Monday, April 17 – Placencia

And now, the end is near…

Today is my last full day in one place as the trip draws to a close. Tomorrow I’ll be traveling back to Belize City, and on Wednesday to Madison. I’m thinking this will be a day of leisure.

I took a walk on the beach, worked on a journal entry and spent the rest of the day by the pool and on the patio (sound familiar?).

I’ve learned about Sargassum seaweed during my travels around the Caribbean. I’ve seen it on several of my stops. Some history: Beginning in 2011, unprecedented quantities of Sargassum began inundating coastal areas in Brazil, the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and the east coast of Florida. These events cost millions of dollars in lost revenue for the tourism industry, especially hurting small Caribbean countries whose economies are highly dependent on seasonal tourism. Apparently there are three main factors behind the increased presence of the seaweed in the Caribbean: a) a nutrient influx into the seawater (from the Amazon, Congo and Mississippi Rivers); b) Trade Winds and Currents; and c) Human Effects (deforestation, waste-water runoff, and commercial agriculture fertilizer). For me personally, the beach here in Placencia is where I’ve seen the greatest presence of Sargassum on the trip.

Tuesday, April 18 – transit from Placencia to Belize City

I’m back on Tropic Air early this afternoon to Belize City; this time to the international airport.

Including the pilot, there were 4 of us on board. The flight lasted 25 minutes.

Belize Information

• Currency: Belize Dollar
• Language: English
• Vehicle Traffic: Drive on the right
• Weather: Highs in the upper 80s, Lows in the upper 70s, moderately high humidity
• Covid Entry Requirements: None
• Mask Wearing: Rare
• Electrical Outlets: U.S. Type
• Drinkable Tap Water: No
• Timezone: Same as U.S. Mountain Time

Wednesday, April 19 – transit from Belize to Madison

I’m on American Airlines today back to Madison, via Dallas. I departed Belize around 1pm and landed in Madison at 11pm (home around midnight). Both flights were on 737s, and they were full! I again used miles for these flights; the cost was $78 + 36,000 miles. The Lyft ride in Madison was $30.

Travel Note: The line for immigration in Dallas was massive! However, I have Global Entry, and there were zero people waiting there. I walked right through! Awesome! Much of the time though the weak link in the Global Entry process is the baggage claim. You might get through immigration quickly, but there is still that wait for your luggage. Not today! Non-stop through immigration….and my bag is waiting for me! Wow! Full disclosure however: When I entered the U.S. in Fort Lauderdale a couple weeks ago Global Entry provided no advantage; there was no wait at immigration for the travelers without GE.

Another Travel Note: I was going to mention this earlier in the journal, but didn’t want to jinx myself. Have you noticed the lack of rain days during my trip? Like Hawaii last year, I’ve been unbelievably fortunate. Crazy! I might have had a couple days of rain this year, but that’s it.

In case you were wondering…

This has been an amazing trip! I know it could have been better if I had done some advanced planning, but I’m happy with the way it turned out. There’s been a LOT of moving around though. I foresee next winter’s escape being based in one place, with short out and back trips from that location.

Thanks to all of you for following along. I hope you haven’t been too bored, or felt obligated to read all of the entries. That’s not my intent. And much appreciation for all of your comments and questions, via this website and through phone calls, emails, and texts. While traveling solo the interaction with you means a lot to me. Until next year…

Epilogue

Throughout this journey I’ve compiled some trip-related lists. One caveat: While reading them over please remind yourself of my weirdness! The lists are random and in no particular order.

Favorite Experiences

• Panama Canal Cruise
• Volcano Hike
• Using the Public (mini)Buses
• Mantego Bay B&B
• Caye Caulker Snorkeling

Favorite Places

• Grenada
  • Beachside Grilled Fish Meals
  • Picturesque Harbor
  • Waffle Cones
  • Roti Stand
• Antigua
  • Amazing Blues of the Ocean
  • Beautiful Beaches
  • Good walking/hiking
    • Hiking around Nelson’s Dockyard
• Caye Caulker
  • Atmosphere
  • Snorkeling
  • Fellow Travelers

Favorite Accommodation

• Montego Bay B&B (duh!)

Favorite Airbnbs

• Barbados
  • Great Porch
  • Nice Breeze
  • No Mosquitos
  • Nearby Café
• St. Lucia
  • Great Hosts
    • Provided food due to my late arrival
    • Homemade Soup
• Dominica (1st time)
  • Good Host
  • Nice Patio/View
  • Least Expensive!

Favorite Meals

• Grilled Fish Sandwich and Rum Punch from a food truck on the beach in Barbados
• Mahi Mahi and Kale & Mango Smoothie at Ma Cherie Café in Barbados
• Grilled Fish and Rum Punch at Beachside Market in Grenada
• Roti in Grenada
• Grenada Chocolate Ice Cream in a Waffle Cone
• Grilled Fish at Dantie’s in Dominica
• Homemade Soup from Airbnb hosts in St. Lucia
• Rum Punch at Top Bar in Dominica (& Rum Punch in general!)
• Coconut Water following the Volcano Hike in St. Vincent
• Plantains and Sea Moss drink with Airbnb host in Dominica
• Akee & Saltfish Patty in Kingston
• All of the breakfasts at the Montego Bay B&B
• Smoothies in St. Kitts
• Pineapple-Ginger Ice Cream in Jamaica

Least Favorite Experiences

• Dominica Ferry Terminal
• Dominica Taxis
• Taxis in General (no change for minor large bills, among other issues!)
• Saturation (This is a travel-related term Xavier introduced me to – he experienced it during a month-long trip in Europe. It describes repeatedly seeing amazing things and becoming immune to the “wow” factor, which is absolutely a terrible thing to have happen. Unfortunately I experienced some of that on this trip – in regards to forts, beaches, & greenery. I’m not happy about it, and desperately fought against it.)

Least Favorite Airbnb

• Dominica (2nd time)
  • Mosquitos
  • Noisy
  • Otherwise though, good
    • Location
    • View
    • Host
    • Top Bar

I’m sure I forgot some things, so feel free to call me out if you notice any oversights!

Let’s Look at the Data

Below I’m going to list a bunch of statistics, both from this trip and from all of my previous winter escapes (yes, I’m a dork). Please remember that you’re under no obligation to grind through this stuff!

Countries Visited

I visited 11 new (to me) countries and 2 new territories on this trip. I feel incredibly lucky to say I have now been to 81 countries. Below is a breakdown of visited countries by continent (and the % of countries I’ve been to on each continent):

• Africa: 3 (6%) – much yet to see in Africa!
• Antarctica: 0 (0%) – maybe this will be my 100^th country?
• Asia: 20 (44%)
• Europe: 29 (60%)
• North America: 19 (83%)
• Oceania: 2 (14%)
• South America: 8 (67%)

Trip Length

1. 2023 Caribbean: 100 days
2. 2019 South America: 77 days
3. 2022 Hawaii: 66 days
4. 2020 Europe: 33 days
5. 2020 South America: 30 days (cut short due to Covid)

Trip Cost

Total

1. 2023 Caribbean
2. 2022 Hawaii
3. 2019 South America
4. 2020 Europe
5. 2020 South America

Per Day

1. 2022 Hawaii (shocking!)
2. 2019 South America (skewed higher by Galapagos Islands and Easter Island)
3. 2023 Caribbean
4. 2020 South America
5. 2020 Europe (skewed lower due to the use of frequent flyer miles for the transatlantic flights)

Steps

Total

1. 2023 Caribbean: 1.32 million (that’s roughly 600 miles!)
2. 2019 South America: 1.09 million
3. 2022 Hawaii: 1.07 million
4. 2020 Europe: 550 thousand
5. 2020 South America: 440 thousand

Per Day

1. 2022 Hawaii: 16.2 thousand
2. 2020 Europe: 16.1 thousand
3. 2020 South America: 14.5 thousand
4. 2019 South America: 14.4 thousand
5. 2023 Caribbean: 13.2 thousand (embarrassingly low result!)

2023 Extremes

• Most: 34.9 thousand in Barbados
• Least: 1.3 thousand on the day after the St. Vincent Volcano hike

Postcards

• I mailed 11 postcards to Oliver on this trip. Two are still in transit; but as of this writing the shortest delivery time was 12 days from Saint Martin ( a French Territory – I mailed the card during my day visit there from Sint Maarten), and the longest delivery time was 29 days from Dominica.

Planes, Ferries, Buses & Trains

I took 22 flights on this trip (not a great carbon footprint, I know…) totaling a little over 10k miles. The longest flight was from Toronto to Panama City, the shortest from Dangriga to Placencia in Belize.

I also traveled 5 times on ferries/water taxis; twice on buses; and once on a train (Fort Lauderdale to Miami).

Trip Map

The update to my trip map is now complete. The link to it is here.

Favorite Photos

I plan on going through my trip photos over the next few days and uploading a few of my favorites here. Please check back if you’re interested. Thanks!