From basic tourist destinations to places off the beaten path, my journey around the world has taken me to cities, mountains, deserts, jungles, beaches, and many other natural and urban landscapes on all seven continents. It sure has been a wild ride.
Bermuda – my 100th country. [see: MAP]
The question of which places count as sovereign states is controversial. Territories, dependencies, self-declared states, autonomous regions, and disputed territories further throw confusion in the mix. For my mission, my count includes 193 Member and 2 Non-Member States in the United Nations (UN), plus Taiwan. However, my travels are not exclusive to that list. Although Bermuda is not a UN Member State, it does add to my Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) country count.
On July 20, 2018, my best friend Katie and I were off to Bermuda for the weekend to search for answers and solve the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. Kidding. Well, sort of. I would love to know what happened to all of those airplanes and boats that have mysteriously disappeared throughout the years, never to be found.
After a quick layover in Philadelphia, we arrived at Bermuda’s only airport early afternoon on that Friday. Getting to Bermuda is relatively cheap. Okay, at least it is cheap from Chicago and from other East Coast cities. The cheap airfare attracted us to the idea of a quick weekend getaway. Little did we know, we were in for a rude awakening. Bermuda is expensive – $400 USD a night for a 3-star hotel, type of expensive.
Bermuda offers the typical island activities – boating, scuba diving, snorkeling, beaching, and shopping. Given our limited time on the island, we decided to spend it relaxing under the sun and swimming in the ocean. I booked a two-night stay at the Coco Reef Resort Bermuda, located in Paget, about 30 minutes away from the airport.
Looking past the hotel’s outdated décor, the resort’s stretch of beach sure was beautiful. However, the waves along the island’s south shore were quite rough.
Bermuda is a tiny country, a quick taxi ride away from any place on the island. On both evenings, we headed over to Bermuda’s capital city Hamilton for dinner.
Although we spent a short amount of time on the island, it was enough for me. At the end of the day, I am still not a beach person.
