346h 18m 20s

[tRidiot]

Until I get the heck up outta here...

and head HERE....

And then immediately HERE...

Salt Whistle Bay, Mayreau, St. Vincent & the Grenadines (my favorite single location on Earth for the last 15+ years)

Followed next by HERE...

Lower Bay, Bequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines (2nd favorite place on Earth, lol)


And took a really big splurge and rented this place for 3 nights...

The Spice House villa in Bequia

Believe me, I'm not bragging... I've absolutely busted my ass for the last 6 months to save up for this trip, working lots of extra hours so I could save up enough to take my family and also to bring my mom and step-dad with us. They work really hard and barely scrape by, have had a tough few years with the economic downturn, lost their home and one business, etc. They're scraping by on just one small store now and I'm blessed to be able to do something, anything nice for them. That was the real reason I decided to get the villa for a few nights, just so I can see the look on my mom's face. She never really relaxes, she is always tense and anxious. I am hoping after at least a few days in the islands, she will finally realize she can just chill and truly RELAX. This will honestly be the vacation of a lifetime for her and I am so excited to be able to tell them to pack a bag and not bring a PENNY with them!

It's been a hellacious year and I'm utterly exhausted, with still 2 weeks to go... I've got roughly 165 hours over 12 days... and then I'm island-bound for something like 23 days.

God I can't wait. I'm not gonna lie and tell ya'll I'll miss ya... lol.

Oh, and there'll be plenty of this:

 

[tRidiot]

346h 17m 40s...

 

[tRidiot]

346h 17m 25s...

<edit> lol

 

[dennishoddy]

You deserve your time off. Enjoy it to the fullest!

 

[D. Hargrove]

Good on ya!!!! Great you thought of your Mom and Stepdad as well. ENJOY!!!

 

[tRidiot]

I've been wanting to do something nice like this for a long time. It's always a fight for them to let us do ANYTHING for them.

We did get to bring them down to Sint Maarten once for about 10 days. Took them out, dined out, had some drinks, hit the beaches, etc. It took her a full 7 days on the island before you could actually SEE the weight lifted off her shoulders and she started to smile and relax instead of just at jokes or something. It was so nice to see, but at the same time, it was kinda disheartening because it took so long, she only had 3 days at that point to really enjoy the trip like she should have the whole time.

So this time, we've planned the first week or so entirely out of town on truly amazing relaxation spots, just to try to get her to unwind a little quicker. We'll see how it works... I am finally getting excited. Last year, I got to go for 16 days, so this year I have almost an extra week. Of course, I'm working that much harder before AND after to make up for it. And I didn't really get excited until I landed in St. Vincent - I traveled alone (my wife and son always go down early), slept on a bench in the rental car center at Fort Lauderdale airport to save some extra money, etc. But now... now that I am anticipating the look on my mom's face when she sees those beaches and when she sees us pull up to that villa (that part is a surprise! lol)... now it's actually exciting.

 

[Mos Eisley]

May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits...or one Zika-infected mosquito. ...again

 

[dennishoddy]

We did get to bring them down to Sint Maarten once for about 10 days. Took them out, dined out, had some drinks, hit the beaches, etc. It took her a full 7 days on the island before you could actually SEE the weight lifted off her shoulders and she started to smile and relax instead of just at jokes or something.

Did you take her to Orient beach? She might have loosened up a lot quicker! LOL.

 

[tRidiot]

May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits...or one Zika-infected mosquito. ...again

Exactly! God, I'm really really hoping that having Zika once instills immunity. I think the medical community is still debating that one, though...

 

[tRidiot]

Did you take her to Orient beach? She might have loosened up a lot quicker! LOL.

Hells no... Orient Beach is disgusting!