Searching for Paradise.....

Paradise is open to all kinds of hearts

Well, well, well....I have 3 weeks vacation and a plane ticket for Barbados for 21 days. Much time was taken looking for a perfect place to spend a few days and nights converting to vacation mode. Life in NYC is great and I love it, but it is also a pressure cooker. My time away and hopefully void of stress is longed for. I am looking for ideal, for Paradise....want the Garden without the snake..... the Ocean without the serpent.

There is definitely a budget for this vacation. I was originally going for 2 weeks, but at the last moment changed to 3. My reasoning, a girlfriend was able to join me if I extended one last week. That didn't work out for her, she can't go, and now here I am....planned budget shot full of holes. Have some serious rethinking to do.

Meanwhile, there is one place where I must spend some time:

Gibb Bay Inn:

www.gibbsbayinn.com

Its a converted old plantation house across from beautiful Gibbs Bay and close to Mullins Bay,in St Peters on  the West coast of Barbados. Owned and operated by a couple, it seems to me a wonderful place to land. Toby Syson and I exchange several email messages and he makes me feel welcome even holds a room while I go through my 2 week/3 week vacation inner debate. Finally my plan is set. I will go directly from the airport to Gibbs Bay Inn. They will even arrange for a car to pick me up if needed. My  stay: 3 nights. Seems a quiet and elegant  space for me to convert to vacation mode.The cost for all this seems very reasonable to me.  Also the Inn is not a huge place or a small guest house where my being lone stranger would leave me feeling odd. Like Goldie Locks and the 3 Bears....this one seems just right! No bears in sight, just a really nice couple to help me get my footing.Hmm...wonder if there is an option for porridge?

The accommodations are just what I want and need. Lovely room, AC, ceiling fan, and internet, full cooked to order breakfast, and traditional tea in the afternoon, shaded areas by a lovely pool which will be used to full advantage; know that a challenge for me throughout this vacation is not to burn up in the Sun. Perfect! There is also a kitchen I can access as well as someone else to cook a dinner for me if that is wanted. This is going to be a wonderful time for me, of that there is no doubt.
Coffee in the morning is a must and being able to make my own is a huge happiness!

I see me in the above photo. Do you? The antidote to stress and City life. Have plans to walk a lot on that shore....early morning and just before sunset. Want to swim and float, and dive through the Atlantic. Think and dream..Just writing this makes me smile. Toby assures me that snorkeling, diving, boating arrangements will be made, as well as some dinner options awaiting my arrival. I will update this post after I arrive and post  stay. There is no doubt that this will be a interlude.

If you notice, seems I am basically alone through all of this. Not really my plan to be that way. These are my list of what to do and hopefully how my being will feel. There is no desire not to share with others, just a space created for me and room for another(others?) to share.

After changing plans several times to make it easier for different friends to vacation with me, I now acknowledge that this time is for me. There are lots of people on the island that know I am coming to visit. All know this is my first time here, and all know where I am staying. It will be interesting to see who spends time and who doesn't.I have taken the attitude that all that is supposed to occur will....and so there is no need for me to "make" plans before I need to. Part of this vacation is for me opening  to letting  events and people in my world and allowing me into theirs.

In the meantime.....Now that my first 3 nights are taken care of....Where will I spend the remainder of my Barbados Vacation?