Adventures Part 2: Things 3, 4, and 5

*See my previous post for things 1 and 2 (The Royal Naval Dockyard and Tobacco Bay!)
 

3.      Hamilton

The capital of Bermuda has tons of attractions. I want to see the architecture, memorials, the shopping. I’d also like to visit the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI), because I love scuba diving, history, and a good underwater treasure hunting movie (Fool’s Gold, Into The Blue, The Deep, anyone?). Mostly, I’d love to see the buildings, the colors, what everyone’s wearing, and definitely grab some food. Hopefully, I’ll have made some friends in Bermuda and we can go out on the town. Going out at night for dinner and drinks can be the best way to meet people. That’s one of the things I’m excited for as a traveler – meeting people from around the world. I’m dying to meet people who live there and people who are visiting. One of my geography courses emphasized how geography affects our identity and connects us with people who’ve been where we’ve been, or been where we’d like to go.

4.     Snorkeling/freediving/scuba diving

As I previously mentioned, I’m all about getting in the water. Growing up in south Florida, I learned to swim before I could walk. Water has always been exciting, comforting, and freeing. I’ve been scuba diving since 2009, and with any luck maybe I’ll scrape together enough money for a cheap dive trip – but that could be a very long shot. Snorkeling (or as I like to call it: Amateur freediving = snorkeling – the snorkel + diving deep) is probably all I will be able to afford. No problem there, I’m bringing my monofin and my best mask so I can flip my fins to my heart’s content.

5.     The Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo

Located in Flatts Village on Harrington Sound, this AZA accredited facility boasts a natural history museum, several animal exhibits, and my favorite, an aquarium. Their 140,000 gallon coral reef aquarium with an array of colorful reef species sounds pretty cool, and I’d like to see their harbor seals. Having worked with harbor seals this past year, it’ll be exciting to see some again – and I’ll actually have intelligent questions to ask about their exhibit!

These are just a few things I’ve heard of and would like to see. Hopefully I can review these places later on, elaborate on them, and count them alongside the many places I’ve been in Bermuda. Off to watch some more YouTube videos on snorkeling, tours, and food!

Adventures Abound! (Thing 1 and Thing 2)

Every day I get more and more excited! Sure, there’s going to be a packing crisis at the last minute, and my phone bill will be insane, and I’ll probably make several klutzy, bumbling first impressions, but that’s okay! I’ll be in BERMUDA!

Bermuda may be relatively small, but there’s so much I want to explore there! Island life, the culture, the history, meeting new people, wildlife, nature, and get me to the ocean STAT! There are a few things in particular I’m looking forward to, so let’s talk about it.

1.      The Royal Naval Dockyards

 

I’ll be living in this area, and I feel so lucky because of the history and attractions nearby. Inside the fort there’s the Bermuda Maritime Museum, and the view from that hill is awesome. Just outside is the Clocktower Mall, a movie theater, lots of shopping and dining, and the King’s Wharf, where all the cruise ships come in. The nearby Royal Naval Cemetery, also known as ‘The Glade’, should be an interesting site as well. My mom loves cemeteries, and it’s easy to see why when you think about all the history in them and their peaceful air. There’s also a couple of beaches close by, and hopefully some good snorkeling. Sometimes in order to let off steam or relax all I need is to get in the water and out of my head.

2.     Tobacco Bay

 

 

I’ll want to visit every beach, but this is probably the most unique beach I’ve seen whilst researching, because of the rock formations. It’s very popular and appears to have some interesting reef fish (thanks YouTube!). In St. George’s, on the East End, it’s also very near the Unfinished Church, a structure originally intended to replace St. Peter’s Church after it was damaged by a storm, but due to lack of funds and focus was abandoned and left to serve as attractive ruins open to the public.

*I intended this to be one post, but it’s a little long so I changed it to two. Yippee!

Packing is hard.

Packing is hard. Let’s talk about it.

It’s not that I have all these great clothes and I want to take them all to Bermuda. It’s just that my closet is such a confusing mix of things I’ve had since high school (a generous portion of my closet), things I thought were cool in college, things I still think are cool this year, and things that might actually be good for Bermuda (a sliver in the pie chart of my closet). So I’m not keen on most of my options.

At this point, I’ve packed khakis for work, swimsuits, wetsuit, diving gear, and a bunch of dresses that I will probably never wear because it will be too cold to wear them straight away in January (50-60 degrees) and I will be too broke to go anywhere that requires a dress. When am I wearing these dresses? When my bon vivant alter ego goes traipsing around Bermuda visiting places and eating food I can’t afford?

P.S. I will have access to a washing machine, but no dryer, so everything needs to be compatible with a line dry situation. Get ready to have wave shaped clothespin marks, shoulder seams. Get ready to stretch to the ground, long sleeves. Get ready to be permanently wrinkled, favorite dress. Maybe I just won’t wash anything until I get obvious food stains on them. That should last a week. Unless there’s barbecue in Bermuda. Or buffalo wings. Who am I kidding – I can’t afford either of those things!

My packing style is a combo of every one of these: http://blogs.disney.com/oh-my-disney/2013/12/01/what-your-packing-style-says-about-you/?cmp=SMC|blgomd|OMDDecember|FB|Packing-Disney|InHouse|120913|||esocialmedia|||

Eventually I will find some appropriate items in my closet to go with The Hundred Dresses (I’m even working on making a dress for Bermuda, that’s how serious it is) and I will get over my pretend packing crisis. At least I have clothes to wear. I should go simple and pack a select few staple items that can be combined for a number of perfectly respectable outfits. Then my suitcase won’t be so heavy, and I’ll simply fill any empty space with creamy chicken ramen.

Hi there!

Hi there!

This is really my first blog, so let’s talk about it.

In 2014, I will be traveling to Bermuda for an educational opportunity. It’s going to be 4.5 months of really hard work, but in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I’m hoping to share all of my adventures (from beautiful beaches to grocery shopping on a strict budget) while I’m there and share my thoughts along the way. I also want to log everything as a keepsake. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Four and a half months sounds like a long time when you’re calculating the cost of living in Bermuda (which is SO expensive!), but it’ll seem like a few short weeks when it’s May and I have to return home to the States. This is about remembering what’s important and challenging myself to make the most of what I have by working hard, exploring, and carving a path to my best self.

In Bermuda :)