solo travel Archives • Page 3 of 6 • The Bliss Movement

Caribbean, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

The Richmond Vale Academy, St. Vincent

Melissa and I arrived in St. Vincent five days ago, hopping in a cab in the late afternoon that would take us on a journey through narrow, winding mountain roads to the leeward side of the island. The first thing we saw as we drove up was a fat, happy looking pig walking beside the road, free from any confines with as much room to roam as he liked. Isolated in a corner of the island just next to La Soufriere volcano, the Richmond Vale Hiking and Nature Center.. or more commonly known as The Academy... is an environmentally conscious gem away from everything. As[...]

Caribbean, Mood and Mindset, Self-Care, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Travel

Giving Yourself Permission To Do Nothing

I have a cup of tea beside me, a bowl of mangoes and am looking out over the waves from the Atlantic Ocean crashing onto the black sand beach at the bottom of the hill. My only plan for today is to have a pot of tea being constantly refilled and perhaps taking a stroll down to the water. There's no urgency to play tourist today, no desire to leave the house at all. I know, it sounds blissful, doesn't it? To be sitting up in a beautiful, open concept home for free thanks to an amazing offer on Couchsurfing.com, perched on a hill high above the sea in the Caribbea[...]

Caribbean, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Hiking La Soufrière, St. Vincent

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity," -John Muir His name is Franklin and at the age of 58 he has hiked St. Vincent's active volcano 317 times. His trip with us up to the summit will bring his count up to 318, with the majority of his hikes being on the leeward side, where the hike doubles in time and the difficulty intensifies. Feeling a little intimidated by the thought of hiking up this 4049 ft. active volcano on the more difficult side (Ba[...]

Caribbean, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

A Misadventure Turned Serendipitous Moment In St. Vincent

The palm trail was a straight forward hike, no more than an hour, or so they said. That hour came and went when we came to the conclusion that we definitely missed the trail - this shrub and dirt covered mountainside surely could not have been the right way. Just as we were about to admit defeat, a head popped out from further above. A Rasta man holding a machete was hollering something at us but with distance and difficulty understanding his accent, we were unsure what he was saying. After some yelling back and forth over the sound of the wind, it became c[...]

Caribbean, Travel, Trinidad and Tobago

Leatherback Turtle Nesting, Trinidad & Tobago

When night falls upon Turtle Beach it is transformed into a home for endangered leatherback turtles. A popular nesting site for these animals, they choose the hours of darkness to pull themselves from the sea and drag their massive bodies across the sand to settle in a spot of their choosing. We made our way to Turtle Beach around 10pm. As we walked along the shore, flip flops in hand, we saw her. A leatherback turtle, larger that I ever could have imagined, had nestled herself into the sand and was in the process of laying her eggs in the hole she had just finis[...]

Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago

Visiting Argyle Falls, Tobago

Our rental car was dropped off Thursday morning and like eager beavers, we hopped in ready to hit the road. Tobago can be difficult to get around within a car of your own and so for a modest fee of $300 TT per day, or roughly $60 Canadian, we opted to go on a road trip of the entire island. Narrow, windy roads featuring excessive honking, a few gasps of terror, and stunning coastal views took us from the south of the island all the way around it's perimeter. Along the way we stopped at countless bays and beaches, walking barefoot through the sand and dipping our t[...]

Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago

A Day Trip To Maracas Falls and Maracas Bay, Trinidad

If you're in Trinidad for any amount of time, spend a morning exploring Maracas Falls and then make your way to Maracas Bay. The falls are a nice little hike up a somewhat well-maintained nature trail that shouldn't take you more than twenty-five minutes at a slow pace. At the start of the trail is a fountain of fresh spring water that you can safely fill up your water bottle with for the journey. As you wind your way up through the woods, be careful where you step as rocks may be loose and if it has recently rained or is raining, the path can be slippery. Br[...]

Barbados, Caribbean, Travel

The Day I Learned to Crack Open a Coconut in Barbados

"At the beach, life is different. Time doesn't move hour to hour, but mood to moment. We live by the currents, plan by the tides and follow the sun." -Unknown The bus weaved it's way up and over the hills that make up Barbados' east coast, winding down the road until at last it came around a corner presenting the most beautiful of views, capturing us all into silence. We were high above the rugged coastline, looking down upon the many cliffs that jutted out into the Atlantic and the palm trees that dotted the shore. A very religious island, Easter in Barbados[...]

Barbados, Caribbean, Travel

Off The Beaten Track Barbados: The Hot Pot

Amidst a long stretch of the white sand beach off the shores of the Caribbean is a natural little pool that flows out into the sea. Though shallow, there is a strong undercurrent that allows the pool to shift it's shape often and will carry you out to sea if you're not careful! Situated in front of a factory, the water that cools the generator of the factory becomes warm from the machinery and flows back out into the ocean, causing this small body of water to become unusually warm. Locals flock to Brighton beach to bathe in this water, adults chatting as they lou[...]

Mood and Mindset, Self-Care

The Practice of Being Still

The practice of taking moments of being still can be transformative for our mental wellness. I love the sound of silence, the stillness of a lazy morning or the setting of the sun. It feeds the energy in my soul, energizing and rejuvenating it. I come away from stillness feeling refreshed and truly ready to take on whatever the world wants to throw at me. When I lose sight of my intentions for this life of mine, I try to find that space of stillness. Life sweeps you away sometimes, the good and the bad of it tangle you up until you are tumbling around in it. Th[...]

Barbados, Caribbean, Mood and Mindset, Self-Care, Travel

The Traveler’s Shift

I zoom through. Cities, countries, museums and temples, I zoom through them all. That has been my past travel experience nearly everywhere but Thailand. It paved the way for the title of this blog, a whirlwind. A travel affair where I leave after one short, intense kiss. I land in one destination and move frantically through it, desperate to see it all in three days or a week and then I disappear, leaving a city or a country behind me without seeing but a sliver of it. I've questioned this way of travel before and yet I continued to justify it. In some places th[...]

Barbados, Caribbean, Travel

Grenade Hall, Barbados: Mahogany Forests and Coastal Views

"If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree," - Michael Crichton If you took my suggestion from my previous post about visiting the wildlife reserve in Barbados you will be pleased to find that your admission into the animal kingdom also allows you a jaunt up to the Grenade Hall signal station and the mahogany forest that surrounds it. Walking to the left of the ticket booth and, if you're lucky, a monkey taking a rest on the bench, you'll find yourself walking up a trail made of brick that wi[...]