Two weeks of shoes optional because flip flops are considered dressed up. Bathing suits, pareos, and t-shirts will be my daily uniform. Make-up totally minimal, but probably a little waterproof mascara and some tinted SPF lip balm. Lots of SPF 45.

Days spent wandering around a small island town searching for handmade jewelry and artwork, textiles (ok, and some purses) and maybe a day trip to the mainland to play around in the jungle, climb Mayan ruins, or go to the zoo.

Fishing for bonefish in a flat of turquoise water so clear and so warm you don’t know where the air stops and the water begins.

Lazing in hammock under a palm tree reading sleazy novels and drinking rum with pineapple juice.

Nights spent swaying to the rhythms of island music, drinking Belikin beer, and eating spicy jerk lobster and fried plantains under a canopy of stars so close and so numerous you’d swear you could touch them.

Mornings watching the sun rise over the Caribbean Sea as the water turns from pale gray to lush green and blue in a matter of minutes, drinking in those first moments when the heat envelopes you and the trade winds pick up.

Looking up from your book to realize an iguana is checking you out.

Third time’s a charm; we might just not come back from this trip.