Bermuda was not in the travel itinerary even two weeks ago. While I was in Japan, people kept asking me where I'd be going next and all I could say was "I have no idea." With that in mind, it seems only appropriate that I'd mysteriously find myself in Bermuda, flying in during a tropical storm and hoping that I didn't disappear in the famed Bermuda Triangle of mysteriously lost ships and aircraft. I will leave the actually details of how and why I ended up there a mystery, as that makes the story all more interesting, doesn't it? A girl who normally shares so much openly suddenly preserving some element of mystery... oooohhhh...
As I was flying into the country, I was adding yet another new country to my ongoing list of territories, islands, and countries that I've visited and found myself shocked that this would be my 50th! I include all of the United States together, but list islands like St. Thomas and Puerto Rico as a separate territory because it truly feels separate and different. You could probably say the same about each individual state in the USA, in which case, I'd be somewhere upwards of 80 territories. In any case, I've never had any goals of covering all the countries or continents of the world, I just keep showing up for whatever happens in this crazy life.
I found Bermuda to be a well-established island with its own unique history and character from the pink painted homes and pink speckled sand, to the terraced rain collection roofs, to the Goslings cocktails born from the local island resources. It also became clear quite early on that it's a good island for people to escape the city with easy direct flights from powerhouse cities like NYC, Boston, Toronto, and London. Apparently the island is home to tons of insurance companies designed to protect wealth and investments, which also means the island is home to quite a few people with large investments as well.
It didn't take long to learn how small the island was when overhearing conversations of service workers discussing how they were being treated by guests and other people who lived on the island. Public shaming seemed to be an important process of keeping people living respectfully among each other despite their means, race, or social position. No surprise there- much like any other small-town living I've experienced! Of course this also left me hoping that I only left a trail of polite actions and kind words during my visit, which I generally try to do everywhere, but sometimes I mess up depending on different cultural values that I'm not aware of yet.
One of the funnest ways to get around the island was with these little electric cars. They don't hold a charge very long if you're going to cover the entire island in one day, but luckily there were plenty of charging points in key places I wanted to stop and take a rest so that I could explore the entire island all in one day. The island seems to be divided into three main territories: St George's, Hamilton, and Royal Navy Dockyard. Hamilton was a great starting and stopping point for visitors to explore it all. Royal Navy Dockyard seemed to be designed as a major cruise port with plenty of space at that end of the island for large sprawling estates to have unobstructed views of the waters. Hamilton seemed to be tourist central with visitors coming and going regularly and occasionally mixing with locals. St. George's seemed to be where I felt the strongest sense of local community and small town feeling with people gathering together and lingering longer over dinner, drinks, and festivities. The island is an easy place to visit if you're an English speaker and people are generally very kind and courteous to each other, leaving plenty of space for differences and strong boundaries until they know you better.
Best of all, I survived the Bermuda Triangle and made it out despite Tropical Storm conditions!!
As I was flying into the country, I was adding yet another new country to my ongoing list of territories, islands, and countries that I've visited and found myself shocked that this would be my 50th! I include all of the United States together, but list islands like St. Thomas and Puerto Rico as a separate territory because it truly feels separate and different. You could probably say the same about each individual state in the USA, in which case, I'd be somewhere upwards of 80 territories. In any case, I've never had any goals of covering all the countries or continents of the world, I just keep showing up for whatever happens in this crazy life.
I found Bermuda to be a well-established island with its own unique history and character from the pink painted homes and pink speckled sand, to the terraced rain collection roofs, to the Goslings cocktails born from the local island resources. It also became clear quite early on that it's a good island for people to escape the city with easy direct flights from powerhouse cities like NYC, Boston, Toronto, and London. Apparently the island is home to tons of insurance companies designed to protect wealth and investments, which also means the island is home to quite a few people with large investments as well.
It didn't take long to learn how small the island was when overhearing conversations of service workers discussing how they were being treated by guests and other people who lived on the island. Public shaming seemed to be an important process of keeping people living respectfully among each other despite their means, race, or social position. No surprise there- much like any other small-town living I've experienced! Of course this also left me hoping that I only left a trail of polite actions and kind words during my visit, which I generally try to do everywhere, but sometimes I mess up depending on different cultural values that I'm not aware of yet.
One of the funnest ways to get around the island was with these little electric cars. They don't hold a charge very long if you're going to cover the entire island in one day, but luckily there were plenty of charging points in key places I wanted to stop and take a rest so that I could explore the entire island all in one day. The island seems to be divided into three main territories: St George's, Hamilton, and Royal Navy Dockyard. Hamilton was a great starting and stopping point for visitors to explore it all. Royal Navy Dockyard seemed to be designed as a major cruise port with plenty of space at that end of the island for large sprawling estates to have unobstructed views of the waters. Hamilton seemed to be tourist central with visitors coming and going regularly and occasionally mixing with locals. St. George's seemed to be where I felt the strongest sense of local community and small town feeling with people gathering together and lingering longer over dinner, drinks, and festivities. The island is an easy place to visit if you're an English speaker and people are generally very kind and courteous to each other, leaving plenty of space for differences and strong boundaries until they know you better.
Best of all, I survived the Bermuda Triangle and made it out despite Tropical Storm conditions!!
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