On May 26, around lunch time, my family and I, with our packed bags, got in the car and drove across the causeway. This was the second time I was going to be in St. Maarten and St. Bart's. These islands are my favorite out of the ones I have already been to. I love all the boutiques and French designer stores they have in St. Bart's. My favorite part about going to the islands every year is definitely being able to stay on my grandparents sail boat. They built the boat when I was maybe four or five, and have been sailing it to different islands ever since.

When our plane landed in Miami at 2 pm, our next one to St. Maarten would be leaving almost four hours later, so we needed to find ways to waste time in the air port. After a movie, and maybe 50 games of Uno, our flight was getting ready to board. This plane ride was about an hour or two more than the one to Miami, so I bought a bunch of magazines and a movie to watch on my laptop. I ended up falling asleep on the plane which made it go by super fast. By the time I knew it the plane had landed, and we were heading through customs, the worst part of traveling. The hardest thing about going through customs here though is that the people spoke French and only a little bit of English. A long thirty minutes later we were out of that mess. We called a cab to bring us to the marina where we would meet my grandparents and get on the boat. When the cab driver picked us up it was almost 11 pm. All I wanted to do was sleep, but all I could think was, this mans driving is insane. I was so scared and car sick at the same time. We were going up mountains and taking sharp turns at almost 50 mph. He would weave through cars in traffic and fly past people on their bikes or on the sidewalks. Finally, when we reached the other side of the mountain we got out of the car with all of our bags and met up with my grandparents at our favorite restaurant. I loved how I still recognized the island even though I hadn't been there for two years. After we ate a little bit we went straight to the boat, unpacked our stuff, and went to bed. The first night of sleep on the boat is extremely hard to get used to. It's so hot and you have to sleep with all the windows open so you can catch the ocean breeze. When I finally was able to go to sleep to the sound of the water it was the most peaceful sleep I had ever gotten.

Our first day on St. Maarten consisted of waking up early, going into town to  shop, and sailing to the next island to snorkel. I loved walking and exploring the island. It's pretty much all locals there and if you wear no shoes you fit right in. The bakery on the island, where we ate every morning we were there, is my favorite place in the whole world. It's a little French bakery with croissants and all French food. I could eat there every day. Later that day we sailed the boat to a part of the island that has a little beach that nobody goes to. The beach was so pretty. We played in the sand, hiked to the top of the mountain, and did a little bit of snorkeling around the rocks. I will never forget the view from the top of the mountain as the sun was going down, you could see everything. The ocean looked like it was never ending. That night we set up a picnic on the deserted beach and ate diner with the light of candles and the brightest moon I had ever seen. That night when we had to go to sleep my brother, sister, and I slept out on the front of the boat on the trampoline above the water.

The next morning when we woke up my family went snorkeling and I laid out on the beach. I was the only person on the beach and it was the best feeling ever. Looking around and seeing nothing but sand, bright blue water, and mountains. Nobody was there to bother me not even my phone. That moment I realized when I was older I wanted to get my own sailboat, sail around the world to different islands, and just lay on the beach everyday by myself. Sometime later that day a sailboat pulled up to the island. The flag on the back of their boat was the Australian flag. After they had successfully anchored their boat about 200ft away from ours, 2 kids, a man with a really long beard, and extremely tan woman got out of the boat. They swam ashore to the beach and looked over at me, but just continued to do their own thing. In perfect timing my seven year old sister swam up to the beach and came up to me. When the rest of my family came to the beach my dad went to go meet the people. They told him that they lived on their boat all year long. This really inspired me because they looked like they had so much fun all the time and they were so happy. They literally lived in paradise and that's what I wanted. When we decided to leave the beach the next morning we took the 3 hour sail to St Bart's. 

I had never felt so sick in my life. I didn't even think I got sea sick until then. The whole three hour sail I was hanging off of the back of the boat with my head in my moms lap. When we finally got there my mom and grandmother went ashore to get groceries and water while I took a long nap. The next morning I got up early and we all went into town to go shopping. St. Bart's is the island with all the cute French boutiques. The last time I was there I bought a pair of shorts from this man at his boutique. So I decided to go back into the shop and the man was still there! As soon as he saw me he ran up to me and asked me if I was the girl from two years ago and I said yes. At the time I didn't really remember him and I was very confused, but he said he remembered me coming in and buying the shorts. I thought it was so awesome that he remembered me! He gave me all these new clothes that he had just gotten for me to try on. This experience also made a huge impression on me and gave me another reason that I wanted to live there. The people were so nice and sincere. I can't wait till I'm old enough to get my own boat and sail it to these islands again.