After a whirlwind week exploring the southern reaches of the Caribbean, we found ourselves back in Bridgetown, Barbados—our basecamp, if you will, and not at all an unpleasant place to pause while a fresh influx of pale, enthusiastic British cruisers replaced those departing.
Another day, another island—although, unusually for this trip, one still firmly tethered to Europe. Unlike many British Overseas Territories, which enjoy a comfortable distance from Westminster and significant autonomy, Guadeloupe is an official department of France, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Paris, Rhône, and Hauts-de-Seine.
Saint Lucia, our fourth Caribbean country in four increasingly consuming days, offered something a little different from the usual island-tour-and-rum-punch routine we'd lavishly grown accustomed to.
Before European explorers inevitably blundered onto its shores, Saint Vincent went by the considerably catchier name "Youloumain," given by the indigenous Carib people.
Our second Caribbean stop was Grenada, the southernmost of the Windward Islands. Known as the "Island of Spice," it plays a major role in the global nutmeg trade, producing 40% of the world’s supply—a fact proudly displayed on its colourful flag.
At the start of the year, we made the tough decision to leave behind teaching, sobriety, and the unrelenting cold of the European winter for something entirely different—a two-week cruise around the Eastern Caribbean.
The final leg of our last European mega-trip began with a dreary drive across central Poland, leaving behind the bustling streets and blue skies of Warsaw for the muted grey of a winter’s day in Łódź.
After a swift and somewhat relieved escape from Belarus, we made our way through the rolling beauty of the Lithuanian countryside, savouring the last quiet moments of the Baltics before entering the infamous Suwałki Gap.
I arrived at the Belarusian immigration office, a grim Soviet-era building that looked like it had been stuck in a time warp since the 1970s, ready for what I assumed would be a thorough, no-nonsense interrogation.
