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Welcome to Nostalgic Travel Talks! I’m a former Spanish teacher turned travel advisor, passionate about curating unforgettable experiences. My expertise lies in European adventures (with a special love for Spain), cruising, and all-inclusive Caribbean getaways. I specialize in creating tailored trips for families, multi-generational groups, and teachers—whether they’re traveling solo, with colleagues, or leading student groups.
In this podcast, we celebrate the joy of travel, uncover hidden gems, share practical tips and tricks, and embrace the spirit of adventure. Each episode features inspiring conversations with fascinating guests from all walks of life as they share their unique travel stories, lessons, and favorite destinations. Whether you're planning your next getaway or simply love to dream about the possibilities, this is your place to explore the world from wherever you are.
Let’s embark on this journey together! 🌍✈️
What's it really like to trade mainland hustle for island rhythm? Today, we uncover the unexpected realities and travel secrets of living on St. Croix, from community warmth to weathering hurricanes and globetrotting tips. Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please? Hello, everybody, and welcome to Nostalgic Travel Talks. Today, we're talking about what it's really like to live outside the U . S. mainland. on the vibrant Caribbean island of St. Croix and how island living pairs with world travel. My friend, Globetrotter and St. Croix resident, Stephanie Hampton, is here to spill the tea. Community, culture, costs, hurricanes, flights, and her best island to everywhere travel hacks. So stay to the end for a rapid fire round. Welcome. Stephanie, could you talk to us a little bit about your background and how you ended up on St. Croix? Well, thank you, Cheryl. I'm so happy to be here. So excited to be doing this. So a little bit about me. I'm originally from Milwaukee. And I guess let's let's start from the very beginning. Originally from Milwaukee. was in the military for four years, came back to Milwaukee, joined the fire department, was there for approximately almost 30 years, and had told myself once I retired, I wanted to go somewhere warm. I wanted to go somewhere quiet, just a slower pace. So in 2019, I was eligible to retire, and we did. So upon retirement, my husband was searching for all of this that I wanted. So let me also tell you I had a few other caveats in there. I wanted to go somewhere. warm, see the water, but I did not want to live by the water because I believe the water will come back and get you. So that was a great fear of mine. St. Croix. We had never been here before. We also wanted to remain U . S. territory. St. Croix, U . S. territory, you don't need a passport or anything, so that was important to us also. So we came, our first visit, and so my mother's from Arkansas, I gotta tell you this, and my mother's the type of person that speaks to everyone. No one's a stranger. Good morning, good afternoon with everyone. And that's what we experienced here. We were running outside and the people would drive by, they'd wave. You walk into the bank, everyone said, I mean the bank and everyone, good morning, good afternoon. Any place you walk into, you have that hometown neighborly feeling. So we visited one time and bought a condo on our first visit. So we had never been to St. Croix before, but we loved the people. And I can honestly say I love my community here. So that's my favorite part. Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself. All right. So that's pretty much me. Uh -huh. I'm just surprised to hear that one visit is all it took. Wow. Yes, we had never been here before. He had done the research. We've been to many other islands, many other islands. Went to St. Thomas, and it was just, it was very densely populated. I felt like I was back in Wisconsin. A lot of tourist things like that. Here, you have a larger a larger space, a less population. So we really appreciate it. that. And we had our hills. That was important. I need to be up on a hill in case water came for me. I had a chance. So these are my things. Even having been a firefighter for so many years, Natural disaster is one of my greatest fears. So my husband, he made it clear. He said, we live in Wisconsin. A tornado, you have no advance warning. A hurricane, you have at least a week, if not more. They're following, they're tracking it. And I was like, okay, you're right, all right. So we've been here five years and I've never experienced, I haven't experienced a hurricane yet, thank God, knocking on some wood. Yes, indeed. Speaking of the island, can you paint a picture of the culture, like the food, the music, or any kind of traditions or anything like that? So we have a great mixture, a great mixture. So you have your Crujans who are from St. Croix. But you have a lot of others from close by, St. Nevis and St. Martin, St. Lucia, they call it down island. So you have just a great mixture. Let me see, cultures. The one thing I just, what I just shared with you about that warmth, that greeting, if you don't If you're at a grocery store you're somewhere and you don't walk up and say, good morning, and you just may I have or can I have get me this or that you receive a complete, I have seen the person like you're just going to walk up in. not speak? And it's hilarious. I mean, it's not hilarious, but I love it. And it's like, no, you need to show some respect, show some manners, be kind. Food. So a lot of Caribbean food, lots of fish. You have a large vegan population over here also, because you have your Rastafarians and things like that. So you do have a lot of that, but a lot of the spicy Caribbean food. And I'd say that's what I noticed more so about the food. I do a lot of cooking at home. I have been introduced to like my breadfruits, Oh my God, I can't think of what they're called. When you, they're, oh gosh, like your add -ons, like your, so you have your main, you have your main dish, but then you have your others, your fillers, like your, your breadfruit, your yuca, your rice and beans. Somebody from the aisle would be like, I can't think of it right now, but, So yes, you eat a lot of that over here, a lot of fresh fish. Let's see, what else? So I told you a little bit about the food. I've only been here about five years, so there's still just so much about the culture, about being a part of the community, about being the outsider. That's a big deal too, you know, being the outsider. But you work hard. And when we came over, we didn't just want to come over and enjoy St. Croix, we wanted to be a part of it. of. So I volunteered with the Park Association, you know, I cleaned up the island, you do all these things to be, I wanted to be a part, this is our island. So that was the mentality we came with, you know, so that makes a big difference. And it sounds like they're welcoming of people, as long as you embrace their style of living. Yes, I would say, I would say very welcoming. Again, that was something that I really appreciated that, like I said, as long as you come in and you're kind and you want to be a part, you want to be here, you're not, yeah, you have the right attitude. It's like, okay. That's half the battle. Yeah. Okay. Do you have any favorite neighborhood spots? Like, do you have, because I know I've talked to people about their favorite beaches and things like that, where they live. Do you have any favorite spots? Because I know you mentioned, I don't know if that was, if you, I thought you mentioned, and this might have, I don't know when we were talking, but I think you mentioned something about, I don't know, outdoor exercise or something like that. And I don't know, I don't know if you said you did that on the beach or? So that was something that was so important to me. So when I initially got here, I was working out at the lagoon. So we came during COVID. So we also said, if you're going to be locked down, you might as well be locked down outside. I mean, you're still away from people, but you know, because our beaches over here aren't like beaches in Florida where there's this, it's crowded. You know, I haven't, I walked Sandy, when I go to Sandy Point, which is one of my favorite beaches, that is one of my favorites, but they are, they're a resource. for turtles, leatherback turtles, so they're only open from the end of April. until I think August. Don't quote me on that, but they closed for a while. So the turtles can nest and things like that. But that is one of my favorite beaches. Back to when we first got here. So we live in Christiansted. You have Christiansted and you have Frederiksted, which is what probably a 20 minute drive a park. So we live in Christian said, which is considered downtown. So we walk, we walk to the lagoon. And over there, AARP has a little recreational area. And we would take all our weights and we just work out out there. So you could work out outside, you have the water. You also had And just you had benches it just everything you would need to work out outside so I really did enjoy that so we did that for a couple years. And then I found another spot. North Shore. So I would go over there and take my my weights over there. So after I did that, I could then run and then I go sit in the water. So that became my routine. So just being outside on Sundays, I go and explore and find me a new place to hide. So I enjoyed that because you have you have just just quite the difference in vegetation over here. You know, you have your sand. And then you have your mountainous areas that's so green and your trees and things like that. So my husband calls me door explorer because I love to just go and just, yeah, explore. so. Well, it sounds like you have the best of everything. You've got the mountains and the water. I mean, who could ask for anything more? We're very blessed, but don't get it confused. I'll tell anyone, no place is perfect, but I'm happy to be here. I'm so happy and blessed to be here. Well, I'm happy for you, and I'm looking forward to coming for a visit so I can see it for myself. Well, we can't wait to have you guys. Yeah, I'm going to make it happen as soon as I can. Now, I know that listeners always wonder about logistics. So let's talk about I'm going to give you some speed round practicals about groceries and cost of living. What's pricey there? It is pricey. It is pricier. But you keep in mind that everything is pretty much being imported, you know, so that's That's, that's it right there. It's often that I want to make a meal. I can go to three different stores. So you only, you really have three major grocery stores on Island. There's no Walmart. There's no Kmart. If you're the, I need to go to a mall. I need to go and buy. There's none of that here. Okay. So, so. We go to Plaza, Plaza East and Quality. Those are your three major grocery stores. And I hit all three of them every time I go grocery shopping, my main grocery shopping, because it's inevitable that one will not have something. And just sometimes you just don't have it on island and they'll tell you, we haven't had it. We won't be getting it for a while, especially during your holiday dinners. I've learned to substitute because You just can't get certain things. But I will say, I used to think, okay, so the first thing I noticed that was so expensive to me when I first got here, you know, your Lay's potato chips that you normally get, you can get two for $5, two for $3 or something like that. It used to be the big yellow bag or whatever. Well, over here, one bag is about five, about 5 .80 over here. Oh, so that was the one thing, I'm talking potato chips, but I've noticed since going back and forth to the state side, it's not as expensive as I think it is. I think the state side is catching up with us with some of the prices. And I'm being honest, I went back and I was like, oh, this is way, it didn't used to be this much. So I'm realizing that prices everywhere are just going up. So it's not as expensive as I initially thought it was five years ago. So yeah, it's leveling out. Yeah, which is a bad thing, I think, all around because I think, you know, I guess we don't have time to go there. So give me an idea. I don't do a lot of shopping myself. I'm not the grocery shopper in the family. But a half gallon of milk, what's the price on that? We don't drink regular milk. So when I buy buttermilk, I buy almond milk all the time, regular almond milk. And I always buy it in the gallon and that's $7 .99 almond milk. Okay. That seems expensive because I do buy, I drink almond milk too and I can't remember. It's normally about five something. In my head, it should be that. But this one over here is, yeah, equally $7 .99. Only if you go to one of the big places. If you go to one of the smaller places, then you're paying eight something. So, yeah. Give me something else. I think I know how much eggs cost. I think they're like $3 right now, something like that. What about for you? So the last eggs I think I bought. So local eggs, when I get those, was hers $12? Oh, okay. Wow. But those were locals. So she was getting them over and I was like, okay. But even in the store, If I can get, now keep in mind, I'm getting brown eggs and they're not even, I can't even say organic, but about eight, eight to 12 is what you're paying. Okay. That's, yeah, that's, that's ridiculous. Well, I shouldn't say ridiculous. I know it's all about imports and things like that. Um, when I said local, so, okay. I asked, I said, why are they so expensive? And she did explain about getting the chicks over, and they're dying, and the cost of that, and trying to get them. So I appreciated that. But I figured, we all these chicks walking around, why don't somebody grab some of this? Waking us up every morning, I'm like, okay, y 'all can't do nothing with these, you know? So anyway. Anyway. Well, yeah, it's a lot. How about utilities? Say, for example, somebody wanted to come and work remotely, because that's a big thing now, digital nomads. So if I wanted to work remotely, and obviously, you've got to have internet access, what's the situation there? Is that something reliable and cost effective? Yeah, no. So no, on any given day. a sun shining, electricity goes out. So I just kind of accept that. We bought, my baby bought this big old battery. I looked over there at it. It's this big battery, solar battery. And that's why we have that so that we can connect stuff if And so it's never really out that long unless we have like we have rainstorms and it might be out for a few hours. Last year during hurricane season, we had some times where it was out. I think it was out for like 24 hours. Electricity, everything was out. So I'm not going to even mention the one that my husband was talking about getting that's up in the that's pretty reliable over here. So we're not going to mention that one. But there is one that you can get that's a lot more reliable than what we have through WAPA. So WAPA is a mess. It is. That's our electricity, internet. And that is the one downfall. You would really have to make sure you had things in place, not depending on the services they have here. if you wanted to work remotely, but I'm sure there's a lot of people. who do. I don't really worry about that. It's only, you know, I've had the meals that have gone bad because, you know, the oven went off because we use, that was one thing I had to get used to having an electric oven. So we have a condo over here. There's no gas over here unless you have a house or, you know, you have a house and you've installed that. So otherwise everything is pretty much by electric. So that was new for me. So that was new, electric cooking. So when the electricity goes out, your stove goes out. Oh my goodness. Yeah, you get used to it, right? You get used to it, and we have a grill, and we just kind of laugh. And we're like, whatever. Take it on outside, put it on the grill, and keep going. So it's not that serious. How about health care? Is it the access and quality the same as you would expect on the mainland? So that is the one thing that I would advise anyone who has any major health issues. This is not the place for you. Yeah, the health care is not where it should be. We're currently, we have a hospital being built, which might take anywhere from 10 to 20 years. I don't know. getting built for quite some time. So you've heard of that island time thing. So there, I will say there is a lot of that the island has taught me a lot of patience, a lot of patience. So the one reason the one thing that works, works for me is that I am retired. I'm not over here. having to deal with the government having to deal with, you know, all of that on a day to day basis, because I believe it would be a little bit things move a lot slower than we're used to on stage. So you don't always have direct, you don't always have direct answers. You don't always have clear, cut, concise rules. You can't like, oh, let me find that. Oh, so I call such and such, and I do this and this will happen. It doesn't always work that way. It's kind of like, oh, well, give, well, Jim will make it happen for you. Yeah, there just aren't clear cut rules for you. Knowing somebody is very helpful. Yeah, that's true, yeah. How about schools and family life? I know that you're retired, so it's not necessarily something that you focus on, but are there families with young children, like a lot of families that have young kids and, you know, have to deal with the school system? Okay, so let me just be honest, you know, I don't have any children and I try and keep as far as I can away from the too many little people. Unlike yourself, I try it. But one thing I do note, okay, I will say this, I love that they wear uniforms. I do love that. And I love that our children are so well -mannered. I love that you walk by a group and the morning, good afternoon, they're the first one speaking to you. I love stuff like that. I think it's a beautiful place in regards of the kids being outside playing, enjoying just the outside versus what we see so often. stateside. But at the same time, I think there's a lot of work that needs to be done to the schools over here too. You know, some of the things like I've read about the reports when school was starting, they didn't have AC. Well, it's 80, 90 degrees. They didn't, you know, they still have things that need to be repaired. So it's things like that that, you know, is what I would say is the downfall. But I would think it's a beautiful place for children to grow up with involved parents. I think it's a beautiful place. OK. Well, let's shift gears a little bit. You mentioned a little bit about hurricanes. And I know that it's part of Caribbean life. What does preparedness look like for you? OK, so preparedness. So I think I went a little overboard my first couple of years. I have, I do, okay, let me back up. So I told you my baby, he bought this big solar battery that we can connect. And the most important thing is a refrigerator, our phones, just some basic things. And we have panels that we can put out. So we have that. The condo that we live in, the structure, most importantly, everything over here is concrete. So made sure that our condo is not in a flood zone. We're below higher, so we don't worry about that. Our window, hurricane resistant, as we know nothing is 100%, but just so the structure, very important, the structure you live in. So now let's prepare. Let's prepare. a few days without access to maybe food and water. I believe in peanut butter. tune and things like that. So I have a different mind having been a veteran and with the fire department. So it's just a different mindset. So I probably go a little bit overboard with my preparedness. So also water, just having fresh water because our water comes from the cisterns and rainwater. So, you know, we have a filter on ours that it should still work when The power goes out, but being able to pump up the water from the system so this pump won't work, we probably won't have power for that. So just having clean water to drink. What else? Money. Having cash available and small bills. I would say a few thousand sitting aside, just in case, because things go out. You won't be able to use a credit card. You know, so I think along those lines, making sure you always have some money available in case you, you know, because I'm that person we're following so if we need to get out, I want to try and get out but if we can't get out. Yeah, that's important. And just again, that's where that community comes in. Everybody's checking on each other, even in the little rainstorms and whatever it may be, people are checking on each other and you're doing what you need to do to make it. So I think, yeah, was that pretty clear? Yeah, absolutely. And so not talking about having to evacuate in case of something happening, this will be a good question. for me to ask you about your airport flow. Because I know the other, I don't know how long ago it was that we talked, but you talked about the route that you take when you go someplace. So I thought maybe we could talk about that. Like from St. Croix, how do you plan trips from the island? Like if you want to go anywhere. So I will say that is one of the biggest downfalls we've had. quite a few airlines that don't have as many routes as they used to have prior to COVID. We just had, it's not Cape Air. What was that? Silver Airways, how quickly we forget. They just went out of business. They abruptly shut down. I mean, that day, no one knew anything about it. They shut down all the flights. And so that was how we moved from island to island over here. So we go to Europe quite often. So, okay, no, I'm going to bring it on back. Let's just come, let's say I'm coming over there. I'm coming over there. So I'm heading to Vegas. So I leave here. I'll go to Miami. So that's three hours. And then from Miami, I'll make it to Vegas. So that's, if I'm lucky, that's about an eight hour, if I'm really lucky. to Milwaukee, and everything's, it sounds easy, but most of the time, the layovers, the price, I will say it's gone up. But then again, it's gone up everywhere, especially with American Airlines. It's just horrible, the prices, you know, we used to be able to get over to Europe, and now, so to go to Europe, So we just found a new trick. So we'll fly over to San Juan. San Juan is about 20 minutes away from us. So we'll fly over there, separate flight completely, just an individual flight. And then we will have bought our ticket from San Juan to Serbia, to Belgrade, Serbia. So then we'll go San Juan. We might go to Newark, Newark to Frankfurt or something like that. And then to Belgrade. So you can see how that's about a 16 to 22 hour flight to make it to Europe. So everywhere is kind of difficult because you don't have continuous routes sometimes. So we have peak season in the winter. So you have more routes then. With this being a Danish island, they used to have a direct flight, but that shut down. The Danish used to own this. We had seven countries that owned this island prior to us, prior to the US. And so they used to have a direct flight, and now they don't have that. So it's just, hopefully, if we get to New York, you can go to a lot of different places, but you got to get to New York. But a lot of things is out of Miami or we've figured out, okay, let's buy a separate ticket to San Juan. And by doing that, my husband just did that. And there was almost a thousand dollar difference in that. And I'm not exaggerating. So it was worth flying to San Juan. And I think he paid, I think it was on a good day. You can get a San Juan flight for $80 to $190, but it's still worth it. And, and then the other though Benny has connecting flight, Sam one to bed. and that saved him $1 ,000 right there, almost $1 ,000. Wow. I know. So you'd have to come up with little tricks like that. Wow, that's crazy. So do you ever, you know, have any recommendations for weekend getaways? Like if you want to do island hopping? between, I don't know, you mentioned St. Thomas, Puerto Rico. Do you ever just stick to the islands and just do some of that? No, no. I have to be honest, we haven't hopped as much as we should. I have no desire to go to St. Thomas. It's very, as I said, it's busy over there. I've been there and it's just busy to me. You hear me? It's busy. Now, now I hear a siren. Oh my God, what is that? So, but we love going to Puerto Rico. Love, love Puerto Rico. And we have, my husband went to St. Bart. St. Martin's or St. Bart? St. Bart. It was St. Bart. And he loved it over there. He actually helped a friend sail, his first sailing experience. He was like, you know, the crew boy or whatever. And so he loved it over there. But we do, we do have plans to do more island hopping. We normally, we're like, we live on an island. We've traveled to so many different, just so many different islands, you know, cruising or whatever. But there are like, we've never done Costa Rica. We've, there's just small, you know, the Antilles that we've never done all these little islands that, that he and I said, okay, we need to start doing some weekend getaways to just see them because in our head, it's like, oh, we live in St. Croix. We don't need to go see these other islands, but we do. Sure, it'll happen. You got all the time in the world, right? Well, let's hope and pray, right? Yes, yes. I'm hoping that'll happen for you. So what's something that happens only because you live on an island? Do you have any crazy, it doesn't have to be crazy necessarily, but are there some things that you think, wow, this is definitely unique because I live here? So when I first got here, seeing the little geckos and the centipedes all over, that took some getting used to. I was like, and I, at some point I was just like, okay, all right. The bugs, island, okay, island life, that's it. So that's one thing, just getting used to living with, living with nature. I said, I wanted inside outside living. So when I opened that door, I know that my little, my little guy goes, they're going to come in. Well, actually they don't anymore. They just kinda, my husband acts like they're his friends. Like they come and just walk on his chair or whatever. He act like they know him or whatever. So they're very comfortable with us now. Let's see. What else? What else? Our horses. So we have a rule over here that the horses have the right of way. So, you know, if the horses are walking, then and you're driving, then you need to respect the horses. So that was something that was new to me, just them, them just walking around heaney. And I was like, Oh, this is your road. But there are a lot of horses there. I didn't never would have never would have crossed my mind. So a lot. I wouldn't say a lot. But yeah, there is actually a law. There's actually a law that there's a nice amount of horses. I know that's part of some, you can find, I've done horseback riding through the ocean and all of that. But yeah, just random, you see a lot of the locals who are just riding them bareback. and whether they're for the tourists or not, I don't know. But yeah, most of the time, yeah, you just see them. I wouldn't, I don't know if it's a lot, but especially out West, you see a lot of, you see quite a few of them, so. Something to think about next time I, well, when I come, I will. That would be so much fun to just ride a horseback, horse in the water, you know. It was, it was enjoyable. I took my granddaughter, we did that, and she really enjoyed that, so. Oh, my goodness. What a great thing for her to be able to experience, you know, because she where does she live? She does. She live in Vegas. She lives in Vegas. So she had never seen the water like that. So, you know, just her sitting there in the water, just, yeah, enjoying as a teenager. So very nice. So do you think I would guess that St. Croix is considered, would you consider it a second city, like underrated? Like when people visit the islands, do they, you mentioned St. Thomas being so crowded, so I would imagine that St. Croix would be like a second city, like if you didn't want to, if you wanted to have that kind of experience that you would have on St. Thomas without the without all the crowds, St. Croix would be your choice. Would you agree with that? Yes, I totally agree. It's a completely different experience. So I am a woman of a particular age, though I do believe it's a lot more laid back. Maybe I don't know the party scene, but it is a lot more laid back than I know St. Thomas to be. And we don't get the tourism, the cruise ships in the way St. Thomas gets it. And yeah, just not as busy during the peak season. So we really do appreciate that part of it. Absolutely. So for listeners that are flirting with the idea of relocating, or maybe just doing a three to six month stay, what would you say would be a good checklist for them? What kinds of things would they have to start with? Would you, well, cause I mean, you, like you mentioned, you, you saw it and the first, you fell in love with it on your first visit. Did you, well, I'm guessing maybe you did these things first. Like, did you, did you look into like find a realtor beforehand thinking this might be the place or did you? So first thing I had to, I was realistic with myself. I knew what I wanted. I wanted something quiet. I wanted, I didn't need the big box names. So those are big, those are big deals for some people, you know, being able to have access to whatever, whenever, and that's not what you're getting. So you need to be honest with yourself, what your expectations are, really know what you want. What we did, I don't know if I would advise how we did things. It worked for us. I would advise probably you to come and I don't know, check it out. Maybe stay for a couple weeks, stay for a month or two, rent before you purchase. Maybe so. But part of that checklist was, again, if you're retired, are you going to be working remotely? If not, okay, if you're retired, Okay, you don't have to worry about certain things. Now, if you are retired, what's my tech situation looking at? What's my healthcare looking like? That ability to get back and forth. As I said, it is kind of difficult over here. Access to medications, things like that. I know people who've had some, serious illnesses that they needed ongoing treatment for, even though their illness might be under control, just certain medications wasn't always accessible over here. So that's, and I guess I'm talking more of a mature person, but if you're younger, again, like I said, just being honest with yourself, this is not the party place. And I told my husband when we came over here, When we move, I don't want us to be like cheaters, sitting at the bars, sitting, you know what I'm saying? It can easily turn into a vacation on a daily basis. You have to have a purpose. You have to have a routine discipline, you know? It can easily turn into that. But biggest thing, know what you want, being realistic with yourself, your budget, because over here, You can't, you can't always finance or get a mortgage for properties over here you have to buy cash because of insurance, because of the hurricanes and things like that. You can't always get mortgages. So being aware of that, I don't know. I think I pretty much, that's it. That pretty much sums it up. Being able to afford it and yeah, and take it. Yeah, that's it. OK, well, this is time for rapid fire. I have some quick questions. I have a list of them, but I'm not going to read all of them. I'll just choose a few. And first answer that pops into your head. I'll start off easy. Window or aisle seat? Aisle. OK. Carry -on must -have? Headphones. Yes, absolutely. Best beach on St. Croix? I think I know your answer. For sunrise. Oh, Sandy Point. OK. One song that feels like island life? Gosh. Oh, that's a tough one, isn't it? There's so many. There's so many. And the sad part is I can't think of a single one that's just the name. I can hear the song because my baby, he's to have a woman like you. And it's and it has such a beautiful island beat. But yeah, I can't even think of the name of it, but he's saying it's to be loved by to have a woman like you. So I can't think of the name, but I love it. You know what? When you I'll ask you later and then I can put it in the show notes for later. okay? If you can come up with it. Okay. Let's see. Best souvenir from anywhere, ever. Best souvenir. I went to the Vatican, and the Pope was there, and I got my niece a rosary. Oh, okay. Wow. Okay, last one. If you had a bonus long weekend next month, where would you go? I'd probably go see next month is, I'd probably go see my grand, hate to say it, I'd probably come back to Vegas to see my grandbabies. Okay, that's good, that's great. Okay, well, if you do, definitely look us up, okay? I will, thank you. Of course. Well, you know what, Stephanie, this was so good. I thank you for sharing the Real Talk on Island Living and Global Travel. So, and again, like I said, I'll drop some links in the show notes about some of the stuff that you mentioned, like some of the cities that you mentioned and just different things. So, if you enjoyed this chat, follow the show, leave a review, and share it with a friend who dreams in turquoise water. And until next time, viaja con corazón, travel with heart. And I will see you soon. Bye. Bye -bye. Take care. You too. Thanks so much for joining us on this journey to explore island life on St. Croix and the travel tricks that come with it. If you enjoyed today's conversation, be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode and share this with a friend who dreams of turquoise waters and new adventures. We can't wait to bring you more inspiring stories. See you next week.