Feb-1994

Newly hired at Delta Air Lines in 1990, the traveling abroad  with coworkers was becoming an ongoing event.  We’d discuss future destinations on our lunch break and plan whom could have taken our shifts to allow several consecutive days off.  Winter 1994 all systems go and we find ourselves traveling to St.Thomas Virgin Islands. We book a full efficiency condo on the beach at the Sapphire resort and stuff 8 of us in a 2 bedroom locale.  That’s the Delta motto…..better yet, DELTA FAMILY!

To offer more sleeping accommodations, we removed a double mattress from one room and placed it on the kitchen floor.  The ongoing story was I slept with my coworker Karen, but after a pause in my sentence, I kept adding , “with my wife between us, of course.”  To save money and travel the world, we’d share not only traveling experiences, but all expenses.

We all had our own functions and as I was not too savvy in the kitchen, my friend Karl and I were assigned to dish washing duties.

Wanting to try every water sport available, the resort had its own introductory scuba lessons and windsurfing.  Professionals make windsurfing look so easy, however after multiple falls and exhaustion taking over, a small breeze was the magic ingredient for forward movement.  As for scuba diving, many years later, several friends and I became advanced certified and have dove several challenging sites.

The sun filled days were spent on the beach while the cool evenings were reserved for Karaoke and a few beers.  We certainly topped the resort’s karaoke billboard list with our rendition of “California Dreamin”.

Mer and I won the his and hers limbo stick contest rewarding us both with a bottle of wine.

We were also well equipped for any possible rain storm and St-Thomas surely had its share of precipitation that trip.

As many years passed since 1994, the ongoing friendship and travel experiences kept multiplying.  Different locations brought different stories and as we all were living in a time that the travel industry was looked upon as glamorous, we couldn’t help feeling blessed with one of the greatest benefits any corporate organization can offer its employees.

 

Feb-1994