Zoe,

I couldn't begin to count the number of trips we've made over the 40+ years we've been visiting SXM - probably somewhere in the 65 to 70 trip range and we've made a point to visit most of the other islands that intrigued us along the way, Barbados included, yet we still come back to SXM. And we truly did love and enjoy our time in Barbados - the scenery, the beautiful beaches, the people and so many different things to see and do that St. Maarten - St. Martin doesn't have to offer.

But to us, while all the other islands are nice places to see and visit, and it really is nice to have that basis of comparison, to us, SXM is home and as such, has all the things we need to make us happy: incredible beaches with more just a short hop on a fast ferry away; incredible dining ops from the lolos to the pizza joints, to the comfort restaurants to some of the highest of high end dining ops in the Caribbean and everything in between, even including Mickey D's and KFC, if that's your pleasure; it boasts every kind of accommodation you could ask for from the simplest of hotel rooms to some very nice timeshares to some gorgeous condos and right up to and including incredible private beachside villas. If you want to be on busy beaches you have your choice and if you want to sneak off and enjoy a gorgeous and almost uninhabited beachside venue, there's that, too. Add to all the above, if you happen to be situated in some areas of the country, you have all this at your disposal with just a relatively short nonstop flight and often at a reasonable price as well and we're fortunate to live in one of those places. Once we board that plane it's 3.5 hours to nirvana.

In all our travels, try as we may, we've NEVER found another location that totally fits that description for us so we're more than willing to overlook the minor little grievances......and for us, they really are minor.

Someday we may return to Barbados, or Grenada, or St. John or any of the other destinations we've been blessed to have vacationed, but if so, never for more than a week at any of them and even then, only if I can still enjoy my two to four weeks each year on SXM. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />