Reflections Part 1 - The Adventures of 2017
"Adventure is worthwhile" - Aesop
When I started 2017, I had no idea I would have travelled as much as I did. I visited places I have never been before, and I also revisited other places and experienced them in a fresh way. I reflect on them all in this post not just to share with whomever may be so inclined to read it, but as a way to reflect with gratitude on the adventures I had. It is the most I've ever travelled in one year so apologies for the long post.
The first real adventure was a Portland getaway with friends. I drove down on Saturday morning and joined the gang. The worse part of the whole weekend was the trip through Junction...I hated it! Apart from being very winding and narrow, there were people who seemed intent on running me off the road. Nonetheless, being there was good, going to the beach, enjoying the food and just relaxing.
In February, a small groups of us from my office decided to take a trip up to Falling Edge Waterfalls. It was refreshing! The views were beautiful, the company was great! I posted at length about this trip in a previous post.
In July, I had a clash...I was an invited guest at yet another wedding (Sim and Dwane), but it's the same weekend as a work trip to Costa Rica. Suffice it to say, the latter had to take priority. I was disappointed to have missed the wedding, but I am happy I got to visit Costa Rica, my first time visiting that country. I got to see monkeys, was on a panel, was interviewed, saw farms and rivers, and also visited the capital San Jose after spending most of the time in the forest. I also saw the Pacific Ocean up close...though it was at night.
A small subset of the group did a walking city tour. I didn't want to go initially, partly because we heard so much about what not to do in the city (for safety reasons). But I decided to go and I have no regrets, even with the light drizzle (I didn't have to worry about my hair :-) ).
In August, B and I joined Kadiene for her a part of her birthday celebrations in Trelawny. We went to Chukka Adventures! It was so much fun!
Another event in year was the Grand Gala to celebrate Jamaica's Independence in August. I got last minute grand stand tickets so I jumped at the opportunity. It was great fun.
The next adventure was to the Bahamas. This was my second time visiting, but the first by air. The first time was by cruise and truth be told it wasn't a great experience. This time was different. The hotel was nice, the people I interacted with were polite and cordial. I was even taken to breakfast by a professor on the day I was leaving. It was also an opportunity to take a professional type photo with my new hair.
The next adventure was my vacation! As I try to do every year, I took my vacation around the time of my birthday and the celebrations got off to a great start. I went to church and had Thanksgiving dinner (with a special cake). I finally took a trip to Canada to visit Debbie and her husband. I had such a good time. We went to the Niagara Falls, CN Tower, and Ripley's Aquarium. I also was able to have dinner in Toronto with my cousin Orlando, go bowling with Claudia and the Toronto Zoo with Kamilah. I will post more on this shortly (I hope) but here are a few pictures in the meantime.
After Canada was a work trip to Barbados, but not many pictures to show. I will say that it was the first overseas trip with my boss, and I got good feedback from being on a panel. It was also an opportunity to connect with a colleague and to hear how God has been healing her...nothing short of a miracle!
My next adventure took me back to Bonn, Germany, a place I visited a few years ago. This was for the annual UN climate change meeting. Before I got to Germany, however, I had a few hours in Zurich, Switzerland so I took a quick tour of the city. I even went to a museum close to the train station.
I finally got to Germany for my busy stay, but it was so worth it! I stayed with a host family and they were just great. The conference itself had me very busy but in the end enjoyed successes. I will share just a few here...hopefully I can do a separate post where I'll share more.
The penultimate adventure - and it was an adventure - was a work retreat to Royalton, Negril. We were supposed to leave the office from in the morning, then it got pushed back to the afternoon...and we were caught in the Christmas traffic. The bus ride was not nice, made worse by sitting at the back of the bus. By the time we got to the hotel, my back wasn't very happy. The hotel itself appeared nice, and the room wasn't bad. But as the stay continued, we began to see things which are less than ideal for the type of hotel (ie, all-inclusive, luxury resort). Suffice it to say I'm not likely to go back there by choice. But what made it even better were the people on the retreat. They were a fun yet hard-working bunch. What didn't help was the bus ride back...in ways better than the first, but in other ways (eg, having shocks), not so much.
My final adventure was to the beautiful St Lucia! I didn't get to go many places but what I did see was just beautiful. The hotel was nice (food and entertainment included), the staff even nicer. I also had the opportunity to bond with colleagues whom I've worked with before but had not the chance to know to that degree. The start of the trip was very rough. We got our itineraries the day before we were to travel. And it's 2 days to get there (and 2 days back). We therefore had to do a lot of rush bookings for hotels. We stayed at one place in Barbados that...let's just say will not happen again. The service wasn't great but the place itself was worse...the sheet on my bed were stained and the bathroom wasn't worth taking a bath. It's only redeeming quality was the distance from the airport. Once we got to the hotel in St Lucia, it more than made up! A pleasant surprise was travelling via LIAT. The flight was ontime, and it was not as bad as I had conjured in my head.
There was also an issue with one member of the Jamaican team which missed a connecting flight and had all sorts of issues. We therefore abandoned plans to go exploring the city to see how we could help. The same member also almost ended up at the wrong airport for the return trip and we had to get a taxi to take him to the correct one part-way through our journey. We took the long route to the International Airport so we could see a little more the country and I'm glad we did. In the end, despite having 2 presentations to do and all the other issues, I had a great time! We also were able to get a few (and I mean a few) things when we had to overnight in Miami, but yet another good time with nice and down-to-earth people.
A very long post, but a good overview of all the travels I've done during the year. I feel very privileged to have been able to experience it all. Being able to travel is one of the many joy of my life. It's most definitely a perk of my job since it facilitated more than half of them.
Where will 2018 take me? I have no idea, but I am ready!
When I started 2017, I had no idea I would have travelled as much as I did. I visited places I have never been before, and I also revisited other places and experienced them in a fresh way. I reflect on them all in this post not just to share with whomever may be so inclined to read it, but as a way to reflect with gratitude on the adventures I had. It is the most I've ever travelled in one year so apologies for the long post.
The first real adventure was a Portland getaway with friends. I drove down on Saturday morning and joined the gang. The worse part of the whole weekend was the trip through Junction...I hated it! Apart from being very winding and narrow, there were people who seemed intent on running me off the road. Nonetheless, being there was good, going to the beach, enjoying the food and just relaxing.
In February, a small groups of us from my office decided to take a trip up to Falling Edge Waterfalls. It was refreshing! The views were beautiful, the company was great! I posted at length about this trip in a previous post.
In July, I had a clash...I was an invited guest at yet another wedding (Sim and Dwane), but it's the same weekend as a work trip to Costa Rica. Suffice it to say, the latter had to take priority. I was disappointed to have missed the wedding, but I am happy I got to visit Costa Rica, my first time visiting that country. I got to see monkeys, was on a panel, was interviewed, saw farms and rivers, and also visited the capital San Jose after spending most of the time in the forest. I also saw the Pacific Ocean up close...though it was at night.
In August, B and I joined Kadiene for her a part of her birthday celebrations in Trelawny. We went to Chukka Adventures! It was so much fun!
The next adventure was to the Bahamas. This was my second time visiting, but the first by air. The first time was by cruise and truth be told it wasn't a great experience. This time was different. The hotel was nice, the people I interacted with were polite and cordial. I was even taken to breakfast by a professor on the day I was leaving. It was also an opportunity to take a professional type photo with my new hair.
The next adventure was my vacation! As I try to do every year, I took my vacation around the time of my birthday and the celebrations got off to a great start. I went to church and had Thanksgiving dinner (with a special cake). I finally took a trip to Canada to visit Debbie and her husband. I had such a good time. We went to the Niagara Falls, CN Tower, and Ripley's Aquarium. I also was able to have dinner in Toronto with my cousin Orlando, go bowling with Claudia and the Toronto Zoo with Kamilah. I will post more on this shortly (I hope) but here are a few pictures in the meantime.
My next adventure took me back to Bonn, Germany, a place I visited a few years ago. This was for the annual UN climate change meeting. Before I got to Germany, however, I had a few hours in Zurich, Switzerland so I took a quick tour of the city. I even went to a museum close to the train station.
I finally got to Germany for my busy stay, but it was so worth it! I stayed with a host family and they were just great. The conference itself had me very busy but in the end enjoyed successes. I will share just a few here...hopefully I can do a separate post where I'll share more.
The penultimate adventure - and it was an adventure - was a work retreat to Royalton, Negril. We were supposed to leave the office from in the morning, then it got pushed back to the afternoon...and we were caught in the Christmas traffic. The bus ride was not nice, made worse by sitting at the back of the bus. By the time we got to the hotel, my back wasn't very happy. The hotel itself appeared nice, and the room wasn't bad. But as the stay continued, we began to see things which are less than ideal for the type of hotel (ie, all-inclusive, luxury resort). Suffice it to say I'm not likely to go back there by choice. But what made it even better were the people on the retreat. They were a fun yet hard-working bunch. What didn't help was the bus ride back...in ways better than the first, but in other ways (eg, having shocks), not so much.
My final adventure was to the beautiful St Lucia! I didn't get to go many places but what I did see was just beautiful. The hotel was nice (food and entertainment included), the staff even nicer. I also had the opportunity to bond with colleagues whom I've worked with before but had not the chance to know to that degree. The start of the trip was very rough. We got our itineraries the day before we were to travel. And it's 2 days to get there (and 2 days back). We therefore had to do a lot of rush bookings for hotels. We stayed at one place in Barbados that...let's just say will not happen again. The service wasn't great but the place itself was worse...the sheet on my bed were stained and the bathroom wasn't worth taking a bath. It's only redeeming quality was the distance from the airport. Once we got to the hotel in St Lucia, it more than made up! A pleasant surprise was travelling via LIAT. The flight was ontime, and it was not as bad as I had conjured in my head.
There was also an issue with one member of the Jamaican team which missed a connecting flight and had all sorts of issues. We therefore abandoned plans to go exploring the city to see how we could help. The same member also almost ended up at the wrong airport for the return trip and we had to get a taxi to take him to the correct one part-way through our journey. We took the long route to the International Airport so we could see a little more the country and I'm glad we did. In the end, despite having 2 presentations to do and all the other issues, I had a great time! We also were able to get a few (and I mean a few) things when we had to overnight in Miami, but yet another good time with nice and down-to-earth people.
A very long post, but a good overview of all the travels I've done during the year. I feel very privileged to have been able to experience it all. Being able to travel is one of the many joy of my life. It's most definitely a perk of my job since it facilitated more than half of them.
Where will 2018 take me? I have no idea, but I am ready!
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