Hopper’s Magic Carpet Ride

There are journeys where everything seems to go wrong: late flights, lost luggage, sitting between two oversized passengers on the plane. Then there are days when everything works out, and even the mistakes end in a bit of satisfaction. That’s the kind of travel day I had yesterday. I had been traveling for a few days with my family, so I was showing up to guide this SwimVacation a little late. Heather, Lisa, Richie, and Zack had already set everything up on the yacht, and guests Natalie and Judy were aboard. 

My magic carpet travel day looked like this: Wake 3:14am, breeze to the airport, my TSA Pre line very short, regular security line very long. Bed to gate in 33 minutes. Bulkhead row, lots of legroom, nobody in the seat next to me. Doris Day for a flight attendant. Watched a movie that ended the moment we were asked to put everything away for landing. In the terminal in Grenada, I was basically waved through customs and immigration. Outside I was met by our driver Ace. His buddy drove me to a dock just down the coast, and as I strolled toward the ocean, I saw Zack heading my way in a dinghy. Thirsty from my trip, we settled into a beer at a tiny dockside bar that was built from wood pallets, driftwood, and tattered tarps. 

Heather, Natalie and Judy set out for the first swim of the trip as Hopper made his way to our yacht.

Thirst quenched, we headed toward our yacht in the dinghy, but spied Heather and our guests swimming in the cove just beyond. I stripped down right in the dingy, donned a swimsuit and goggles, and jumped in with them for a swim to the next bay to check out the underwater statues.

James Bond style, Hopper arrives via dinghy mid swim. Plane to ocean in under an hour!

My magic carpet then led me to the stern of Yacht Antares, where Lisa and Richie greeted me with hugs and laughter and a Grenadian Sparkler cocktail. A dinner of seafood pasta was served, followed by tarte tataine, like a french apple pie. 

While unpacking, I realized I had left my laptop on the plane in the seat pocket. I started making some calls to the airline and filling out reports online. I was getting nowhere and It seemed pretty hopeless. Heather called our guy Ace to see if he could do anything, and, of course, he has friends at the airport and was able to pick it up for me. I’ll grab it from him next Saturday when we are back in town. Easy. 

Magic carpets are most effective when you’ve got people to catch you, wherever you land. On SwimVacation, we try to cultivate soft landings for our guests. We have people on the ground who we can count on to get us and our stuff from A to Sea, and to help us solve problems as they arise. What a delight for me to experience a SwimVacation soft landing. It makes me proud of the team we have built.

Time for morning swim!

Hopper