We're just back from our annual family Spring Break trip.
This year we journeyed to the British Virgin Islands.
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| Little Dix Bay, Virgin Gorda, BVI |
Each year we travel with my parents, sister and brother-in-law, and their three boys.
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| Our crew at The Baths, Virgin Gorda, BVI |
I've always been drawn to the beach and water. Even back in junior high, my sketches were of colorful beach scenes with palm trees and tropical sunsets. I definitely embraced the mid-1980's "Life's a Beach" merchandising fad. My Life Plan was to head south, chasing the warmer climate and laid-back lifestyle that Jimmy Buffett sang and wrote about.
To this day, a piece of my heart and soul is still in the tropics, even though my life's journey has -thus far- only taken me even further north!
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Our annual trips come at the perfect time of the year, just when I'm about to lose my mind from months of self-induced hibernation. After a long winter of being covered up, dry and flaky, my skin and hair soak up the moist humid air. My fingernails grow at light speed and my hair develops a natural curl that needs no product or blow-drying. I have tons of energy, getting fuel from the sun and a diet of fresh fish and fruit. (Interestingly, years ago during a struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder, a doctor gave me instructions to eat foods that remind me of warm weather and summer - I think he was on to something there!).
Of course, it helps that on our adventures I'm surrounded by all my favorite peeps in a bubble of Auntie love...
...and creative inspiration is everywhere!
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| The Jumbies at Leverick Bay, Virgin Gorda, BVI |
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| The Baths, Virgin Gorda, BVI |
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| Handmade paper hats at our favorite gift shop, St. John, USVI |
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| A sand castle we made from found objects on the beach! |
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| Ready for me to move right in! |
I even got to cross something off my Bucket List.
One night I slept outside under the stars by myself, on a boat!
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| Sunrise from the boat, Cruz Bay, BVI |
I'm not giving up on my dream of living in the tropics.
In fact, on our trip my husband suggested I stay there - and offered to ship my cat to me.
Still not sure how I feel about about that...
Wow, did we really do that and see all that? Seems like a dream already.
ReplyDeleteYour trip looks so wonderful. After our family trip to Jamaica over Christmas break, I am now a beach person too. I didn't think I was, but I realized I had just never been to the right beach! I was so glad to get your comment on my latest post. I think you and I both struggle with the right balance. It is a delitcate one. The more I focus on my art and all the marketing, the more the magic of it seems to disappear. I am not giving up though, I know I am still on the right path, just have to make lots of wrong turns along the way!
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