My wife and I will have been married (counting… umm….) 12 years this labor day. Other than our honeymoon, we have never been on a vacation for more than 3 days – just the 2 of us. We’ve been on family vacations every year – spending a week or so in a house at the beach with my son, her parents, brother, our nephews, and a few others from time to time (my mother one year, my brother one year, and my brother-in-law’s now ex wife and now ex girlfriend).
Last year, my wife, son, and I went on a week long cruise and spent a day in 
St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. We were impressed and amazed. It was the kind of place that, if you let it, gets into your blood stream and calls back you after you’ve gone. We were only there for a half a day and couldn’t wait to get back. (An example of the magic of St. Thomas – our tour guide related how 25 years ago he came down to St. Thomas on a 2 year teaching contract.)
Since then, my wife and I have dreamed of going back to the Virgin Islands, but to vacation there, not to stop over there as a cruise does. With some creative financing, juggling of funds, and taking advantage of the fact that “summer vacation time” for us in the upper 48 is actually “off season” in the Virgin Islands, we have managed to plan our first in 12 years vacation together. But we won’t be going to the “crowded” St. Thomas (population 20,000), but to the neighboring island of St. John (population 4000).
The flight is booked (Atlanta to San Juan to St. Thomas). The lodgings are booked (studio condo overlooking Cruz Bay – high in the hills of St. John). We’ve researched where to go and what to do. We’re now VERY ready to get away from everything – and in St. John we’re pretty much away from everything – for a whole week. Sun, fun, and rum – that’ all I’m looking for. Well, and of course, LOTS of pictures.
My next goal in trip-prep is to find out where to shoot, what to shoot, and when to shoot it. Of course, in a place like St. John, I will probably be surrounded by things to shoot, so I have that going for me – which is nice.
