'Snap Gapping' our way to the end of 2014...

I’m sooooo late catching up on November's post because I've been ‘snap gapping’ again – this time to the Kingdom of Bahrain in the Arabian Gulf.

Glasgow to Bahrain via Dubai

Trav and I went to Bahrain to visit and stay with a couple of dear friends who live and work over there, so we were in fact, tourists by default. Bahrain is a country that hadn’t actually been on our radar as a holiday destination but it really is a well worth a visit if you have a penchant for fascinating, cosmopolitan, and multi-cultural locations that are as rich in heritage as they are in fun and excitement. It has to be noted there has been and still is some political unrest on the island but at no time did we feel unsafe. On the contrary, we felt at ease everywhere we went by day or by night, as the Bahraini people are so friendly and welcoming.

Our lovely friends Sue and Pete took us out and about for the ten days we were there and what a privilege that was for us – the country is vibrant and booming. Some days we ventured far into the hot white sands of the desert. On other days, we immersed ourselves in the Bahraini café culture and drank Arabian coffee and ate succulent dates (never in equal numbers – you can have one or three, for example, but never two or four). In the evenings, we ventured into the city and to hotels like The Soffitel or The Ritz Carlton for decadent sundowner cocktail and a delicious dinner.

Sundowners over The Persian Gulf

We traveled from Glasgow International to Bahrain via Dubai with Emirate Airlines. You can sign up for an Emirates air miles loyalty card and news of flash sale prices on the Emirates website. As you can see there were heavy grey skies over Glasgow as we left!

Grey skies over Glasgow!

Highlights of our Bahrain Trip: Top of the list! Catching up with our lovely friends Sue and Pete!

Visiting The Tree of Life - in the shimmering white sand of the Bahraini desert stands an isolated and very old mesquite tree. Its girth is broad and its branches are wide and dipped with the effort of holding up its green foliage. Some of the branches are now artificially supported to prevent them snapping. Local lore dates the tree in millenniums but a study was conduced in 1986 in conjunction with by the Smithsonian Natural History Museum of Washington DC, USA, and it was then concluded that the tree had been planted in c1583 AD during the Late Islamic Stage. But the really interesting thing about this tree - is that to this day its source of water remains a mystery. Some believe the tree gets water from an underground spring but that doesn’t explain the complete lack of any other trees or green vegetation in the vicinity. I loved the journey out into the desert, passing working oil rigs and desert settlements and I particularly loved the sight of this lonely old tree on its unique hillside desert setting.

In the desert to see The Tree of Life and count oil wells!

Amwaj – the floating city. The Amwaj Islands project is an artificial island development in Muharraq, Bahrain. Known as The Floating City - it is still partly under construction but has a shopping mall, restaurants, hotels, waterfront villas and chalets and apartments - all intertwined with a series of canals, enabling residents to park their boats by their own back garden. There is also a white sand beach where we paddled while also admiring the skyline of Manama in the distance. The island project is beautiful, ambitious and totally incredible.

Amwaj - the floating city

Here I am at the marina in Amwaj Bahrain

Bridging the International Gap. The King Fahad Causeway links Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and is one of the world’s longest bridges between two countries. You need a visa to enter Saudi Arabia but you can drive to the midpoint on the causeway and enjoying the glorious view across both countries.

The road to Saudi Arabia

Grand Prix International Circuit: Bahrain is famous for its F1 venue. Tens of thousands of visitors attend each April. Here I am standing in the vast sand car park outside the stadium!

At the F1 Grand Prix Circuit in Bahrain - the flags, the grand driveway and the hot sand car park! 

Shopping: There is a certain freedom that exists in Bahrain that attracts many shoppers from neighbouring Gulf States. We (mostly) window shopped in many of the air-conditioned malls which have lots of familiar western outlets like Marks and Spencer. In the Souks, we browsed in and out of exotic perfume shops amongst rich and heavenly fragrances with prices that made your eyes water.

Traditional Arabian clothes and Marks and Spencer!

Sue and I at The Mall

Nights Out! In the evenings, we either socialised with the ex-pat set at the Bahrain Football and Rugby Club or watched incredible sunsets while sipping cocktails on balmy terraces that overlooked the sea. It was fabulous and exotic.

Ladies night at The Ritz Carlton Bahrain

I’ve just written up a full ‘Snap Gap’ travel report on Bahrain for Loveahappyending Lifestyle Magazine which, if you’d like to read more about Bahrain as a travel destination and more of my recommended sights, you can read it by clicking HERE.

I’ve agreed to write several more of these types of travel reports for LLm throughout 2015 and it was while planning which locations to feature in the magazine that I came to realise that Trav and I have been fortunate to have visited 32 different countries over the years – and some on several occasions. These include: The United Kingdom, The United Arab Emirates, Antigua, Aruba, Barbados, Bahrain, St. Barths, Bonaire, St.Eustatius and Saba, Curacao, Cyprus, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Spain, France, Grenada, Greece, Honduras, Israel, Italy, South Korea, St. Lucia, Monaco, St. Martin, Martinique, Mauritius, Maldives, Turkey, United States, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, British Virgin Islands.

You can create your own world travel map using this website: http://matadornetwork.com/travel-map

December Update: During December we also ‘Snap Gapped’ from Glasgow Prestwick to Tenerife. We flew with Ryanair and rented an apartment for a week. While Trav was away on a diving course with AmarillaDivers I was working on the edits for ‘Castaway in the Caribbean’. It was wonderful- and at the same time rather strange – to go from 4 degrees C to 24 degrees C in just over four hours of the flight time. From these photos you can see that it wasn't all work! We are back in Scotland just now for Christmas and so I want to wish you a very happy Christmas and best wishes for the new year.

Tenerife in December - sunshine, writing, having fun and catching up with friends

I’ll be back before the year end with a round up of 2014 – the writing and the travelling - and to share with you our hopes and plans for 2015 and to hear about yours. See you then my lovely friends!

Love, Janice xx

Caribbean Island Update – our three months in paradise…

Apologies for going AWOL - some of you might have thought I’d got lost in the Bermuda Triangle or something - as I’ve been home from the Caribbean for almost three weeks and you’ve not yet heard a single ditty from me about our last month spent on the island.

My unusual lack of chatter (and it is unusual - just ask any of my friends) has been due to many factors - such as extended jet-lag, a nasty jet-caught virus, dentist appointments (for the awful reoccurring tooth abscess), important family events and looming magazine deadlines.

So yes, dear reader, it does indeed seem like real life was waiting for me the very moment I got off the plane in Glasgow!

A couple of months earlier when we first arrived on Utila, a tiny Caribbean island off mainland Honduras, it seemed as if we had endless days of summer stretching out in front of us. Indeed, during the first two months we spent on the island, we felt like we were in some kind of time-warp. Then suddenly September arrived and the month sped by particularly quickly.

A couple of months earlier we arrived on the island of Utila in a very small airplane - which certainly ranked as one of the most exciting journeys Trav and I had ever taken!

September on Utila was an incredibly hot, humid and calm. As I reiterated last month, Utila is known as the whale shark capital of the Caribbean and so swimming with the whale shark is the hottest topic of conversation on the island. These magnificent creatures swim so close to the island on the very calm late summer sea. Going out on the boat looking for whale sharks is the number one activity in September and spotting the characteristic ‘boil’ - an area of sea rolling with tuna and other fish rising up as the whale shark feeds beneath the surface - is one of the most exciting things I’ve ever witnessed. Rather than using diving gear and air tanks, you simply use a mask, snorkel and fins to swim with these magnificent creatures - but as they come so close to the surface to feed - that is all the equipment you'll need to fulfill your dreams of swimming with the biggest fish in the sea.

This photo, taken by ace underwater photographer Dave Thatcher, is of my husband Trav,
swimming with a whale shark off Utila in September 2014

Other September Highlights:

Our days on Utila began the moment the sun blazed through the windows of our Little Yellow House at 6am and they were filled with an equal measure of work and play. Except on a Thursday, which from our very first week on the island, was the day that Trav and I had reserved to catch up with each other and relax completely. During September, lots of our lovely island friends managed to join us for a few hours at the beach on ‘date day’, making Thursday’s a real highlight of our week. The fun we had was in no short measure (he-he, see what I did there?) down to the lovely bar staff at Neptunes at Coral Beach – especially Brooke and Jen - who make us feel so welcome and kept the shots lined up!

Thursday 'date day' fun at Coral Beach and Neptunes Bar

So, except for Thursdays and our exciting days out on the Caribbean Sea looking for whale sharks, while Trav was working as a Dive Master at Eco-Marine Dive Centre,I was busy working on my new novel. I’m excited to tell you that ‘Castaway in the Caribbean’ is now almost finished. The writing part is all done but I still have a bit of work to do on editing my chapters and polishing my prose, in order to make this book the very best it can be before it goes off to be professionally edited and formatted for publication. Over the past three months, I have had so much fun and inspiration writing this fast paced romantic adventure novel, which makes this a story very close to my heart, and so I do hope that you will enjoy reading it when it is published.

So what else did we get up to in September on Utila…?

Mid Month Trav and I went along to a rock music gig on Bandu Beach to support our lovely friend Dave and The Barefoot Band who headlined in the Utila Live Music Festival. They were fabulous and we rocked out all night under the stars and had the most amazing time!

Rocking out under the stars with friends to The Barefoot Band

Utila Independence Day just happened to be on our ‘Thursday Date Day’. So we met up with our friends and had lots of fun on the beach, swimming in the sea and then sipping cocktails at the bar, all before hitching a lift back to the dock at Eco-Marine on the dive boat (hence why it looked so crowded) while singing our heads off and having a great time. As the dock at Eco had just had an enormous rope swing installed - that also became the source of lots more crazy fun, enthusiastic gymnastics - and wrenched arm muscles!

Crazy Utila independence day fun... yep, that's Trav on the swing!

The Biggest Surprise of the Month was getting news that our son James, who is an English teacher and lives over in South Korea, was getting married to his lovely girlfriend Sujeong - on that very day!  We had been aware they were planning to get married, as they had recently applied for a marriage license, but as it came through much faster than anticipated they just decided to ‘pop over’ to the registrars office and ‘do it’ straight away.

The official wedding photo of the newly married Mr and Mrs Horton

As you can see, James and Sujeong didn’t bother with wedding tradition, favouring the casual and unconventional. The groom wore his Cure t-shirt and the bride carried a lollipop. Although Trav and I were sad that we couldn’t attend this very special occasion in person, once the power came back on, we did manage to be online during the registration of their marriage and so felt like we were there ‘virtually’. Then we raised our glasses to the happy couple to wish them every happiness in their future married life together.

The Biggest Pain of the Month other than constant power outages that made keeping our over-heated bodies cool and charging my laptop practically impossible – was me getting an awful tropical tummy bug. I was really sick for a week before I eventually went to the pharmacy for something to help, only to find that the cure also knocked me for six with nasty side effects. I must admit to feeling pretty sorry for myself for a good couple of weeks during our last month on the island and so, once I felt I was on the mend again, I wanted to make the most of our last few days there by taking some time out to join Trav and the crew on the boat searching for whale sharks.

I'm out on the boat with the Eco-crew looking for whale sharks with Dive Master Dave

Utila in retrospect: what is it about this small island that makes it feel so unique? Trav and I have been lucky enough to have visited over a dozen islands in the Caribbean and yet I still cannot quite put my finger on what makes Utila so special. On the website Utila Guide.com the island is described as ‘the Caribbean as it used to be’ and ‘a Key West of 20 years ago’ and I feel this must be true as it certainly has a ‘trapped in time’ appeal. It feels retro. Timeless. I fear that one day the rest of the world will discover Utila or Utila will catch up with modern commercialism and it will be spoiled. There are already cruise ships visiting the neighbouring bay island of Roatan so it really is only a matter of time.

For us, on our first night here, it was undoubtedly the orange-fire sunset on the sea that made it so special. The next day it was the blue sky and sunshine and white sand beaches. Then it was Trav discovering Eco-Marine Dive Shop at Sandy Bay, run by lovely Tara and Steve (Daddio) and meeting the wonderful and generous ‘family’ of people who work and dive there. Then it was going out on the boat to dive and snorkel on the most amazing coral reef in the world in water that is as warm as bath water.

Visiting the Cay’s – tiny tropical white sand palm tree filled islands off the coat of Utila for lazy Sunday picnics was pretty special too and so was spending our evenings in fun company at some fabulous bars for drinks and dancing. The food on the island is really good too and the fish and seafood is undoubtedly the best I’ve ever tasted. All so very very special.

Utila is unique, quaint and unspoiled, some may call it basic, with no chain stores or fast food businesses. There are reportedly less than twenty cars on the island (I only ever saw one or two) and people get around on foot (bare or flip-flopped) or on a scooter or golf cart. The infrastructure on the island, electric and internet, is patchy at best and fresh water is a precious commodity. We bought our drinking water every other day in five gallon drums. Fruit and vegetables are brought to the island by boat from the mainland (Honduras) on a Tuesday and a Friday and shops sell out quickly so the advice is to buy a good-looking vegetable as soon as you see it or it will be gone in the blink of an eye. There are limited health care facilities on the island; there is a clinic and a pharmacy but anyone needing hospital is taken to the mainland by boat or plane. There is opportunistic crime here, just like anywhere else, so you have to be aware of it without letting it make you edgy. The one small bank on Utila is visibly guarded by armed police both inside and out but half of the time, just like the electric supply, the banking systems are down and you can’t use your plastic to withdraw money.

Things happen. Things don’t happen. It’s all part of island life. One thing, of which I am sure, is that there is nowhere in the whole world quite like this beautiful crazy laid-back piece of paradise and it is so very very addictive. It is said (see the crazy ‘Come to Utila’ song on UTube!) that once you have experienced life on Utila you may not ever want to leave. We had to leave after our visa expired after ninety days, but Trav and I are already making plans to return as soon as we can, but next time we’ll get a visa extension or we’ll plan to do a quick visa run to Mexico or the Caymans and back again  (lots of residents who don’t actually have a residents visa do this) so that we can stay on Utila for longer. I plan to write another book and to submit my regular magazine features via the internet but I’ll plan to take my time next time around. I totally underestimated how much there is to do on Utila so I’ll be sure to leave more room in my days for the time-consuming task of sun worshiping, swimming in the sea, yoga (which I discovered for the first time on Utila) and generally chilling out – if chilling out is at all possible in 38 degrees C?

So is it the simple lifestyle that makes Utila special? No modern day stresses? Sure, there are nuisances, like sand flies and electric outages, but none of them can ever compare to the bliss of truly living in the moment, of waking up to sunshine every day and not having to wear many clothes or worry about fashion or hair styles (the latter two items could just be me..?)

Our final week on the island was an emotional one because Trav and I have met some truly lovely people on the island whom we hope will remain our lifelong friends. Utila is an amazing place, but actually, it really is the people we met who made it feel so special and so much fun.

So our final few days were about saying goodbye and promising to stay in touch or saying ‘see you next year’ to those who remain on the island or have promised to return, too.

On our last night on Utila, our host for the evening was the enigmatic ‘Papa’ who travels to Utila from Germany to dive with Eco-Marine every year for several months. He generously invited Trav and I and the whole Eco ‘crew’ to join him as guests at his home where he cooked his special garlic shrimp recipe for us all. It was a fabulous evening of wonderful food, drinks, enthusiastic conversation and laughter. And although Trav and I knew that we were saying a fond farewell to our lovely friends, we also knew that just like Papa, we had a reunion to look forward to in 2015.

Early in the next morning, we were given a lift in our landlady’s golf cart to the air strip on Utila, where we waited for just forty minutes before boarding a small aircraft to mainland Honduras. During that time we were eaten alive by mosquitoes and I sincerely wished I’d chosen a good squirt of Deet over my Coco Chanel perfume that morning. What on earth was I thinking?

For two nights we stayed at a hotel in San Pedro Sula. The city is reported to be the most dangerous city in the world (outside a warzone) and it has been so for the past two years running. Consequentially, we stayed inside our hotel’s luxurious walls for the entire time we were there, taking advantage of the room service, the sumptuous bathroom, the hot water and air con, before we traveled back to the airport to head for London Heathrow via Miami USA.

We then flew from London up to Glasgow. It was a bit of a shock for us to go from 38 degrees C to whatever it is was in Scotland that day and then there was the seven hour time difference to adjust to - but we were home and my thoughts were full of seeing our lovely sons and our friends in Scotland and cuddling my little dog, who may or may not have missed me as much as I missed her!

BUT A NEW ‘Snap Gap’ adventure begins very soon…!

During the first week in November - Trav and I are heading off on another exciting ‘snap gap’ adventure and to a very different part of the world this time. We are travelling to the Persian Gulf and visiting the Kingdom of Bahrain. We will be flying with Emirate Airlines from Glasgow to Bahrain via Dubai and Trav will be celebrating his birthday during our time away. We are incredibly excited to be seeing our lovely friends Sue and Pete once again!

Between now and then I will continue to work on editing and polishing my new novel ‘Castaway in the Caribbean’ as well as putting together my exciting new monthly ‘Bookshelf’ features and ‘Snap Gap’ travel features for Loveahappyending Lifestyle Magazine. I’ll also be updating this blog with any other news about my writerly progress, the ups and downs of our life back in Scotland, and what I might be thinking of packing in my suitcase for our next trip. So please come back soon and do feel free to leave a comment - as I do love to read them all and I promise to reply.

Love, Janice xx

The planes kept getting smaller!

We flew to the island of Utila, the smaller of the Bay Islands just off the coast of Honduras, from London via Miami and via San Pedro Sula in Honduras with American Airlines. We started off on a huge long range triple seven aircraft and then we connected to a slightly smaller one to San Pedro Sula. From there we flew along the coastline in a twelve-seater airplane to a place called La Ceiba - and on this flight I sat right at the front and found I had no choice but to put my feet in the cockpit between the two pilots!

Our twelve-seater airplane to La Ceiba Honduras

We landed in La Ceiba and had to wait for half an hour for our connecting flight for the final leg of our long journey. We saw a couple of planes land and take off again - going to the Cayman Islands and other exotic sounding places - then a tiny little Cessna airplane approached. We thought it looked rather old and battered. In fact, Trav quipped that he ‘pitied the poor buggers who had to get in that plane’.

As it turned out, we were those poor buggers. I’ve been in a small plane once before, a sea plane flying over the Maldives, but never anything like this - as it didn’t even have seat belts. However, you can see by our smiling faces as we were boarding that we were feeling rather excited by the adventure of it all. We landed at the airstrip on Utila safely, having experienced an exhilarating flight and having seen the outstanding beauty of the island by air. It was all simply breathtaking!

My next post is coming soon and I have a lot to tell you about what happened once we arrived on the island!

Our Snap Gap to South Korea

Our Journey to South Korea.  World Map - public domain

During the first week of June, Trav and I flew to South Korea to visit our son, James, who is working there as an English Teacher. We flew from Glasgow with Emirates and, having flown with this airline once before, we knew we were in for a treat with their complimentary drinks service and excellent on board entertainment system. As you can see from my photograph, taken as we waited to board, the skies over Glasgow were stormy grey as we waited to begin our seven and a half hour flight - but my mind was already on our first stop in Dubai – where we would board the new ‘double decker’ A380 aircraft to Incheon, South Korea.

Grey skies over Glasgow!

The last time we were at the airport in Dubai we passed through its elaborate main terminal. This time we were in the exclusive Emirates hub at terminal three, with all its hi-tech, high priced, eye-popping shops, sights and extravagances.

 Flying with Emirate Airlines and at the Emirates Terminal in Dubai

Eight and a half hours after boarding our second flight we landed in South Korea and made our way to the train station for an hour long journey to Seoul. From Seoul we took the KTX bullet train onto our final destination. It took two and a half hours traveling at over 300 kilometers an hour (185 miles per hour!) to get to Daegu. When we arrived it was night (eight hours ahead of BST) and we had been traveling for so long without sleep we were exhausted. However, seeing our lovely tall and handsome son walking towards us at the station immediately revived us. And yes, dear reader, as you can imagine - there were lots of tears!

The KTX Bullet Train at Seoul Station

James took us to the brightly neon-lit downtown area to our hotel where we dumped our bags so we could go straight out to dinner. We ate traditional Korean barbeque. At the restaurant all the tables had a brazier in the centre of the table and a ‘chimney’ above it to take away smoke and steam. Marinated uncooked meat was brought to us to cook ourselves and this was accompanied by a kind of soup, rice, shredded vegetables and ‘kimchi’ - the national dish comprising of chilli spices and various fermented vegetables, usually cabbage. Kimchi is a side dish that is reputed to be one of the healthiest foods in the world. I absolutely loved it but drew the line at eating it for breakfast!

Daegu by night.  Korean food.  James and Trav in downtown Daegu.

Over the next two days we had a fabulous time meeting all of James’s co-workers and friends, exploring downtown, dining Korean style and drinking ‘Soju’ - a deliciously smooth vodka-like, rice distilled drink. Another delight (and an experience exclusive to the city of Daegu) are the ‘bag cocktails’ sold by street vendors that enable you to sip your favourite tipple between visiting bars!

First pic - In the photo from the left - Brandon, Thomas, Sam, James, Trav and I

Second Pic: The Korean national drink 'Soju'   Third Pic: Crystal and James

 Trav, James and I at the Bombay Lounge Bar

 Daegu by day - taken from our hotel room window

Trav and I out and about in downtown Daegu by night

Thomas, Myself and James sipping our 'bag cocktails'

The weekend soon came around (James was working during the week but had the weekend off) and we had planned a trip on the KTX train to Busan, a city on the coast renowned for it’s beaches and its cultural sights. But when Saturday came, James wasn’t feeling well. He’d had a cold the previous week, which he’d caught from one of the children in his class. It had settled on his chest and he was feeling rather breathless. As he is an asthmatic, this is something he treats with his inhaler. James was doing his best not to create a fuss but we decided to do Busan the next day and to go and see the new Tom Cruise movie ‘The Edge of Tomorrow’ instead at the nearby 4DX cinema complex. The film was fabulous but the 4D aspect really made it something of an experience. 4DX movie goers wear the 3D specs but sit in moving seats and get sprayed, misted, vibrated and poked – all in sync with the on-screen action. Popcorn not recommended!

However, when we came out of the cinema, it was obvious that James’s asthma was getting much worse. We argued that he should go straight to hospital. We flagged a taxi and went to the emergency hospital close by where, thank goodness, he was immediately treated. I simply cannot praise the doctors and nurses highly enough. Despite the language barrier, they recognised what was happening and that James was in an asthmatic state. Within seconds of arriving they had him on oxygen, a nebuliser, several intravenous drips and a heart monitor. I can’t tell you how relieved we were to see him slowly getting some colour back to his face. Once stable, James managed to text his Korean speaking friend and co-worker who could help us with communication. He came over straight away as did James's lovely Korean girlfriend, Crystal. James’s headmaster at the school where he works was in contact on the phone, helping with translations and speaking with the doctors. Everyone rallied around to help. If this experience has taught me anything, it is that our lovely son is in good hands. He is living in an amazing country and he not only has a fabulous lifestyle - he has the love and support of a wonderful close network of friends. James was kept in hospital overnight and is now on an array of medicines to help him recover from his ordeal. To prevent his asthma ever getting out of control again, he has been prescribed preventative medication.

The morning afterwards, James was back in the classroom teaching. We went with him to school to meet all his co-workers and some of his pupils. I took these photos. Later the same day, James was told that he had been awarded Best Teacher for the month across all the branches of his teaching academy. James, we are so very proud of you!

 Teacher James in his classroom.  Rules for the end of class.  Best of Best!

During the weekend of worry about James, I was also in a bit of distress myself with a terrible toothache. I’d had a bit of pain on and off for a while and so had been for a dental check up before we traveled. I’d even had an x-ray to make sure nothing unseen was going on. My dentist assured me that I merely had a sensitive tooth. Well, that simply can’t have been the case (he is now my ex-dentist) as I had to find an emergency dentist the day before we flew home. At The Happy Dentist (translation) I had full root canal treatment on a molar, the tooth cut down and the nerves removed. If I ever need any radical dental treatment again I will certainly want to go back to Korea to have it done. They are so friendly, fast, efficient and professional.

At the Happy Dentist!

I have to admit that when we finally parted with James, I was once again in tears but he was quick to remind us that he’s not the only one to leave home for another country - which is true - as Trav and I are planning to spend the next three months as far away from Korea as we possibly could be – in the Caribbean!

Our journey back to Scotland was long, tiring and uneventful. Despite an initial delay taking off at Incheon due to a thunder storm, we managed to connect with our flight in Dubai. Touching down in Glasgow, I put my watch back eight hours and saw that we were being welcomed home with a dry, warm and sunny day.

Now that we have made the journey to visit our son in South Korea, it doesn’t seem to be as far away as it once did. Plus the fantastic communication links we now have such as Facetime and Facebook and Instant Messaging all helps to make the world seem a smaller place.

 James and his lovely girlfriend Crystal

Once over our jetlag, Trav and I will be packing for our next snap gap. In previous posts I’ve been teasing you by only giving hints as to where exactly we are going. Now I’m ready to tell you that our snap gap during July, August and September this year takes us to the very special island of Utila.

Where is Utila you may ask…? Well, Utila is the smaller of what is known as The Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras. It is located on the mesoamerica coral reef – reputedly the second best coral reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef off Australia. It is a truly unique island destination and a scuba divers paradise. It is also a hub for whale shark viewing, which as a diver, is what most appeals to Trav. It appeals to me because it is said to be ‘the Caribbean as it used to be’. It has a quaint central town that is said to be ‘the Key West of twenty years ago’ and I like the sound of all that laid back unspoilt charm. You can find out more about Utila at: http://utilaguide.com/

Trav and I have rented a beach apartment and from there he will go out diving each day while I write. I’m told we will have an internet connection. I currently have three works-in-progress on the go - two full length fiction novels and a non fiction travel guide. The first of my works-in-progress is planned for release in November this year and is a romantic adventure novel set in the Caribbean. Where better to be inspired than on a tiny and remote Caribbean island..?

So next time here on the blog I’ll be chatting about and sharing with you all the planning of our next exciting snap gap adventure. I’ll be wondering what is best to pack for an extended trip. (as Trav’s bag will no doubt be full of diving gear!) and I’ll be charting our journey that will once again begin at Glasgow. From there we will fly to London and then onto Miami. From Miami we will fly to San Pedro Sula in Honduras, where we will stay overnight until we can catch a small plane over to Utila the next day, arriving on the 4^th July!

See you then!

Love, Janice

May - and back to the Caribbean...

I’ve lots to tell you this month. Trav and I went back to the Caribbean and visited the beautiful Dominican Republic. This was our second trip to this particular island as we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary there last year. This year, we booked on spec just a couple of weeks prior to departure because we saw it at the most amazing price. So amazing in fact that we expected there to be a catch and we were right to be suspicious. It turned out there is  a major construction project going on in the next bay to the resort. We were amazed to see that the idyllic beach filled with palm trees that we had explored the previous year, was now a vast concrete car park and half built cruise ship terminal.

The bay on the left as it was in 2013 and on the right as it is now: a cruise terminal under construction.

The only way to see this in a country heavily reliant on tourism, is positively, for the tourist dollars it will bring into the island. Luckily, there are plenty more idyllic palm filled beaches in the Dom Rep to explore and, call me fickle if you will, but from over the hill at our beach resort location we could only see a single crane that could easily be ignored when focusing on the clear blue ocean, the hot white sand and the beach bar.

 Left: at the beach bar with Trav.   Right: at the main bar with lovely new holiday friends.

 The beach at our resort hotel

 

Trav and I have now visited a total of twelve Caribbean islands. We have been to Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Barths, Tortola, Dominica, St Vincent, Bonaire, Aruba, Curacao and Grenada. The Dominican Republic is one of my firm favourites. The weather is tropical of course and the beaches are idyllic. The island is green and lush and filled with amazing rainforest and beautiful waterfalls. It’s famous for its Amber and Larimar. The Amber World Museum is a must-visit and there is a jewellery shop right next door. Trav bought me an unusual and beautiful ring that ‘twists’ showing amber on one side and blue Larimar on the other - see photo. The Brugal rum factory tour is also worth doing as is the 800m cable car trip to the top of Mount Isabel de Torres.

 My lovely and unusual amber and larimar 'twist' anniversary ring

Did you know that the Dom Rep was the location for the Jurassic Park movie? It really does have that prehistoric jungle feel to it. Trav and I ventured through the rainforest and climbed (and jumped from) seven waterfalls - which was an exhilarating experience and fun - once I’d claimed the fear! The Dom Rep is a real gem I and would highly recommend it to you. We stayed at The Riu Hotel Resort, Bahia de Maimon, Puerto Plata.

 Above: the famous Amber Museum and views of Puerto Plata from the cable car

 

 A dive centre on the beach and the prehistoric rainforest island interior

My Hair Braiding Adventure! The heat and humidity in the Caribbean always plays havoc with my thick curly hair, which refuses to behave itself and drives me crazy. So when I was asked by a young Haitian girl on the beach if I wanted hair braids and extensions - I set aside my fear of ending up looking like Medusa and went for it. I have to say that for two whole weeks it was the easiest holiday hair ever. Once home, it did take me many hours to undo the braids but as my real hair seemed non the worse for its ordeal, I wouldn’t hesitate to have it done again given the chance! What do you think?

 Before, during and after the braiding…!

Trav and I are now back in Scotland and back to work. Our tans are covered up in the usual jeans and woolly sweaters as it’s cold and raining. The welcome home however is warm as our wee west highland terrier Polly is glad we are back and it’s so nice to catch up with our sons #1 and #3.

Son #2, who lives in a city called Daegu in South Korea, where he works as an English teacher, is expecting us to visit in a couple of weeks time. We will be flying from Glasgow to Dubai with Emirate Airlines and from Dubai to Seoul on their new double-decker A380 Super Jumbo. From Seoul we will take the KTX bullet train to Daegu. It sounds like an exhausting trip but I can hardly wait!

So my next post here in June will report on our South Korean trip!

On the writing front: I today submitted a quirky travel feature to Loveahappyending Lifestyle Magazine. ‘Planning for the Snap Gap’ explains how unlike a gap year, a typical snap gap can be a month, six weeks, or a few months long. Are you someone who looks forward to your annual fortnight holiday only to wish it was longer? Are you, like Trav and I, ready to Snap Gap..? If so then do join me and pop over to the http://www.loveahappyending.com/ website to read my feature when it goes live on 19th May.

The latest award winning LLm e-magazine is out now. It’s Issue 4.

 Download your copy now - it’s FREE!

Since the start of the year when we sold our cottage on the hillside and moved to a rented house down by the river, our lives have changed so much. Trav and I have always owned our own home and I thought it would feel strange, even a little scary, not to have a property of our own to call ‘home’. But actually it doesn’t feel scary at all. It feels liberating. I realise that our nesting days are over and our three boys are all grown up and doing their own thing. So this is the time for us to do our own thing too. We are free to explore the world.

So I had a house sign made. It’s a lovely custom driftwood piece made by the lovely Becky at www.driftwoodmagic.co.uk I explained that we wanted a handmade rustic style sign to take with us wherever we went, which we could hang up on a door or a wall, to make anywhere ‘our hoose’ (that’s Scottish for house!) This is the sign. I’m thrilled with it. What do you think…?

 

On the 1st July we are back to the Caribbean again - and this time for three whole months - to an island we have not been to before. Have you guessed where it is yet…?

I promise to tell you all about it next time!

Love,

Janice xx