USVI-On-Line

Whats the shortist time you decided to travelbackto SJT

shortest time as in shortest trip 4 nights/fivedays
shortest time between trips? 4months?
shortest time between deciding to go and going? 4 weeks?

not sure what you meant by shortest!

shortest trip- 7 days. Between trips.... 5 months unfortunately. When I decided I wanted to come back... the first trip when I saw the island from the ferry. I guess that last statement did not apply but it is true!

shortest trip; 5 days
shortest time between trips; 6 weeks
longest trip; 12 days
longest time between trips; 9 years
shortest time deciding on next trip; -1 month

First trip was a whirlwind.

December '08, then 20-year old daughter's leukemia relapsed. Tried a couple of things that didn't help.

January '09, they found an unrelated bone marrow donor to do a second bone marrow transplant. Scheduled the transplant for February. They told my wife and I privately that if there is anything she really wanted to do or anywhere she really wanted to go that we should do it now.

Well, she said she really wanted to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. That was basically impossible since she was undergoing chemo and radiation every couple of days. Not to mention that nobody in the family even had a passport at that point.

She was scheduled to enter the hospital on Tue Feb 3 for her final conditioning chemo (that's basically where they poison you literally to within an inch of your life to try to kill everything inside you, and then hope they can save you).

So I think it was around Jan 21 I cashed in all my frequent flier miles for our family of 5. The economy was terrible at the time so even though it was high season I was able to get a couple of rooms at the Westin for a good bit less than the normal rate.

Long story short, Emory opened their radiation unit at 5:00 AM on Friday Jan 30 so that she could get her final radiation treatment and still make a 9:00 flight. Spent 3 nights, came back late Monday, and she entered the hospital first thing Tuesday morning.

She is doing great (still lots of side effects and complications from two bone marrow transplants though), hair is growing again, back in school, and just finishing up the semester. She has some wonderful memories of our trip and even though I really couldn't afford it at the time I am very glad we took the trip. She was physically not able to do everything she wanted but still loved it.

And I don't know if was karma or what, but last fall I won a trip to Caneel Bay thru facebook. My wife and I took that trip in February '10. So we've had two trips now thru very unusual circumstances. One of the kids says she wants to get married on the island, so I know we'll be back.

Our last trip came together in 2 weeks time. The car was hard to get, but what fun to put it together on short notice! Here was the post that I put up to tell about it:

http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... ight=#4363

Wow, Grayson Dave...

Very happy for your daughters recovery. Glad you and your wife got to spend a rewarding vaca at Caneel. Yes, Karma does have a way of coming around.

Our shortest trip was in July one year with a three year old. Flew into STT, stayed overnight then onto STJ. Three days at the Westin. We've never been w/o kids. Maybe someday, but we know they'd be upset if we came alone.

Graysondave--i simply cannot imagine....my prayers for your daughters continued recovery...

Shortest stay? 2 1/2 days...Had a horrible experience with our co-travelers..
Husband and I joke that we went to the island for the weekend...that was a pricey trip...
Definitely going to plan a re-do (without the other couple)

GraysonDave, I hope your daughter continues her recovery. I am so glad that you are the one who won the Caneel trip! You certainly deserved it!!

Shortest trip: 9 nights
Longest: 21 nights
Shortest time between trips: 2 months
Shortest time between deciding to go and actually going: one week (that was our first trip!)

GraysonDave My prayers go out to your daughter and your family for her continued recovery and strength to get over the bumps. I am so happy you had the experience together when she probably needed it most. I wish you many more family trips together.

bnsilly wrote:Shortest stay? 2 1/2 days...Had a horrible experience with our co-travelers..

Please provide more information, what happened with your co-travlers that was so bad it drove you off the island? Do tell! (am bored at work, want an interesting distraction.)

Shortest trip - 4 nights
Shortest time between trips - will be 3 months for upcoming trip
Longest STJ trip - 8 nights
Longest time between trips - 3 years

Glad to hear your daughter is doing well. I work with transplants (and Emory) every day in my job and I read my fair share of stories like yours and those not as successful. It is amazing to know what a transplant patient goes through on a daily basis and for some the rest of their lives.

I hope she continues to get well.

GraysonDave wrote:First trip was a whirlwind.

December '08, then 20-year old daughter's leukemia relapsed. Tried a couple of things that didn't help.

January '09, they found an unrelated bone marrow donor to do a second bone marrow transplant. Scheduled the transplant for February. They told my wife and I privately that if there is anything she really wanted to do or anywhere she really wanted to go that we should do it now.

Well, she said she really wanted to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. That was basically impossible since she was undergoing chemo and radiation every couple of days. Not to mention that nobody in the family even had a passport at that point.

She was scheduled to enter the hospital on Tue Feb 3 for her final conditioning chemo (that's basically where they poison you literally to within an inch of your life to try to kill everything inside you, and then hope they can save you).

So I think it was around Jan 21 I cashed in all my frequent flier miles for our family of 5. The economy was terrible at the time so even though it was high season I was able to get a couple of rooms at the Westin for a good bit less than the normal rate.

Long story short, Emory opened their radiation unit at 5:00 AM on Friday Jan 30 so that she could get her final radiation treatment and still make a 9:00 flight. Spent 3 nights, came back late Monday, and she entered the hospital first thing Tuesday morning.

She is doing great (still lots of side effects and complications from two bone marrow transplants though), hair is growing again, back in school, and just finishing up the semester. She has some wonderful memories of our trip and even though I really couldn't afford it at the time I am very glad we took the trip. She was physically not able to do everything she wanted but still loved it.

And I don't know if was karma or what, but last fall I won a trip to Caneel Bay thru facebook. My wife and I took that trip in February '10. So we've had two trips now thru very unusual circumstances. One of the kids says she wants to get married on the island, so I know we'll be back.

... continued blessings wished for the GraysonDave family.

Thanks for the well wishes for my daughter, everyone.

And with all the stuff that was going on with her we had basically no time to worry about planning. I handled the plane tickets and got a place to stay, but other than that we threw some shorts, tshirts, bathing suits, and sunscreen in a suitcase and took off. I am one of those overly-anal planner types (I am not alone on this board ) but that suggested to me that I should just relax a bit.

Alas, on the last trip I reverted to my old ways. I have found the planning is a great deal of the fun. Even if once on the island I scrap all the plans and just do what looks fun at the moment, I still enjoy the planning.

But I guess the point is, don't worry if you don't plan everything down to a T. It is quite likely you will enjoy yourself either way. (That comment is directed at first time visitors. I know most of you know that already).