As frequent readers may know, I have a habit of taking weekend jaunts to far-off lands and returning just in time for important grad school meetings or romantic dates (not so much on the latter). This past July my friend Liza texted asking if I wanted to go St. Martin. Despite growing up in Virginia Beach, I don’t characterize myself as a beach person. However, I’ve harbored a growing affinity for equatorial sunsets after witnessing these miracles in Key West and Cuba.

“For how long?” I asked Liza.

We would leave on a Sunday and return on a Wednesday - two full days to lay out, sunbathe, explore the island, and grab some Instagrams.