Six weeks in Turks & Caicos
When I first arrived in Turks and Caicos I had so much anxiety about coming back to a country I left during the pandy of 2020. When I got off the plane it was like I was stepping into old feelings I thought I had released. It was a mix bag of emotions; I was happy, sad, anxious, annoyed, tired, and lethargic. One moment I was eager to be there, then I would hear some rumour and immediately be annoyed. Classic small island vibes. Rumours flying around, everyone knows everything. After a few days I felt more settled, I knew I was over all the shit that had happened to me in the past. I moved on and I’m taking this island back! Let’s Go!
The first two weeks I spent with my friend Charlie who has an amazing home near the canal. She has the type of space that I would want if I were to move back. She is a creative powerhouse. Her work ethic and creativity is inspiring, she is a entrepreneur, like so many of my friends on the island, and she is crushing it. I was inspired to get to work. I started working on my book again and I didn’t stop. She would check in and ask me how my writing was coming along. Shout out to my bestie! I am so grateful for that time together. Up the hill from Charlie was my friend Kaja, she also had a sweet place to live and she has a black chicken named Lucifer, or Lucy for short. It was nice to have familiar faces all around.
I reconnected with my old friends; Francois and Rebecca who I met when I first arrived on the island eleven years ago. I tattooed Francois (for the hundredth time) and met his daughter, who is an absolute sweetheart. I had a facebook memory pop up mid February of my friend Rebecca and I from a party when I first came to Turks. Time flies. I appreciate Becca and her husband Nik, they are absolutely lovely people and now have two beautiful daughters. Becca and Nik took me out for a Sunday sail with some friends and I finally had the opportunity to swim with dolphins! People talk about the friendly dolphin Jojo and his baby Dreamer all the time, they are local dolphins that love to interact with humans, but I have never been in the water with them. I have seen them from a boat a few times but all that has changed now. I have officially swam with dolphins.
I have been visiting Turks for eleven years and I have seen this place grow. The development over the last three years has been extensive. When I left in 2020 the Ritz Carlton was only breaking ground and coming back to see it in all it’s glory is…something…else. It’s giving prison vibes. It’s now the tallest building on the island and it’s not even that cute. The island of Providenciales has rush hour traffic now. There are so many car accidents, I saw three in the first two weeks. Charlie and I saw one bad accident on the way to the grocery store and it was still there on our way back, police hadn’t made it to the scene yet. Standard. In TCI they drive on the left hand side of the road and use roundabouts, something most American tourists don’t know how to use. The government needs to put up signs on how to use a freaking roundabout. Honestly the lack of street signs is so prominent that most people who live on whatever street have to DIY their own signage.
After those two weeks at Charlie’s I flew over to Grand Turk to humpback whale watch for ten days. It was incredible and I wrote about it here. I literally made eye contact with a baby whale, so I basically made eye contact with god and it was life changing. I spent three and a half days looking for humpback whales and I saw them in all their glory. I swam next to them and over them. I saw them breach and dance and flap their fins all over the place. After that experience I reached out to an old frienemy, it was time to make amends. She didn’t reach out for ten days after my original message but when she did she said she was excited to meet up.
She picked me up from Charlie’s place and brought me to my airbnb in Leeward Palms. We started talking like no time had passed. It was nice to catch up and hear about the last three years of her life…actually it was a bit sad with her health conditions and life challenges but still. We were reconnecting. I told her how I felt when I left back in 2020 and I couldn’t help but cry, she got up and hugged me. Although she never actually apologized for the part she played in the demise of our relationship I felt like I had made amends. What’s done is done and she wouldn’t be where she is now without me, so you’re welcome.
That last week in my Leeward Palms Airbnb was the busiest week there. We had Charlie’s birthday celebration, I had lunch with my friend Skip, I had a random ‘blind date’, my friend Kaja took me on her tiny boat, I went on a few beach walks, I caught up with my friend Luke, I finally got a tan, and I floated in the ocean full of gratitude. It was a wonderful trip of expansion and healing. It gave me insights that I never would have come to had I not made this trip. One being that I need to get a boating license. I asked myself, if I wasn’t making money online or tattooing, what would I want to do? How can I spend more time around the ocean? The idea of doing something physical and not creative is good for my mental health. Balance, baby!
The highlights of my trip would be swimming with humpback whales, swimming with dolphins, quality time with some of my favourite people, making amends with an old friend, making new friends, going on a few dates with a sexy South African captain, eating delicious meals, writing my book, tattooing cool people, tanning naked, skinny dipping, being inspired, being in the ocean, and falling in love with my life all over again. I am so grateful for those six beautiful weeks in one of the most beautiful places in the whole wide world.
I am currently in Florida with my parents. My dad is dealing with some health issues and I am here supporting them to the best of my abilities without pulling out all my hair. I will be driving them back to Canada in a few weeks and I am looking forward to being home for the epic solar eclipse. This last part wasn’t apart of my travel plan but I am fortunate enough to have the time and space to be there for my dad when he needs me most. Canada always calls me back but this time it won’t be for very long. I need more ocean in my life…and thats where I am headed.
