I needed more current information, so I started with the government travel site and all looked good. The country had been stable for a while, still a few places in Kingston that weren't tourist friendly, but otherwise no real concerns. The only real advice of note was that travel during an election should be done with extreme caution, as Jamaican's were passionate about their politics. I figured the chances of that were slim, so no worries there. Not yet satisfied, I went to newspapers and local media websites. I googled crime rates and all sorts of word strings that might identify a dark underside lurking beside the palm trees. Was Jamaica without incident? Of course not. Did it have a better record that the blocks surrounding my office building? Probably.

I would like pause at this point to say something that might be starting to seem obvious. I have been accused of being almost compulsive in my research before we settle on any vacation plan. I used to try and hide that fact; now I have come to appreciate it is part of what makes a vacation for me. I might also say that the compulsion doesn't just end when the vacation is booked. It's in the end how I found Negril.com.

Now you can't do this kind of research without learning a few other things along the way. For me, the most positive surprise was the fact that the drinking water pretty much all across the island is perfectly safe to drink. Not to get TMI on you, but I don't have an iron stomach. Spending my week worried about where my ice cubes had come from and what my fruit was washed with sounds like a real holiday bummer. This is especially true since I know it would only take one misstep to end up with my vacation sponsored by Pepto.

So at this point, I have to admit I was totally sold. Now I just had to get Sunshine on board. I should say the drinking water wasn't the only tidbit I picked up in my research. When trying to sell someone on something, it pays to know your audience. The conversation went something like this.

"So, I think we are going to go to Jamaica the first week of December," I say.

"Jamaica? Isn't that dangerous?" Sunshine replied.

"No, Foreign Affairs has lifted all the travel advisories. Would you believe there is actually a direct flight, it is only one time zone away and they have good drinking water so you probably won't have to deal with me getting sick."

"Ok, sounds interesting."

"Yes, doesn't it? Another interesting point is they seem to have an awful lot of sandwich joints in Jamaica. It seems like folks don't really need a special occasion to enjoy a good sub. Every day is a good day. In fact, sounds like people are pretty relaxed about chowing down almost everywhere."

"Seriously?" he says.

"Uh, yeah."

"Sold! We're going to Jamaica."