There are so many cliché ways that a year-in-review post like this could begin. But instead of saying “another year in the books” or “isn’t it funny how time flies” — or even “what do you know, here we are again” — let’s just steer clear of all that gobbledygook, am I right? After all, this is now the sixth year (!) I’m sitting down to write this annual postmortem, and it certainly doesn’t deserve to suffer an indignity like that.
Read MoreIt would be very easy to write something here about the island of Anguilla not necessarily being anyone’s first choice when it comes to planning a Caribbean vacation. It would be even easier to say that you might instead consider destinations such as the Bahamas, St. Thomas, or the Dominican. And it would be tempting to remark that you could hardly be blamed for choosing one of those other destinations. So let’s not do any of that.
Read MoreAs you might remember, it began with an airplane — more specifically, the kind that flies right over your head as you stand on a tiny beach. That phenomenon, if you will, was what brought us to Saint Martin, an island in the northeastern Caribbean Sea comprised of territory belonging to the Netherlands and France.
Read MoreWhile experiencing the “Maho Blast,” if you will, provided the initial motivation to fly down to the Caribbean, we also knew Saint Martin had much more to offer than that. Some things we planned in advance; some things we left to chance, just going with the flow and seeing what the travel gods had in store for us. The end result was a trip for the books.
Read MoreThe year from hell that was 2020 may be over, but 2021 doesn’t really feel all that different just yet. The world is still attempting to come back from the brink and fight off this accursed virus, businesses and families are still out here struggling financially due to restrictions designed to keep people safe, and many industries are still flailing about with all the uncertainty that remains.
Read MoreThat’s right, folks, it’s one of my favorite times of the year: the release of The New York Times’ annual “52 Places to Go” list, which is packed with so much travel inspiration that an extra baggage fee is surely unavoidable.
Read MoreAs humans, we are easily influenced by things we see on the internet — for better, and for worse. Sometimes we’re aware that someone is trying to sell us something; other times it’s much more subliminal. Whether or not it was their intention, the makers of a particular music video that I found a couple years back definitely sold me on traveling to a certain part of Panama.
Read MoreOn the third day of a five-day trip to Cancún, my girlfriend and I put our swimsuits on, climbed into the shuttle waiting outside our hotel, and headed off to the Punta Norte Marina to get our underwater adventure underway. It would be the first time snorkeling for both of us, which is why it was definitely a good thing that we were in the capable hands of the staff at Total Snorkel Cancún.
Read MoreWhile our primary purpose in visiting the Yucatan was to escape Michigan’s cold and live it up for a few days in Cancún, we used one morning/afternoon to take a day trip down to Tulum, which sits just under 80 miles to the south. Not feeling the need to rent a car and risk running into hidden fees, gas station scam artists, or corrupt cops, we opted to take a bus tour to see the ruins — and it was one of the best experiences of our trip.
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