It was a gamble. At the time, it didn’t seem so crazy, but in hindsight – what were we thinking?
I had known my then boyfriend (now husband) for about eight weeks. Things were good. We were happy and the relationship was going along at a normal clip.
I had just started the best job I ever had at Laura Davidson Public Relations. Really, my dream job. And one of my first assignments was to go to Fiji for 9 days. And the client would “prefer” if I brought my significant other so I would really get the true sense of what being at a romantic island like Turtle Island Fiji was all about.
Now let me preface this by saying whenever a plus one has been required in my life, I’ve never had one. I had to go to prom with a friend (every young girl’s nightmare), I’ve been to numerous weddings with the guy buddy and so on and so forth. It seems that whenever I need a date, I don’t have one. So of course, when the charming Australian client asked “do you have a beau?” I was more than happy to chirp “oh yes, I do!”
When I brought it up, gingerly, to my boyfriend, he actually seemed pretty enthusiastic. I mean who can blame him? Turtle Island is a private island resort frequented by the rich and famous. Who wouldn’t want to go there? So – off we went to Fiji having known each other all of a few short months. It could have ended very, very badly. As it turned out, it ended in marriage and two kids. Who could have predicted that? Not I – for a few times on that trip I thought “what on earth have I done?”
Like when we arrived at Turtle Island and got to our private bure, a beautiful, two room suite with flower petals sprinkled about. My then boyfriend found a sheet of paper which basically said “our wish is your command – let us know what would make your stay better and we’ll have it delivered to your bure.” So my charming companion writes down “ring dings and Jack Daniels.” Hmmm. I did not realize I was traveling with Jed Clampett. And yes something like a ring ding and a full bottle of Jack was, in fact, delivered to our door step.
Our Bed Upon Arrival
Oh yes, you learn a lot when you travel for nine days with someone you don’t know very well. I won’t go into specifics but let’s call it eye-opening on a few fronts….for both of us.
View from our nightly cocktails spot
But our trip actually turned out to be pretty romantic and also very surprising. We thought we would not like the communal dining on island and would instead opt for a private dining experience at least once. As it turns out, the communal dining was so much fun we never did dine alone. We very much enjoyed the company of the other guests on the island and felt it enhanced, not infringed on our romantic stay.
The staff serenading us on a sunset cruise
We loved the staff (everyone who visits Turtle does), enjoyed the many activities on the island such as fishing and partaking in a private beach picnic. We really embraced the culture of the Fijians, which is warm and hospitable. Some of the nicest people on our earth.
Since then I’ve always said Steve and I travel well together. I credit Fiji and the magic of Turtle Island for that fact. Our shared adventure to Fiji made us realize we had the travel bug in common and since then we’ve been on many more adventures. And plan many more to come….
The Happy Couple on the sunset cruise
