Airplane travel is amazing, isn't it?

One morning you could be strolling along a tropical beach, with the rolling waves reaching up to stroke your bare feet. By the evening, you could be bundled up in layers, trudging through mounds of snow as you venture from the airport terminal to a heated car.

This sets the scene of what I experienced less than a week ago.

My Mom and I decided to go to Barbados after my cystic cysta raved about it upon her return home (and already quickly booked another trip back). We found a pretty decent deal and a few days after my semester officially ended, we were Barbados-bound.

When I first stepped off the plane I was quite surprised by the humidity. But, it is still the end of their summer and apparently it has been hotter than most years. Unfortunately, my lungs are not big fans of humidity and it tired me out quite quickly. But the rest of my body welcomed the heat (and the beach bar and delicious food), so I have NO complaints!

We were entertained by karaoke the first night (note: those who were leaving the island the next day were not shy about sharing their musical er... [dis]abilites.) And later in the week we served as an audience to the much talked about Mr. Impact.

Since I had more energy for this trip we were also able to do a couple of excursions. One was called the 360 Tour, which was a bus tour of the entire island. And although I'm not a fan of bus tours, this one was well paced and entertaining. We stopped at Speightstown, which is a little fishing town (we didn't stop very long, but it was a Sunday and not much was open anyway). But, we stopped long enough to catch a group of shirtless guys wearing c-mas hats leaving the dock for a scuba dive. I wish I could scuba dive.

We also stopped at the 'blow holes' which are on the North side of the island and really stunning (I will post pictures of all this once I have time to get to my other computer!) before venturing to St. Nicholas Abbey Plantation, which is an amazing piece of property that has been restored. Good rum punch there too. Another notable stop was Bathsheba on the East coast, which again was quite a site (apparently a popular site for surfers, but not on the day we went).

Although I cannot scuba dive, I CAN snorkel. And snorkel I did! My Mom and I went on a catamaran tour that included two snorkel stops. The first stop was to snorkel with the turtles... unfortunately I didn't last too long. The current was a little strong for me (even though I had a lifejacket, I get exhausted quickly from swimming) so I found myself getting very out of breath and a slight headache. But before I swam back to the catamaran I did see a little turtle. On my way back, one of the crewmates told me that a big turtle was behind me and I fully thought he was joking. Turns out he wasn't and after I climbed on the catamaran I saw two giant turtles (one surfaced right in front of my Mom, who was still in the water, and I was impressed she didn’t scream). So I didn't miss out on the action!

The second snorkel stop was over two shipwrecks (though I believe one of the shipwrecks was purposely sunk...) I was able to last longer for this one because of one very important addition... flippers! I've never been the strongest swimmer in the world, so flippers are a godsend. It was really neat to see all the fish up close and personal... the shipwrecks too!

I'm sure I could go on and on about the details of our trip, but overall it was a great seven days. Time to explore, unwind, and eat a lot (I gained all my weight back). Also, on both plane rides I did not need to use my oxygen. The lowest I dipped was 87 (which is slightly hypoxic, but nothing concerning or long-term) and I generally teetered around 94, which is my norm. (Normal values are between 95-100, but everyone's oxygen levels naturally drop when they are at a higher altitude.)

For now, it is back to the snow and back to the slopes.