten years of selfies of us after I bought my first smart phone. That’s the peril of a modern breakup. You don’t … Continue reading Pictures of My Ex
For almost six months I didn’t travel. I didn’t leave the Island I live on, and much of the time I was within walking distance of my bed. Yet, I made some incredible journeys. I couldn’t go far, so I went deep. No work, no travel, no projects, no distractions— matters and issues long suppressed … Continue reading Travelling Inside
I knew something was wrong but I didn’t want to go to the doctor. And that was the situation for many during COVID quarantines. Where I live, emergency room visits dropped by more than half in the month after shutdown, and a month later they had only risen to 60% of normal. Knowing that only … Continue reading It’s not Covid-19, But?
The first thing I learned during quarantine was not to have expectations. I did not write a book, nor read many of the dozens that were waiting for me. After a month, I took the piles off the coffee table, where their presence was supposed to prompt me to open them, but only succeeded in … Continue reading So What Did You Learn During Quarantine?
Brave Travels 