Recently, the woman and I hit St. Lucia for a long weekend. It was my first time there and I loved it. Mountains, rain forest, beaches, great food and Steel Pulse in concert!

On-Site St. Lucia: Start the Day Right in Anse La Raye | Uncommon Caribbean.

I should remember to keep traveling.

Surfing in Barbados

On assignment for Uncommon Caribbean, I recently headed down to Barbados to learn how to surf.

I’d never been to Barbados before and was really impressed. I grew up in the Caribbean and have been to a decent number of Caribbean islands, but Barbados was really special. The people seemed extra nice and laid-back. The proximity to Trinidad provided me with many of the Trini tastes I grew up with. The hotels from the Elegant Hotels Group I stayed at, especially The House, were well run, quality establishments. The rums were delicious. Many of the beaches were exceptional. The nightlife seemed thriving for locals and tourists alike.

And, on top of all that, there’s surfing! There’s a longer surfing post at Uncommon Caribbean with all the details.

Surfing was a ton of fun and something I will certainly remember to try again… And it would be difficult to not remember how much I loved Barbados.

Today, I’m happy to announce the launch of a new site geared towards highlighting the often overlooked charms of the Caribbean. The Antilles are so much more than just beaches. The local people, food, drinks, music, natural wonders like volcanoes, hot springs, and more all add up to a unique experience that is best enjoyed by directly immersing yourself in the culture. Something you won’t find on any massive cruise ship.

So, for those looking for a deeper look into what the beautiful islands and people of the Caribbean have to offer, head over to the brand new Uncommon Caribbean site, become a fan of the UC Facebook page, look out for our latest videos on YouTube, or follow UncommonCarib on Twitter.

I need to remember to get down to the islands, explore new places and take as many photos as possible!

Le M Burger Avec Bacon

While in Martinique, I kept seeing ads for the Le M burger at McDonald’s. When traveling, I try to sample local McDonald’s just as an experiment to see how different cultures and local tastes shape international products, so naturally I had to try Le M.

This is not your average Mickey D’s! Just check out the photos.

This is real food. It tastes like a real burger! It has real bread!!! And it even uses real cheese!!!!

I should remember that even McDonald’s is capable of making real food… if only for French people.

St. Pierre - Little Pompei of the Caribbean

The island of Martinique is a gorgeous overseas department of France (like a state) right around the middle of the Caribbean chain of islands. Last weekend, I managed to take a whirl-wind spin around the island and came away very impressed.

I should certainly remember how fantastic the streets/infrastructure is, how clean they keep the place, how friendly the islanders are, how magnificent their volcano is, how delicious fresh crushed sugarcane juice is, how light and refreshing the Lorraine‘s are, and how much I would love to return for a leisurely stay in St. Pierre.

The sunrise over the beach in Tulum

Last year in May, the woman and I went down to Tulum, Mexico. It was perfect. We stayed in a tiny property called Casa Del Miel where we could lay around in the sun without anyone around. We drove inland to visit some Mayan ruins and swim in a cenote. And we ate lots of fantastic food in rustic, authentic restaurants like El Tábano and more fancy places like Hachizo.

Like I said, it was perfect.

So, this year, weary from some very busy weeks at work, we decided to relive that bit of perfection in a quick, long weekend trip.

Well, it wasn’t perfect. The property had ballooned from only 6 cabañas to double that, plus a large building for yoga, and a kitchen for food, and a reception area! All these things equal “child friendly.” Therefore, we had to contend with much more people and now children. There were other annoying signs of progress. Among them, the roads being much larger and now paved just didn’t feel as nice.

Anyway, I did have a fantastic long weekend in the sun, but I should remember the two things my woman said we’d learned on this trip: “never go back to somewhere you’ve had a perfect trip and Spring Break isn’t just for college kids.”

Update: That photo of the reflections on the beach is available as a desktop wallpaper at MyBestDesktops.com. Enjoy!

Like most years, I hit the West Indian Day Parade recently over Labor Day weekend. It was the usual mix of fantastic food, happy people, and good music. However, this year the parade seemed extra disorganized as it took literally an hour between the first and second bands passing our location on Eastern Parkway. (I’m sure the Tokyo Carnival has better scheduling!)

Oh well, I should remember to check it out again next year and hope it’s run a little better.

With the West Indian Day Parade in just a couple of days, it’s easy for my mind to linger on all things Caribbean. It’s such a great feeling to be able to go just a few blocks away and have such a mass of people from all over the West Indies, all the fantastic roti, all the great sorrel, all the ginger beer, all the maubi, all the music, all the colors, all the dancing and, of course, all the women in their tiny outfits jumping up to soca booming out of the flat bed mounted speakers in their bands.

What I didn’t know is that Japan also has it’s own fete! This one, called the Asakusa Samba Carnival, has a bit more of a twist… 99% of the participants are Japanese!! (Could you imagine if in New York they held the same thing will all the music, dancing, etc… except that 99% of the people were white?) Anyway, this is just another reason to go back to Japan. I simply would have to see this to believe it. Until then, these photos on Flickr and a video on CNN will have to do.

I have to remember to get over there next year!

(Photo by Olly Denton)

I went to St. John the weekend before last. This was the first time I had been back in my home of the USVI during “season” otherwise known as “when all the pale mainlanders come down.” Yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed my long weekend recharge, but I couldn’t help but feel like I shouldn’t be returning to places I’ve been when there’s a whole wide world out there to visit. So, I promised myself, no St. John trips for at least 2 years. (Though those direct flights to St. Thomas make them so easy!) Anyway, we’ll see how I do.

I need to remember to visit as many places as possible before I keel over or get too old or get a rug rat.

Last Thanksgiving I took a photo of a burning tire repair shop as it lit up the night sky and thrust huge flames over adjacent buildings. I thought this was a pretty cool photograph, so I posted it to Flickr.

Within 24 hours, Gothamist had run a story on the fire using my photo, The Brooklyn Papers contacted me for usage of the photo in their publication and the photo’s views shot up to around 150 views. Over the course of the next couple days, the views continued to rise and after about 4 days the photo slowly crested the 300 views mark. It took about a week for the views to stop coming in, leaving the photo at around 360 views.

In the months since then, it’s gotten around 15 views. Today, one of the better photos I feel like I’ve taken is hovering around 385 views.

Last weekend I posted another photograph, this one of a woman wearing a small bikini standing in front of a blurry sky and sailboat. I posted it because I liked it. I thought it was kind of a cool photo.

Within 5 minutes the views were at 25. Within an hour they were in the 80′s. A day later it was at 245 views! Two days later it was at 365 views! (A feet it took the fire photo about a week to accomplish.) Now, 3 days later, the photo has 426 views!

When I first started to notice the rapid rise in views, I thought about taking the photo down, but decided I was being silly because upon closer inspection, there was nothing lewd or unsavory about the photo. It was just a small black bikini bottom and a hand and a boat and a sky. Of course, the old adage “sex sells” is true, but the attention paid to this unremarkable photo is astounding to me. I mean, what’s the big deal?

I need to remember to put bikinis in all advertising projects I work on…