The "In Pursuit Of The Next Adventure" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting in the family room with Carol reading Travel Talk Online (TTOL), a travel forum for the Caribbean, when a post by a member who titled his post "17 Days to go" popped up on the laptop screen.  I looked at Carol and said, "How long before we go?"  We figured it out in our heads and although it is many more than 17 we still started getting excited.  Next trip will be back to our favorite vacation spot of St. Martin. Beautiful days in the sun and warm weather with friends we have gotten to know over the past 10 years of traveling to the island.

Orient Beach on the French side of St. Martin

  Leslie will have our car waiting for us at the airport and with his precision checkout, we will be on our way.  Magali, our rental agent will greet us with a hug and kiss before she ushers us back to our villa and Crystal will have a big smile on her face as we enter Le Piment for our evening meal on our first day back.  And, that's only the first day.  It's been a restless winter in the northeast and as the saying goes .... There is no heart as restless as the traveler's heart.  

Aerial view of Orient Beach.

We're always ready for our next adventure whether it's a trip to State College to visit with friends Jerry and Just Sue, a quick trip to the Chesapeake with friends for a noontime meal, a visit to Maryland for a visit with our daughter and her family or our week at Ocean City, NJ with the entire family sitting on the beach, walking and biking the boards, and riding the amusement rides with our grandkids.  But our journeys to the Caribbean, sporting our passports and wheeling our hard-side suitcases, are the fixes that we need to satisfy our travel open hearts with a bit of understanding humanity along the way.  We enjoy searching for our next adventure, next new friend or next exotic drink.  Our traveler's itch leads us along the path we have never experienced before.  Even though Carol and I have traveled to St. Martin many times before, we have plans for a few new adventures during our upcoming stay.   Has to be that way to satisfy our restless traveler's heart.  I can remember reading a piece in the Huffington Post Travel Section a few months ago that listed the many signs telling you that you may have an incurable case of wanderlust.  Some which I remember reading were: 

• You constantly read travel blogs that put you in a state of wanderlust.
• You stand in front of the departure board at the airport and remember when you were on that island and what fun side trips you took on that island and ........
• You wonder what you can do that would make you miss your flight home so you have just one more day in paradise.
• You don't consider anyone you meet on vacation as a stranger; just another friend you are about to make.
• You're always moving funds around to make sure you have enough money for your next vacation even if it means missing a few meals along the way.
• You absolutely adore maps.  
• You're planning what you want to put in your next scrapbook before you have the last one finished.
• Some fiends may post on social media photos or family, friends and even pets, but you post photos of beaches, landscapes and beautiful sunsets.
• You measure success by the number of stamped pages in your passport.
  
• You feel most at home when you're experiencing some new place.
• Staying at home, adjusting to a boring routine is more terrifying than going from tree to tree on a zip line or riding the waves on a Rhino boat.
• Your daily Internet routine while on vacation includes searching for airfares for your next planned adventure.

The unquenchable desire we have to travel while we are still able to do so will hopefully lead Carol and I on many more journeys before our plane makes it final landing.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.