There comes a time when you let go of something for better things to happen. That’s what is happening with Trinidad Charlies. Each of us traveled on this path together with the “Charlies” but now were are at a fork in the road and each of us will travel down different roads. That’s not to say it hasn’t been fun while it lasted. Thanks to the Trinidad Charlies blog, I have been able to reconnect with myself and my writing. I realized how much I missed it. So don’t think I’m not going to continue to write. In fact, look for a new blog from me soon. :) We thank our followers and the new friends we’ve made from this experience. I can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store for all of us!

-Charley M

How in the world did I get so lucky to be a part of this amazing trifecta?! I have loved posting these blogs with Charlie M and Charlie N. My life has taken some new turns and I don’t think I can continue to post. Both of the other Charlies are going to continue to blog and I cannot wait to read about their individual journeys and adventures. Stay tuned for each of their web addresses. Don’t think we won’t still keep in touch with NSR!

-Charley E

It’s been a fun ride doing this blog with Charley E and Charley M. I was so excited they were both on board when I brought the idea to them. I love that many of our fellow NSR friends have enjoyed reading and following our adventure. I’ve thought about doing my own blog for a long time and am at a point where I’m ready to branch out and see where that takes me. I look forward to seeing where Charley M’s blog will take her as she continues to explore the island life. Thanks again for reading!

-Charley N

I haven’t been a local to the island lifestyle long. However, I feel like I belong here and I consider myself part of the crazy islanders that make up the Caribbean. I’ll admit it, I probably never would have gone to the Virgin Islands if not for someone like Kenny Chesney who sang about places I longed to be and people I longed to be with. Contrary to what anybody may believe, I didn’t go to the islands to run into Kenny, I’m not that desperate. I went because I wanted to feel what Kenny feels when he sings songs like “Somewhere in the Sun” and “Be As You Are.”

I didn’t go to Coral Bay the other night with the intention of running into Bobby Blues. I went to get away from the hustle and bustle that makes up most of Cruz Bay. It was too late to hit the beach and it was “Live Music in Love City” night. So, my island brother, William, and I thought, why not?

The only thing I knew about Bobby Blues was that I loved his song “Gyspy Cay,” a song I knew thanks to—of course—No Shoes Radio. I was hungover and the best way to cure a hangover is to drink more. So that’s what I intended to do. William and I got to our favorite bar and right off the bat we ordered a couple shots. After those were long gone, we noticed a group of guys hanging out behind the bar. We walked over and asked their names. Much to my surprise Bobby Blues was tailgating behind the bar.

Bobby freakin’ Blues.

“Bobby Blues?! THE Bobby Blues?” I squealed upon learning his name.

He just laughed and asked, “How do you know me?” 

I just giggled because I felt like a desperate Kenny Chesney fan at that moment. No offense, Kenny. The feeling only lasted a minute. Besides, what do I have to be embarrassed of? So I answered, “No Shoes Radio. It’s Kenny Chesney’s radio station. Did he tell you he was recording you?”

“Oh! Yeah he did. He came up to me with his phone and I was playing “Gypsy Cay” with my guitar right over there on the steps.” He pointed to a wooden stairway a few feet from us. “Kenny told me to keep singing because I was on a radio station back in Nashville.”

“So is it really Bobby Blues with a ‘Z’?” I ask him. I remember Kenny really pitching the ‘Z’ during the clip.

Bobby explained, “The ‘Z’ was his friend’s idea. I forgot his name. He lives on the island [somewhere]. He came up with the idea to put a ‘Z’ on the end of it. I just went along with it.” 

We sat around tailgating on the back of a red Dodge pickup that belonged to the band that was playing. He told me several stories dating back to when he first moved down island from New York in 1981. Many of which are not appropriate to share, so they will be kept between me and Bobby Blues.

At one point in the night, one of Bobby’s friends joined us. “Check it out man! Kenny put me on the radio! He did me good! I better send him an email and thank him!” Bobby gushed to his friend.

I remember pulling out my iPhone and playing him the clip I recorded of him playing his song. I know, it’s not right to do it, and I shouldn’t admit it in this blog post, but I am so happy I had it recorded because Bobby’s eyes lit up the moment he heard himself singing his own song back to him.

So Kenny, on the off chance that you should read this blog, you made Bobby’s day by putting “Gypsy Cay” on No Shoes Radio. He had no idea how I knew him and I thought I was going to make a fool of myself the second I even uttered the name “Kenny Chesney,” but I didn’t. In fact, I’m glad I told him because I got the chance to prove to him Kenny was serious about putting him on the radio. Kenny made two people extremely happy that night; Bobby Blues for putting him on the radio and me, for getting to meet him.

And Kenny, just on the off-chance you are reading this, don’t forget about the illusive butterfly. ;)

-Charley M, or more recently known as MJ

(Photo credit: William Torrillo; photo.vi)

It may not be an island sunrise, but it’s still beautiful :)

Music has a funny way of teaching us a lesson. The other night I was in a funk and feeling sorry for myself for no particular rhyme or reason. There was a nice island breeze outside, but the rain kept me inside for most of the day—as did my hangover. My internet connection here in the islands is rather slow and No Shoes Radio was not liking me. So I put my headphones in, set my iPhone to shuffle all the Kenny Chesney songs in my library, and I started to read The Hunger Games.

That didn’t last long.

As Kenny’s voice blasted sad, but touching songs into my ears, I found myself near tears. I think Kenny was toying with my emotions because the first few songs I heard were “Tequila Loves Me,” “I Can’t Go There,” “I Lost It,” and “Being Drunk’s A Lot Like Loving You.” One can guess the mood I was in when the last song had me about ready to call up Kenny himself to rant and rave about adding to my depression.

Like that would help at all.

But then, just as I was about ready to give up on the island hunk putting me in a better mood, something extraordinary happened. Mr. Chesney himself started playing “I Ain’t Ever Goin’ Back Again.” Okay, so maybe he wasn’t here physically, but I had him pictured leaning up against my door frame singing this song to me. And let me tell ya, he was looking mighty fine!

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. So I had Kenny singing in my ears about never goin’ back again and imaginary Kenny leaning against my door frame. And all of the sudden, I realized I was smiling. In the three minutes it took Kenny to sing about all his best friends he’d just met today and how he was a little numb but on the mend, my mood had literally flipped upside down. I was singing into my hairbrush, dancing around in my underwear on my bed. Okay, so maybe I was wearing shorts, but it was a nice visual right?

I love how music does that. It takes us away and allows us to escape reality. It reminds us that, while things may be bad right now, they always get better. I love when I hear a song on my iPhone, or the radio, or wherever, and I can completely relate to it. Even if it’s about a past love who did you wrong. Because it reminds me—it reminds all of us—that other people out there in this world have gone through the same thing. They’ve felt what you are feeling in that exact moment. Because if they weren’t, well then…the song wouldn’t exist, now would it?

And as coincidental as it may be, I love that “Be As You Are” is playing right now.

And yes, Kenny does sum island life up pretty well in this one. I think that’s what draws me into Kenny’s songs. To me, he’s my generation’s Jimmy Buffett. Sure, he can sing the hell out of a sad love song, but he never hides his love for the islands. It’s because of artists like Kenny and Jimmy I realized my love for the tropics is more than a lifestyle, it’s who I am. It’s why I am where I am today. 

I had an NSR friend tell me that Kenny’s song “Boston” reminded her a lot of me. While I’m not from Boston, I get how she made the connection. My favorite lyrics from that song are, “She comes from Boston/Talks to her family now and then/Through e-mails and postcards/She tries to explain to them/That education and occupation will have to wait for now/She loves the Rasta, reggae rhythms, her dreams have changed somehow.” I can totally relate to that! That is me! I don’t need to have an education and I don’t need to have the best or highest paying job. Where I am in this moment, this precise moment, is where I want to be. Where I am meant to be.

I have island blood and my life is meant to be spent near the ocean.

And no, I’m not ever goin’ back again.

-Charley M

It’s the start of a new year and everyone is making their new year’s resolutions. Kudos to you if your resolution lasts beyond the end of the month! Just kidding. I’ve never been one to make a new year’s resolution, but this year I decided I wanted to make a life resolution.

I think most people have a “bucket list,” either in their head or actually written down. For those of you not familiar with what a bucket list is, let me explain. A bucket list is a list of things you want to do, see, accomplish, or experience before you “kick the bucket.” It could be learning to play guitar or travel around the world for one year. The items on your list can be as simple or grandiose as you want.

Many of my bucket list items are travel related. Even as a kid, the wider world always had my attention and I wanted to see as much of it as I could. I hoped, by now, I would have seen more of it. So, going forward, my life resolution is to start finding ways to get to the places I still need to see before I die. That being said, of all the places I want to get to, I decided to come up with my bucket list top five. The following five things are what I absolutely must do/see before I die, even if I don’t get to anything else on my bucket list.

1) Move to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

After my first trip to the Virgin Islands last November, moving there was immediately added to my bucket list. I’ve been working on this item ever since and my goal is to move in October, or by the end of the year at the latest. I’ve been in need and in search of something new and different for the last year. Moving to the islands will give me a complete change of pace and life that I’m wanting right now. I’m ready to try something totally different and look forward to exploring all of the Virgin Islands. I have no time frame for how long I plan to stay in the islands, could be a year or two, or could be forever.

2) Visit Rwanda

From what I’ve read and the pictures I’ve seen, Rwanda has stunning natural beauty. A common saying in Rwanda goes, “although God goes all over during the workday, he comes back to sleep in Rwanda.” Another reason I want to go to Rwanda is to see the mountain gorillas. It is one of the last places you can see them in their natural habitat. It is in Rwanda where Dian Fossey (Sigourney Weaver played her in the movie “Gorillas In The Mist”) did her research on mountain gorillas. Lastly, I want to visit Rwanda to pay homage to those who were slaughtered during the 1994 genocide. After reading UN Force Commander Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire’s account of the genocide (Shake Hands with the Devil:  The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda), I was appalled by our government’s inaction during this atrocity. By going there, it will be my way of saying, “I will not forget.”

3) Ciao Italia! … My Italian adventure

Who wouldn’t want to travel around Italy? So far, I’ve only been to France. And I would love to take the time to travel all around Europe, but for this list, Italy is where I want to go. I’m a romantic and Venice has always been high on my list of places to see and I would like to visit during Carnivale. I would spend at least three months in Italy to allow myself plenty of time to take in the whole country.

4) Travel around Oz … Australia that is

I’d hit up Perth on the west coast first, to visit a college friend. Can’t pass up a free place to stay so far from home, right? Then I would head over to the east coast and starting in Melbourne, I’d work my way north to Sydney, Brisbane (being a Keith Urban fan, can’t skip it), and end in the north with a visit to the Great Barrier Reef. I’m not going to endure that long flight and not see one of the natural wonders of the world. I would get scuba certified before I went, so I could actually dive at the reef and really experience it. I would also make sure to get to Uluru (Ayers Rock) in the outback and the gorgeous Whitsunday Islands. Like Italy, I would like to spend at least three months in Oz.

5) Visit the Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands truly are a living laboratory and something I would not want to miss seeing. So far, the government of Ecuador has balanced the needs of conservation and the needs of tourism fairly well. Hopefully they continue to do so to preserve such a unique ecosystem. This is another place where I would like to scuba dive, because not all of the natural wonders of the Galapagos are on land. And, of course, I want to see the giant tortoises.

What’s on your bucket list? Since there’s never the “perfect” time to do anything, I encourage you to write down your bucket list and start working on it. No matter how simple or grandiose the items are, you can find a way to make them happen. You may say, why? I say, why not?

Cheers!

Charley N

It seems like a cliché really, the term “paradise.” Where does it come from anyway? One of the definitions of paradise is “a state of happiness” or “bliss.” If that’s the case then yes, I’d say I am living in paradise.

It’s funny to think about where I was a week ago and where I am today; both physically and mentally. Like everybody else in the world, I was carrying my own load of baggage. A lot of things happened to me in 2011 and, in the end, it left me exhausted in every way. I originally set my moving date for January 6, 2012. Then I decided, why not ring in the new year where I want to be? So that’s what I did. I booked my flight to take off on a red eye out of Denver, arriving on St. Thomas the afternoon of New Year’s Eve day.

It was pure bliss ringing in the new year in the islands. In less than a week I have already made several friends, shared thousands of laughs, relaxed, had way too many boat drinks, and delved into the island lifestyle.

Last night, I sat at a bar and enjoyed the, even-more cliché, “Cheeseburger in Paradise” while chatting up the bartenders and the locals. My apartment is just a stone’s throw from all the bars and the ferry so I will save a fortune on taxi rides, which means more rum for me. Bonus!

It’s interesting hearing everybody’s story and where they came from. A majority of the locals came down here for one reason; to get away from something that hurt. I get that. I know that’s what my driving force was. But, instead of swapping sob stories and having a pity party for ourselves, we toast to it and to the island life. It’s nice not having to explain yourself. It’s nice being accepted for who you are. Nobody pries into your business. It’s like an unspoken rule because they know how it feels to drudge up bad feelings—they’ve been there before. So they leave it at, “What’s your name?”, “Where you from?”, and “Can I buy you a drink?” 

It doesn’t matter who you are and what your story is. What matters is you are here now. With the sun, the sand, the sea, and the locals.

And that’s all I can ask for.

-Charley M

The view from my apartment. Taken with Hipstamatic from iPhone.

For 14 plus years, I have had a desire to move. Not to get away from anything in particular, but to live the life I was meant to live. On the beach, somewhere warm, with pure white sand between my toes. So what is keeping me from taking that leap? Why can’t I just throw caution to the wind and put aside all fear? 

I guess it’s because I have it pretty darn good, right where I am. I am very lucky when it comes to my career. I have a truly incredible job; I get paid to play with kids. Granted they’re sick and I have to help them feel better, but how can I complain about that? Leaving Utah would mean leaving a job I would dearly miss.

It is ridiculously cold here in Utah, not to mention the white stuff. It snows five months out of the year here. Who wants to voluntarily live in that?!  However, the other seven months are absolutely beautiful. All that snow makes for some pretty gorgeous lakes—lakes that we go boating and fishing on regularly. Not to mention the beautiful mountains I wake up to everyday. I wouldn’t know my east from west with out them!

Then there’s my family. I honestly have days where I’d give anything to up and run away from my family, but that would mean I’d miss out on so many milestones. My nephew’s football games and my niece’s dance recitals. Then there’s the special anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, births, and even deaths. I would miss my family, more than they could ever know.

Home is where the heart is, right? Over the years, my husband and I have put ourselves in a position to buy a nice humble home here in Salt Lake City. It’s not extravagant, but it’s ours. I have no doubt that if I moved to a beautiful island in the Caribbean, we could make any house a home. But, I’m not sure I’m quite ready to leave what we’ve built here.

So, for the time being, I plan to live vicariously through Charley M and Charley N. They are bolder than I and are taking that leap and moving to the islands. And I will be moving with them, at least in spirit. I cannot wait to hear their stories. I have loved being a part of the planning and goal setting. They inspire me, and I know someday, I will get there too. 

Until then, I hope they can enjoy a little bit of the islands for me. The trade winds, the sand, the sound of live music coming from a bar. The fresh fruit and the free flowing libations. The locals. Palms trees swaying in the winds and the moon rise. Being barefoot. Making new friends over a plate of jerk chicken. Freedom. 

I’m so excited for you both. I love you and I can’t wait to join you on the coast of somewhere beautiful!

What a difference a year makes! Actually, what a difference a month makes! 2011 was a wonderful year for me. I married my high school sweetheart, celebrated our honeymoon in Montego Bay, Jamaica, saw Kenny in concert twice at the historic Red Rocks Amphitheater, and had a Girls Weekend in the Virgin Islands. It all seems so surreal!

(The view looking out from Red Rocks Amphitheater - taken by Charley N)

My love affair with the ocean developed in Jamaica. Sure, I had seen the ocean before, but it was nothing like the Caribbean Sea. The stress of a solid year of wedding planning melted away the minute my feet hit the sand. All the problems, mayhem, and tension evaporated. I was relaxed. Content. At peace. And it was a feeling unlike any other.

Then I got home.

Things were fine the first couple months of my new marriage. Why wouldn’t they be? I was in love. We had a house, a dog, and  were doing pretty damn good financially. Things couldn’t get any more perfect. Yet, somewhere in that ‘perfect’ life as a newlywed, I lost my identity. I lost who I was. I stopped living for me and started living for my husband. I realized I needed to reconnect with myself.

That reconnection would come one November night in the Virgin Islands, looking up at the stars and listening to the waves gently crashing against the shore. The restlessness evaporated. My soul was still. I found where I belonged.

In that moment, I realized how much I was drawn to the ocean. There is something about staring out at the blue horizon that draws me in and keeps me hanging on. I breathe easier. Smile more. Laugh often. I am me when I’m on the coast of somewhere beautiful.

So I made a promise to myself that when it was time to say goodbye to paradise—once again—that I would be back. I flew home to a blizzard and single-digit weather and it only increased my drive to get back to the ocean. I not only wanted, but needed to get back there. I wanted to breathe again, like I did there. I wanted to be at peace again, like I was there.

(Photo courtesy of our favorite island boy, William Torrillo)

And on December 30th, I will be leaving the Rocky Mountains and all the snow behind to start my new life in paradise.

I don’t know what will happen once I begin this new journey in my life. I look forward to the challenges and rewards that are sure to come my way. Everybody keeps asking me if I have a job lined up. While it’s no secret I want to be a bartender at some beach side dive, I don’t plan on jumping into a job right away. Coming hot off a separation and a lot of unwanted stress, I plan to take time to just relax and get my head on straight.

I don’t know where I’ll be six months from now and I love that! I love knowing I can finally live my life in the here and now instead of focusing on the future and missing this wonderful thing called the present. I do plan on island hopping and checking out Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda, and St. Croix while I am living in paradise. But first thing’s first; time to reconnect with myself again and find peace within my soul.

And if there’s anything I’m sure of, it’s that I won’t ever be goin’ back again.

I feel like I’m living a Kenny Chesney song…

-Charley M

I have to admit, I am a planner. I don’t need a minute-by-minute schedule, but I like to have a general outline to go off of. As 2011 is drawing to a close, all I can do is laugh at how different this year turned out to be compared to what I planned.

Back in January, I planned to be in Eastern Europe by the end of the year, doing my part to save the world with the Peace Corps. I was nominated for service last September and was slogging my way through the medical evaluation process up until April. I was bound and determined to get my medical clearance and get my official offer for service from the Peace Corps. Even though I’ve survived many a Minnesota winter, I was mentally preparing myself for the long, hard winter that I would find in Romania, Moldova, Albania, or wherever the Peace Corps saw fit to send me to teach English. I was carefully planning and preparing myself for the mental and emotional challenges I would confront in the two years I would be away. It was a challenging, life changing experience that I was ready to tackle. Or so I thought.

I can pinpoint the exact date when my plan started to veer off track, March 25th. How can I pinpoint the exact date? I have the ticket stub to remind me that I was at a Kenny Chesney concert at the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota. After attending this concert, things were set in motion that I couldn’t have planned, no matter how hard I tried. The key event being a sort of “ah ha” moment in which I realized that I wasn’t really living my life, I was merely existing and that wasn’t what I wanted. I realized I needed to find the joy in my life again, something that had sadly been missing for a while. I also decided that I needed to find a way to do what I loved for a living; writing.

That concert was responsible for other unplanned things this year. One being that I would go on to attend three more Kenny Chesney shows in three other states. If, back in January, somebody told me this was in my future, I would have laughed my ass off and asked, “Who spiked your Kool Aid?” But, I wouldn’t trade the good times I had going to those shows for anything. They only reinforced the “ah ha” moment I had after the St. Paul show.

Second, I have met a whole tribe of new friends because of Kenny and No Shoes Radio. We have all drank the Kenny Chesney Kool Aid and we “ain’t ever going back again.” Having friends from coast-to-coast, and some outside the coasts, that “get it” has been a revelation and a wonderful blessing that I gratefully accept into my life. Getting the chance to meet a few of my new NSR friends has been a blast and has felt like meeting up with a long-time friend I haven’t seen in a while.

(L-R: Charley N, NSR friend Shari, Charley M at Foxy’s Bar, Jost van Dyke)

The most unexpected part of this deviation from my plan is my trip to the Virgin Islands for my birthday and finding a connection to the islands in my soul. There is something about sitting with my toes in the sand and staring off to the endless horizon that calms me. After the few days I spent there, I came home and realized that I’ve been spinning my wheels for far too long and not getting anywhere. I decided that I need to step far outside my box and try something completely new, different, and unexpected and that is moving to the Virgin Islands.

(My toes in the sand, looking at the endless horizon on Trunk Bay, St. John)

So, I went from Peace Corps wannabe to Beach Bum wannabe in the course of one year. I couldn’t have planned what has happened this year if I tried, which is telling me that I need to stop trying, let go, and see where life takes me.

And that’s exactly what I plan to do.

-Charley N

Where to start about my trip to the Virgin Islands? First of all, I must confess that my trip to the Virgin Islands started out as a trip to Key West. Once it was discovered that the annual Jimmy Buffett fan convention would be taking place in Key West during the same dates we would be there, our plans changed. I had secretly wanted to suggest going to the Caribbean, but thought it was too expensive and didn’t think my mom would go for it (since she was generously paying for the trip). Due to the convention, my mom and sister looked at other destinations. It just so happened that St. Thomas was the only one where we could book the passes my sister (a flight attendant) had for the dates we wanted. Score!

Despite arriving on St. Thomas during a rain shower, I was ecstatic to finally be there. On the drive from the airport to the hotel, I got a taste of the hilly, windy, narrow roads that I would become somewhat familiar with over the next few days. Once settled into our hotel room, I was in heaven as I stepped onto our balcony and stared across the water to St. John, only a stone’s throw away. I don’t know why I was surprised to find all the islands so lush, green, and, well, tropical. I know it sounds silly, because I’m not sure what else I was expecting.

I really felt at home once we were there, being by the water has always done that for me. Seeing all those variations of blues and greens as the surf rolls in and out, just puts my soul at ease. Being able to stare off at the endless horizon makes me feel at home. The ever present, easy-going vibe I felt helped me relax and de-stress. I now understand why “no worries” is often heard in the islands.

It was sitting at Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay, I started to feel that I wanted to be able to stay in the islands. I wanted to always watch those blue-green waves come ashore and dissolve into frothy white foam as I scanned that endless horizon. With my toes in the sand, I was breathing easier and I was smiling in my soul. Our day trip to Jost van Dyke only confirmed what I was feeling. It was on Jost that I really “got” why people go to the islands and never leave and I was coming to the realization that I was going to be one of those people. As my plane was taking off, I knew that a piece of me was staying behind and that I wanted to find a way to go back indefinitely.

Charley N

Toes in the sand on Trunk Bay