ANY PLACE BUT HERE, ANY TIME BUT NOW

He doesn’t send flowers anymore. She hasn’t initiated sex in months. Alas, life’s endless routines get in the way of most things sensual. Except, of course, travel. Something about luggage lifts the daily baggage from our heads and hearts. Minds roam freely with wanderlust. Lust wanders back into placid relationships. Fantasies shape up and romance happens.

Now “romance” is a complexity of nouns and verbs, with almost two inches of definitions in Webster’s Dictionary. Throw in three more inches if you’re inclined to be “romantic” and by the time you untangle all the possibilities for romance, you’ve untangled all the body parts and failed to seize the moment.

So let me clarify: I define the true romantic as anyone who wants to be “any place but here, any time but now.” He’s hard to live with and she’s harder to travel with. But spontaneity is their mantra, and more importantly, spontaneity is intricate to romance, adventure and travel, in general. Especially in the tropics. Especially in February when the cold, cold north turns icy white and valentines twinkle in your lover’s eyes.

Right now is the time to head south to recharge those numb nerve endings. In the Caribbean, nature heightens sensuality with warm breezes, barely clad bodies, exotic beaches and blue, blue water. Sooner or later, everyone heeds Mother Ocean’s travel call, for indeed, cruising is one of the most sensual ways to tap that primal urge. But giant, generic “Love Boats” in Big City ports with a few thousand strangers are not the tickets. No, no. Spontaneity’s best friend is bareboat sailing in say, the Virgin Islands, or maybe the Grenadines where you choose your own shipmates, charter your own course and arrange your own infusion of love, beauty and privacy.

Because we tend to behave differently on vacation, R&R (relaxation and romance) tickle our fancy and trigger our wildest dreams. Anything can happen day or night. Unless of course, your psyche has been penetrated too deeply with children and PTAs, or too long with computers and CNBC. For you, the following are some jump-starts direct from Cupid:

1. Convertible sunbathing. The aft deck of your private sailboat, crewed or un-crewed, is a natural for tops-down. Or bottoms-up, for that matter.

2. Skinny snorkeling. There are few finer reefs in the world for shallow water snorkeling than those off shore Virgin Gorda. Put on your mask, snorkel and fins…only. Just you and the angelfish hang out here, and they’re wearing birthday suits, too.

3. Protect delicate skin; use sunscreen. Slather it on her, generously. Everywhere. Often.

4. Late night foreplay on the boat’s fore deck. In fact, spend an entire night topside watching stars fall into the sea. Their blazing trails are so sexy; that last great flash of light is akin to a great, er, well…use your imagination.

When the week is drawing to a close and every fiber and sinew in your body and soul has been replenished, a few of you will go that extra mile for romance: You will not allow yourself to be any place but here, any time but now. You will pull out the cell phone (which is on board solely for emergencies like this one), and perform a ship-to-shore call that cancels all of next week’s meetings and activities. You will apply the ultimate in spontaneity; you will remain in Paradise one more week, and you will trust me when I say, phone sex doesn’t get better than this.

When You Go
Chartering a sailboat may be done with or without a captain and crew. Without a crew means cooking your own meals, charting and sailing your own course, and generally, looking out for yourself. Only seasoned sailors may charter a boat in this manner. If you’ve had some sailing experience, but not enough to skipper a 40-foot yacht, charter a boat with a captain. You’re still bareboating, but not in the barest sense.

When you’ve had enough fun working the sails on a bareboat vacation and want to be pampered and cradled with TLC, all of the following charter companies can set you up with everything from captains to gourmet chefs to limos. They’ve all handled business in the Caribbean for at least a decade, and they’ve seen it all. Prices vary from as little as $1,250 per week to $200,000 plus expenses per week, depending on season, size of boat and number of guests.

Whitney Yacht Charters, Chicago, (800-223-1426) and Nicholson Yacht Charters, Cambridge, MA, (800-662-6066) offer crewed charters, only, throughout the Caribbean.

The Moorings, New Orleans, (800-535-7289) and Ocean Voyages, Sausalito, CA, (415-332-4681) offer bareboat and crewed charters in various Caribbean locales.


© B. Bowers, December 2001