BVI Escape

Despite the proximity to my home in Florida, the British Virgin Islands are about a 12-hour expedition by commercial air. I learned this the hard way as I zigzagged my way through four airports, two car shuttles and a ferry yesterday trying to get here. But after the long, delay-ridden travel day, I finally arrived in Tortola last night and hopped a 30-minute charter boat over to my home-away-from-home for the week, Biras Creek Resort - a sprawling luxury resort that unfolds across a narrow strip of land on Virgin Gorda's quiet northeastern side, and is only accessible by boat or helicopter. To say all of my travel stresses melted away when I set foot on the property would be an understatement, if not a cliché. This place is so blissfully peaceful, I really don't even remember having a tedious travel day yesterday. And as an unexpected bonus, my blackberry doesn't seem to work in many spots here either. No work emails - score!

As I found last night while settling into my room, the seclusion of the property isn't the only reason I feel far removed from everything here...at check-in, guests are golf-carted over to their own private villa without any room keys. Out here, no one bothers with door locks. Which is handy because I always lose my keys anyway. And there are no TVs in most of the rooms - one surefire way to disconnect from the world. And of course, there's the fact that my shower is outside - which took a moment of getting used to this morning, but now I'm totally on board with it. What better way to connect with Mother Nature than by showing her what you've got?

And so this afternoon I'm sitting in Biras Creek's hilltop, open-air Arawak lounge for just long enough to score some free wifi - just for a minute! - to post this blog. But you see the jaw-dropping view I'm dealing with right now? It's time to sign off and enjoy it.

BVI Escape