We are about as ready as we can be for 2020, the new year set to pop in a matter of hours. In life’s big picture, a lot happens around here that completely escapes notice in this blog. Painfully aware of that phenomenon, I’m especially tickled to have found a way to dive deeper into some of our more opulent travels, while simultaneously motivating myself to capture some experiences as they happen, according to the specs of my ‘Rare Air’ mission.
A little less than two years ago (in February, 2018), I finally used up the store of video from our very first trip to St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, back in 2016. Beth and I have returned twice since then, in the summers of 2017 and 2019. Soon after our 2017 adventure, Hurricane Irma devastated the island… upending the lives of all the wonderful people and creatures we encountered.
Considering the historical implications, the footage appearing in this and the next few episodes is extra special: It documents the local wildlife before the wreckage.
Here’s what I wrote the day before our 2017 trip began: “Tomorrow we will board a plane for St. Thomas and then take possession of a Jeep for a week of excursions on St. John. We know what to expect there, but this trip will be different because our kids will remain in Boone or at Buffalo Cove while we are off adventuring in the Virgin Islands. As we make these rounds today, working our way toward the version of travel where it is just the two of us amidst strangers and places increasingly exotic, the sense of our good fortune is sure to come into full focus.”
Please stop back soon for more Rare Air.
Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands, July, 2017
Rare Air Episode 36, Part 1: Second trip to St. John for two
Rare Air Episode 37, Part 2: Sunset at Caneel Bay Resort
Rare Air Episode 38, Part 3: Honeymoon Beach, Caneel Bay Resort
Rare Air Episode 39, Part 4: Close Encounter with Otherworldly Locals
Rare Air Episode 40, Part 5: Diving Leduck Island
Rare Air Episode 41, Part 6: Our Octopus Friend
Rare Air Episode 42, Part 7: A Perfect Day Above and Below the Waves
Rare Air Episode 43, Part 8: Hello, We Must Be Going
Rare Air Episode 44, Part 9: Running Down a Dream
Rare Air Episode 45, Part 10: Reef Bay Sunrise
Rare Air Episode 46, Part 11: Coral Bay Sunset
