The work vacation is an interesting thing especially to a destination people want to go to. They see the destination and might forget about the work part.

Take a sommelier or wine connoisseur to napa and tell them that they can go to all the microbreweries they want.

They might be interested in craft beers and can find it enjoyable but no where near the same pleasure as wine tasting. (generalizing of course)

Heading to an island with supposedly beautiful beaches and clear water and not being able to shallow dive or snorkel is to me cruel and unusual punishment and is going to make my work week so much more painful. The consolation that I can “at least hang out on the beach” ain’t that great. You can see my off angle profile picture. Do I look like I need to tan? I’m fortunate in this world that I’m able to find sunlight just about any place that I travel too. Free in fact! Some places you might more or less but in general, you can find it around the world.

But I will try and work on the other side of the coin. I hopefully brought my correct sport kite (snapshot 1.2) for some beach kite flying. I had hoped to bring my 1.9 but unfortunately the strings snapped recently during a flight at the park. It was an afternoon reintroducing friends to the ancient and superbly fun passtime of kite flying. Not the classic paper kite or even plastic kind but ripstop nylon single or dual string (or quad if you want to go all out) and with or without spars. I like the snapshot because it’s a parafoil. It works like a modern parachute and fills with air. No moving parts or spars to break. And that makes it super easy to pack as well.

That’s a Bell jar and a 500ml Nalgene bottle as references.

This dual string kite allows me to control and maneuver it to play with it in the wind. Also less chance of it flying sideways into a tree. Take that Mother Nature! Actually, she’s showed me in the past. I got a single string delta caught in the one tree that has been my bane and the larger snapshot 1.9’s strings on the right side broke near the kite itself. Crazy break. The delta did work its way slowly down with the wind tossing it around just enough for me to use my long ladder with a long pole to pull it close enough to grab onto. My fear of heights took a slight hit.

Oops. Off topic. Right. Work vacation..

I shall endeavor to enjoy my kite flying, assuming I brought the correct one that doesn’t have the factory strings with one shorter than the other one. A thing I can fix but still time consuming to even them out. I hope to travel a little in the island and play the tourist role. Sightseeing and picture taking are the two things I enjoy. Dipping my feet in the water will have to suffice unless I have someone to watch my things and answer my phone. If I can remember I hope to get to the driving range and hit a few balls. I do need a lesson on how to use a driver. I’ve taken four lessons so far using the iron and putter. Practice practice practice though to get it smoother and consistent, something it totally isn’t. Perhaps another lesson here if I can swing the time. Get it?! Swing the time! Stand up comedy I feel you calling me.

-SFA