Urban Thought Collective

First and foremost, I’d like to wish all of the loyal UTC readers a happy and prosperous new year. I trust that everyone has committed to some sort of New Year’s Resolution and are sufficiently fired up about sticking to it (one week in, everyone SHOULD still be fired up). I don’t subscribe to those myself, but for those of you that do, I’ll be as supportive as I can be, unless of course your resolution is to shun all notions of travel and experiencing life somewhere outside of your daily routine. If that is what you aim to do, you’re on your own.

For those that have decided that this is the year that they want to get out and do something, I’ve got just the tips and tidbits you’ll need to get on your way in 2009. Since many of you are suffering through blizzards and other severe weather (while us cowardly Californians complain about temperatures dipping below 60 and become paralyzed by our precipitation phobia) I thought it would be appropriate to start with some ways to get a reprieve from the dreadful weather.

To that end, for the next few weeks, I’ll be guiding you on a tour of all things paradise. On second thought, this planet is much too large, so all things paradise would take much too long so we’ve got to set some guidelines. First off, my idea of paradise usually involves warm weather and white sand. Unfortunately, that doesn’t narrow it down quite enough. Soaking up some local culture is another key factor in my destinations so we’ll rule out Hawaii for now. (Sorry bruddahs…we’ll get to you another time). Finally, you knew that finding fabulous food was going to figure in famously (this is Soufflés in Saigon after all) so where does that leave us? Well, what better way to explore and enjoy a significant part of the African Diaspora than to start with the Caribbean?

Let me first apologize to those that have been waiting anxiously to hear about by trip to Trinidad and Tobago last week, because you’ll have to wait yet again for the full story. For once, I didn’t even bring a laptop but I promise to give up the goods on that one next week. You’ll hear all about the Soca Warriors, the rum, the roti, and even the “bacon sharks” at length in next week’s post.

I’ve decided to take a “bottom to top” approach of the West Indies, starting with Trinidad, moving on up through what they call the Eastern Caribbean and then finish up with something suited for Mr. S. Combs, Mr. S. Carter and of course Mr. Robin Leach. I think you’ll be intrigued at how the different colonial influences have shaped each place and will see why I have chosen the ones that I have. Below are the 3 locations we’ll explore.

Trinidad and Tobago: Located just off the Northern coast of South America (nearest to Guyana and Venezuela, Trinidad is quite the intriguing melting pot that actually exudes influence of each of the major colonizers in the region (Spanish, French, British). Connecting flights from the Southeast United States should get you there in under 4 hours (about 3 from Miami) and at present you’ll get about 6 TT$ (tee-tee dollars) for each $US (U.S. Dollar). What does that really mean? Unlike some other places you’ll go (Hawaii, Caymans, Turks and Caicos) you can actually eat without dipping into the kids’ college fund.

Dominica: This may be an island that you rarely hear of unless rainforests and tropical wildlife is your bag. I had in fact never heard of the place before I went, but didn’t care since it was my first trip to the Caribbean. About 5 or so islands North of Trinidad in the belt of islands sometimes termed Lesser Antilles and also Eastern Caribbean, both the Tricolore and the Union Jack have flown high and put their stamp on this sleepy little place. This is a little harder to get to, with its airport about the size of the taco truck that comes to the parking lot of your job each afternoon and having only a couple flights per day.

Turks and Caicos: I admit, until Puff and Jay-Z (you know..young H-O…pitch the yay faithful…friends they roll…private jets down to Turks and Caicos?) started talking about this place I had never paid any attention to it unless I were watching a Ms. Universe pageant or something. In my life thus far, never have I seen such aqua blue water spill up onto such pristine white sand. After my 7am barefoot jogs down the beach (pre-surgery…but probably helped to insure that I’d need surgery), jumping into the bath tub warm water was hardly the cool down that I had in mind. This place is definitely not for regular cats though, unless you just got an inheritance or something.

Stay tuned! It’s good to be back with the UTC family in 2009.

Destah Owens is a single father of two from Northern California and proud UCLA Bruin who travels the world for his job as a computer engineer. His blog, “Soufflés in Saigon,” is exclusive to Urban Thought Collective.