Organized Island-Hopping and Further Globetrotting

I am Jamaican-born and first visited the United States when I was four years old.  Then, after years of visiting the United States during Easter and summer vacations, I officially moved to New York, U.S.A. in 1991.  I then visited Jamaica regularly during school vacations. 

Being born and raised in the Caribbean, I am well aware of the beauty and diversity that the Caribbean holds, and while I know that a number of Caribbean islands, including my homeland, are tourist hotspots, I also know that there are a number of lesser known islands that offer much to be experienced.  I have a goal of visiting every Caribbean country… and I’m keeping a checklist.  Some Caribbean countries, such as Cayman and Turks and Caicos, are comprised of multiple islands; therefore, keep in mind that visiting every Caribbean country is not exactly the same as visiting every Caribbean island.  

During my high school years, I traveled to United Kingdom and Germany.  I set a goal of visiting every Caribbean country well after that, and it is a goal that I would like to accomplish before venturing to other parts of the world.  I’ve cruised a number of times on Caribbean itineraries that include Belize and Mexican ports of call, so I’ll gladly take Belize and Mexico too as I island-hop through the Caribbean.  So, included in the countries that I have already visited, the U.K., Germany, Belize, and Mexico are bonuses thus far.  

As someone who wanted to be an attorney since high school, I knew that I could major in virtually any undergraduate course of study and qualify for law school, so I chose to major in what I loved, International Studies.  What is my passion, you ask?  Well, from the experiences listed above, and more, I can clearly see that traveling and learning about the world has been a constant passion.  

This love for travel has grown even more as I am now a wife and mother, and I deeply desire to travel with my family.  I want my children to be comfortable traveling the world, so we’ve started traveling with them at a young age.  Both of my sons received their first passports at a few months old; my older son traveled with me to Jamaica when he was five months old, and my younger son traveled with me to Jamaica when he was two months old.  They both received passport stamps before reaching six months old.  Although those initial trips that they took were due to the fact that family members had passed away, and our travel was for the purpose of attending funeral and memorial services, those situations sort of forced me to take the leap of traveling with little ones.  In all honesty, I was nervous about traveling internationally with a baby, even if it was to my homeland, because I had heard all sorts of yucky things about the air quality on airplanes, and the possibility of the spread of germs in airports and on airplanes.  While I had certainly survived the possibility of exposure to those germs myself, did I want to expose my infant sons to those germs?  I remember pep talks from my sister encouraging me to get the passport and travel with my firstborn son.  Well, I am happy I got over those initial concerns, and took those trips.  It was in doing so that I realized that such travels were completely manageable.  After realizing that I can do this, I developed the confidence to travel with my boys for fun because, after all, travel is fun!  

Cruising is our preferred way of traveling together as a family, as I truly think that it is the best vacation value, or in other words, the best bang for your buck, if researched well, and I love to research cruise options.  It is by the grace of God and through cruising that we can keep a checklist like the one outlined below and know that it is possible to quickly achieve the goal of visiting many of the places listed.  

I look forward to further globetrotting after our adventures island-hopping through the Caribbean!  

Countries I’ve Already Visited

1.     Jamaica

2.    Dominican Republic

3.    Antigua and Barbuda

4.    Barbados

5.    Grand Cayman 

6.    Honduras

7.     Saint Martin (France)

8.    Sint Maarten (Netherlands)

9.    Saint Kitts and Nevis

10.   Saint Lucia

11.    Turks and Caicos

12.   The Bahamas

13.   United States of America, including Puerto Rico and St. Thomas – wanting to visit St. John and St. Croix

14.   Belize 

15.   Mexico 

16.   United Kingdom (I first traveled there before married with children, so I desire to visit with my family) 

17.    Germany (I first traveled there before married with children, so I desire to visit with my family) 

Countries I Will Visit Next

Already Planned and Booked

1.     Cuba

2.     Guadeloupe and dependencies

3.     Trinidad and Tobago

4.     Grenada

5.     Dominica

6.     Martinique 

7.     Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

8.     Montserrat 

9.     Anguilla

10.    British Virgin Islands, mainly Tortola and Virgin Gorda 

Planning

1.     Haiti

2.     Aruba

3.     Bonaire 

4.     Curacao  

5.     St. Barths  

Do you have a list of places that you desire to see?  If you don’t yet have such a list, why not create one?  Do you have questions about any of the places on my list, and/or flights or cruises to get there?  If so, then email me at mycruisingfamily@gmail.com. 

Happy Planning!