Welcome! Tally ho!

Our B.V.I. Adventure is designed to give our family, friends and any other interested followers a look into the life of two expatriates making their way on the island of Tortola. Tortola is the largest island in the British Virgin Islands.

So, why did we move 2,000 miles away from our home in Knoxville, Tennessee? Michael accepted a position as the director of retail and international sales for a Caribbean clothing brand.

Cheers!

Adventurers

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living in the British virgin islands
Wednesday, January 18, 2012

We're Baaaaaaaaack!

The eyes of the skycaps lit up as we approached the Jet Blue counter Wednesday morning.  Count 'em.  Five checked bags, two of which weighed more than 50 lbs.


If you look even closer you can see I'm toting our miniature schnauzer, Milly, in the airline-approved pet carrier.  Then, of course, there's Anna Drake, nice and protected in her car seat/stroller contraption, complete with paparazzi shade.  We brought along her boppy (the pink pillow thingy) and her diaper bag.  Just the essentials for a 3 hour flight to San Juan!

Not photographed is another roll-on bag and a sail bag with all of our laptops, iPads and who knows what other gadgets!  Oh, and did you spot Michael's Baby Taylor guitar in this BVI version of PhotoHunt?  The guitar plays like a regular guitar, but it's small enough to fit in the overhead bin!

While those that worked for the airline and even the TSA were more than happy to help us each step of the way, we were catching some looks of disbelief from our fellow travelers.  When I happened to make eye contact, I would give a smile that could be interpreted as "Yes, we're really doing this."  We owned it.

Anna Drake did great on the first flight to San Juan.  She had her own seat which was great, because she could sleep in her carrier some, then in our arms.  The best part?  There were no tears!  She was so good, Michael and I were able to watch Crazy Stupid Love in flight!  (Such a good movie!)

The next leg was a bit trickier, and not just because we were flying with an infant and a dog.  It was because of all of the luggage...  We fly CapeAir from San Juan to Tortola.  The plane is small. (It's a Cessna 402 if that means anything to you.)  It's very small.  Like 8 seats small.  They assign you your seat based on your weight and place the luggage accordingly.  Somehow, ALL of our stuff made it!

Once we touched down in Tortola, going through Immigration and Customs was surprisingly a breeze!  And we caught a taxi to the house.  While friends had offered to pick us up, we knew we would require a huge van to transport us and all of our belongings!

Going to sleep that first night back on island was surreal.  The windows were open; the breeze was blowing.  We all slept soundly, including Anna Drake!

2 comments:

Rebecca said...

After reading about your adventure, my trip this May from Knoxville to Tallahassee by way of Delta sounds like a piece of cake! My son will be 22 months old. I have a feeling Anna Drake will LOVE island life!

IrieDiva said...

oh wow! though i've never done it with so much luggage, i have traveled quite a few times with munchkin and you make it look so easy! i am always a mess