HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! (Better late than never) I hope all your resolutions
are in full swing and the year is off to a good stat.
Judging from the topic of this post u can already tell it
will be about travel and u are probably expecting me to talk about an exotic island,
the food in Italy or the culture in Africa, but like many Jamaicans you will be
surprised to know of the exotic places, amazing food and rich culture available
right here in our little island.
Many Jamaicans can tell u about trips they have taken around
the world but they haven’t been to many of the parishes in Jamaica. When the opportunity
for a vacation arises they automatically think of going to the US or Europe,
many to go shopping and some in an effort to experience different cultures not realizing
that they can find all that right here in Jamaica.
International travel is good but we should not forget about
our local get a ways. For a lot of Jamaicans they have never been further than
their neighboring parish, they have never been to 90% of the local attractions
and if presented with the idea of travel they would automatically think of an
overseas location. It often takes a tourist to make us locals aware of some of
the places in Jamaica.
Being Jamaican one might think that it doesn’t make sense to
vacation in Jamaica as we all have the same sun, sand and sea, the same people
and the same culture but contrary to popular beliefs this isn’t the case. Within a single parish the variety of sights
and sounds are so great imagine what you will discover if u take a trip to the
other side of the island where the people there have accents you’ve never heard
and practices you have never seen. It might not be as drastic as a trip through
Australia but it is refreshing to see how much one small island has to offer. From
a tropical rainy get away in a villa in Portland to a sun filled beach day in Westmoreland,
Jamaica can meet all your vacation needs.
It is sad that it often takes international investors to
create attractions which will be visited by international travelers in a world completely
outside the scope of an average Jamaican. We are sitting on a rock filled with
endless possibilities. It only takes a
little vision and some support to create places like Great Huts in Portland. We
also tend to stick to the few popular places for example if u want to eat out in
st Elizabeth you go to jakes or little ochi, we should instead try to broaden our
vision and try new places and long for new experiences how else will u end up
eating an entire meal with utensils made from coconut shells?
We put so much effort
into brand Jamaica and being a tourist destination and we the people almost
never experience any of it and we are content knowing only our little corner of
the island . Sometimes it is good to take the road less traveled and discover
what our island really has to offer.
“Sometimes I wonder why birds chose to live in one place
when they could fly anywhere …and then I ask myself the same question” .
