Every once in a while you'll find yourself in a situation where you just need to do something. sometimes its quitting your crappy job, or telling that girl how you really feel. Other times its about helping out a friend who could use it-- that's how I ended up in Grenada last week. I just had to go visit a friend of mine. He's been living down there with his girlfriend for about 6 months and the small island life was getting to him. So when I saw them over the holidays and Megan, the girlfriend, pulled me aside and said "he wishes you could come visit," I pulled out my phone right there at the bar and started looking for flights.
"I got my first tattoo last June. The 24th, for those of you who have been in my life long enough to connect those dots. Its a small tattoo, not even two inches long on my left wrist. My own handwriting that reads 'Make It Happen.' Over the past few years this has become a mantra for the way i try to live my life. Maybe a shortened version of 'If you want it bad enough, you'll find a way to make it happen.' If ever in my life there was a week that I made it happen, it'd be this one. I'm currently jotting down notes at an airport bar in Piarco, Trinidad" -excerpt from my travel journal
Banana Ladies
Three days after my conversation with Megan, I had flights for my surprise visit. Two days after that, I was at LAX starting my journey to Grenada. 4 flights and two days later, I landed at Maurice Bishop Int'l Airport. Sleep deprived and amazed by the lack of professionalism by airlines in the Caribbean, I hopped in a cab with a restaurant name, and vague directions. "Walk up the hill across the street. its the house on stilts." Not a whole lot to go on, but whats the worst that could happen?
"What the hell are you doing here?!" was my greeting and I threw my hands up, shrugged my shoulders and said, "I'm here to visit." ...we've known each other since first grade. That's pretty much how our relationship works.
The next 5 days consisted of sleeping in, "what do you want to do today?" and random adventures around the island. Their only transportation was a small scooter, but it worked just fine for getting Brandon and I around.
If you're ever on an island, I highly recommend using these scooters as transportation.
The first day, we went do St. George and just kinda walked around. The locals are very friendly and always trying to start conversations or sell you something. People selling fruit or spices on the road would yell and try to stop us to make a sale. I walked into what I thought was an abandoned building on the waterfront and discovered a man who told us the story of how they are renovating the fish market and would be moving buildings soon. ....but it was like 1PM and he had a bottle in his hand, so who knows.
he was saying something about the fish market. i couldn't really understand through the accent and slurs.
By far my favorite adventure on the island was hiking out to Seven Sisters Falls in the middle of the island. The little bit of research i had done made it seem like the best thing to do in Grenada. So once the rain let up long enough for the hike to be bearable, we went for it.
jurassic park?
The mud was about as much as my half cabs could handle, but luckily we got walking sticks and trudged on. I guess it was worth it...
Amazing right? yea... I swam in that.
he swears he was only taking a picture with his phone...
In the couple days that I planned for this trip I teamed up with a friend of mine to shoot some stuff for his clothing company Freeman's Collective while in Grenada. So I was pretty set on getting into some fun and documenting it all.
I had no idea what to expect in Grenada, I did very little research. Like all I did was "Hey Megan, do I need a visa or can I just show up in Grenada?" Anyway, I knew that we'd make it to the beach and I have always wanted to hang out in a hammock at the beach. Plus it would be a sweet shot for FMC, so I packed it up and made that happen.
Grenada was a great trip. Completely last minute, but like I said, it was something I just had to do. It was awesome getting to spend some solid time with Brandon and see what life is like for him down there. Another trip in the books with plenty of amazing memories.
Sunset at Grand Anse Beach
PS: One of my favorite things about traveling is the people you meet and the interactions that you can have in such a short time. During my layover in Trinidad I posted up at an airport bar and ultimately became friends with several of the workers in the airport. Kevon was particularly good company and we talked about all sorts of topics from picking up girls at bars to world politics. Early in our conversations Kevon asked about my Freeman's Collective hat and though I needed it for my adventures in Grenada, I gave it to him on my way back through Trinidad. So thanks Kevon for being a rad dude and offering up you place to stay. People like you are why I hope to never stop traveling.
