We LOOOOOOVED St. Lucia. The island was just beautiful. I loved the mountains next to the sea, and the weather was absolutely perfect. It was in the 80’s during the day and the 70’s at night, and it showered occasionally, but not enough to keep us from our activities. We hiked to the top of a hill with a fort on it, and looked down on the marina below us. We took a boat tour of the island which included a volcanic mud bath, a waterfall, secluded bays, snorkeling, a delicious lunch and plenty of rum punch. We rode skinny island ponies down a trail and into the ocean, and took a shopping trip to a craft and fruit market with a detour at a banana plantation. We relaxed on the beach and snorkeled in the bay next to the hotel. It was a wonderful week away.
We really enjoyed the island people- everyone was so kind and we loved their accents. We did not have a single bad meal the entire time we were there. If we go to this island again, we are going to stay on the other side, though. The roads are awful, and most of the fun stuff to do was an hour by car- that’s why we took a boat trip to see the waterfall and volcano mud bath. Soufriere is where the airport was, and where most of the things we wanted to do were.
Everyone enjoyed the trip- my youngest son asked when we could go back to the Caribbean the day after we got back! I am doing some research on other Caribbean islands we might like to visit, and keeping an eye out for cheap airfares. Perhaps we could do one late this summer before the boys go back to school…
I did mention that this was my last work trip with my old company (and yes, they did insist that I attend a business meeting, even though I don’t work there anymore. But the trip was free, so I went.) Several people asked why I quit such an amazing job. I told them that I had done the job for 25 years and I had enough money and was ready to do other things. Their reactions were interesting.
One guy who was several years older than me, just can’t make himself quit, even though it sounds like he has plenty of money. I went to a seminar once about how different generations see different issues. Baby boomers tend to see being a “hard worker” as a positive character trait. My husband is a baby boomer and feels this way. He thinks that working hard makes you a “good person” or something like that, and that if you retire when you are still young and fit, you might be “lazy.” I am a Gen Xer and I think that after I have all the money I reasonably need, continuing to work would be the equivalent of working for free, since I am not improving my life in any way. As much as I liked my job, I would not do it for free. I told this to the older guy, and he was astonished. He said he wouldn’t do the job for free either, and that he’d never really thought of it that way.
Another guy about my age said he liked his expensive hobbies and wouldn’t ever be able to quit. He was doing a big trip (the grand loop by boat) but was having to do it in sections, because he has to work. I did not point out that he could do it all at once if he retired.
There was a much younger guy who said he was planning on retiring early too, and wished me grand adventures! There were several people who were interested in retiring and were interested in how the retirement process had been. I couldn’t really offer much of an opinion there- since I retired 2 weeks before our company shut down due to covid, my experience wasn’t really normal. I didn’t get to do most of the things I was supposed to, but it all worked out fine in the end.
We graded our cruise in December, and we barely rated that one a C. St Lucia was an easy A. I don’t really like resorts, and my least favorite is a resort that makes it difficult to get to town, but since this one was free, I can hardly mark off for that. We’d visit St. Lucia again and are eager to explore other places in the Caribbean. We’re thinking, Jamaica, Antigua, Bonaire…
Favorite retirement activity of the week- days like today. My husband dropped our son off to school, and I got to work on a small project- repairing a cabinet in our laundry room. The contractor stained the cabinet instead of painting it white like he was supposed to. When I pointed out that it was the wrong color, he took it back to his shop and sprayed white paint over it- probably without sanding it, which is why the finish is coming off now. I touched up the white paint and then put shelf liner to cover the open shelves. It looks great! Next I worked on converting an old armoire into a potting bench. It was easy and fun. Then I went to lunch with a group of girlfriends. We had such a good time and laughed so loudly that an old man thanked us for the entertainment on the way out the door- provoking even more laughter. I came home and baked a batch of cookies for a dinner at the church, boxed up some soap to mail to a friend, and dug up some monkey grass out of my garden to give away. It was a good day!
