Chapter 3

“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables


So I have agreed to go on vacation and do nothing. That shouldn't be much of a challenge. In fact, it kind of sounds like that is what a lot of people do in Negril. Something called 'sand gravity' seems to take hold of many visitors. Not my normal scene, but I am up for giving it a try. If I am really honest, the thought of doing nothing sounds pretty awesome.

Doing nothing once we get there isn't the problem. It's the reality of having nothing to plan that is starting to make me feel a little bit crazy. More accurately, having nothing to occupy the butterflies in my stomach is what is making me crazy, but it pretty much feels like the same thing.
I need to do something and it is not like there is nothing I can plan. I mean, we will have to eat. We will have to drink; I guess one doesn't technically have to drink, but it would be seriously out of character. We might want to see a show or go dancing. Surely that doesn't count as doing something, does it? So I start surfing the net or more accurately, compulsively searching for any and all information I can dredge up on our hotel, the beach and everything surrounding it.

I want to step back for a moment and say that I really enjoy going to new places for the second time. I guess that technically means I don't really like going to new places, I prefer to go to familiar places. The first time someplace new, I am a little anxious. I find I have a fear of not being welcomed, mixed with a good dose of concern over making an idiot of myself that gets my heart rate going a little faster than it should. It can be exhausting. The bigger the newness, the greater the fear. In my mind, Jamaica was freshly minted and I was not sure I would ever be prepared. Not to jump ahead, but I have heard lots of boardies talk about how good Negril is for the soul. Negril was like a soothing balm for my jittery self, but that tale should unfold all in its own good time.

So back to my coping strategies. If I can read enough material, hear enough of other folk's stories and see enough pictures, I can knock just enough of the new off the experience to make it seem bearable. I sometimes wonder if all the information available on-line is actually a help or a hindrance. If there wasn't a nearly endless amount of information to search through, would I compulsively research less and get on with doing or would I never leave the house?

It doesn't take long before I have fully exhausted Trip Advisor. I am not going to embarrass myself further by admitting just how much actual reading that entailed. I feel like I have been through every tourist site even remotely related to the country. I was running out of content obvious to me.

I should say that I have never before really been a participant in on-line forums. I had a facebook page once, but after the first month I pretty much stopped using it. There was something about posting details of my life on-line that made me really uncomfortable. I had never spent any amount of time following a forum, and I had certainly never joined one.

Following a long chain off a Google search for Rooms on the Beach, I came across a trip report. It was from a couple from our part of the country, about the same age as us with seemingly similar attitudes. It was their first time to Jamaica (though they had been to Mexico), they stayed at Rooms and they'd had a great time. There were pictures of the rooms and reviews of where they ate.

I was amazed. Not only had I never read a trip report, I had no idea they even existed. This was exactly the kind of thing that might settle my butterflies down. If this person had done it, surely there must be more such wondrous reports out there. New Google search string 'trip report Negril.'

No surprise that right near the top of the list was Negril.com. This wasn't my first visit to the website. I thought I had pretty much read every scrap of information there was to be found. I had also been through realnegril.com; I had even logged into to a couple of webcasts (not the chat mind you, that would be very un-lurker-like behaviour). I had never even clicked on the Forums link.

But now I was into the forums and there was a lot of reading to be done.

If I recall correctly, I found the board about two weeks before we left for our trip. It was mid-November right around the time Clarity and Hubby-man started reporting on their second trip to Negril. Tizzy was recounting her first adventure with her less than stellar traveling companion. Sprat was posting some of the most beautiful and thoughtful photos I had ever seen. Poolguywindsor was logging miles and reporting live, Red Stripe always in hand. Sweetness was also reporting in on her adventures, with plenty of pictures to go along. TicToc was gearing up for her epic December adventure, family in tow. Patty Sather was packing up all the colors of the rainbow, prepared to match any cocktail that might come her way.

I am not prepared to go back and dig back up some of the comments that helped me along the most. I know over time, that my mind has a tendency to re-write history a bit to suit its purposes, if only in subtle ways. I read so much that I may credit the wrong people with the right things. In the end, I prefer my recollections of how things went down. Please don't feel slighted.

In the end, it wasn't the most current trip reports that had the biggest impact on my state of mind before we left. Clarity and Hubby-man were really only working their way through Day 1 of their second trip when we actually left for Negril. That was no never mind though, as Clarity had kindly linked to their first trip report. For those of you who enjoy trip reports for more than just the details of where you stayed and where you ate (which I'm guessing you do, since you are still reading this), this report is a must read. (Read it here)

It was such a heartfelt and personal recounting of their trip, it ultimately provided a bit of anchor for me as we started in on our own adventure. Without intending to sound like a lunatic stalker, there were several times before and during our trip when I said to myself, "Clarity made it through better for the experience and so will you. Get over it and get on with it."