This December I have been looking at a couple of countries and the traditions they have for Christmas. This is because we want to find the ones that suit us the best and take them with us when we move to the Bahamas. This isn’t going to be about Bahamian traditions as they are varied and come from different places as well. Although there are a couple of things that happen on Exuma, which is where we are going to live, over the Christmas period.
Junkanoo (masked Parade) happens on Boxing day from @ 2-10 am. Junkanoo is a big parade where the performers have taken months preparing their floats and costumes. Prizes are presented, the Bars and food stalls stay open to cater for everyone. Then there’s the Bul’ Reg Regatta from the 29th Dec – 1st Jan which is a series of races in Elisabeth Harbour. It also includes live entertainment and food and drink for the spectators. What’s not to love about The Bahamas over the festive period.
Why did we buy land in the Bahamas?
We first decided to move to the Bahamas as we didn’t want to stay in either the UK or France. So, we looked around at where we would like to live, which only leaves us with @190 countries to choose from. Realizing that we didn’t want to learn another language reduced the number quite significantly. We eventually decided to look at the Bahamas after getting the Rough Guide to the Caribbean and Lonely Planet Bahamas.
The reason we decided to look at Exuma was the line about the “capital” of the Island, George Town, being VERY laid-back. Apparently “you can go banking in bare feet with cocktail in hand”. This sounded like just the pace for us. It turned out to be just as described even if on our first visit you needed two cocktails on a Friday due to the construction workers (for the Four Seasons now Sandals) picking up their wages.
We made all these plans when we were still hoping to have children which is obviously now not going to happen.
The Bahamas is put on hold
We have revisited our plans a number of times given the changing circumstances that we faced. For several years we thought we might move to Jerez instead. Here are some of the reasons why the Bahamas might not have been our “end game”.
Nicci’s health has not been great for a while. Well this goes back to the fact that we decided on the Bahamas when we still thought we were going to have children. Indeed, Nicci’s first experience of her stage 4 Endometriosis happened in the Bahamas.
Getting older changes your requirements for where you want to live. For instance, do you really want the peace and seclusion of somewhere away from a town when you get to the stage of being unable to drive. Also, being further away from medical attention.
Parents getting older means that you want to be within relatively easy hitting distance if needed. Last year I spent 9 weeks looking after my parents after various operations.
The Bahamas are DEFINITELY our future
A hospital has now been built on Exuma. When we first visited the island there was a rumour that a medical facility was going to be built, but this was considered fanciful by the locals. Well now it has been built and the facilities include dental, minor injuries, physio… so not too bad.
Direct flights to North America have improved. Admittedly this has been happening to some degree since we first visited the island and the airport is known as Exuma International. However, the very limited service has now grown to include more destinations in North America so getting back to the UK will take less time than before.
http://www.exumaairport.com/exuma-airlines.html
Finally, over the last 15 years Nicci’s become more aware of the causes of her SAD. You can read Nicci’s blog about her “SAD confusion” this year here. It’s hoped that the smaller difference between maximum sunlight hours during the summer and winter will make life much easier for Nicci. Well that’s our excuse and we’re sticking to it.
We’re not sure exactly when we will be moving as there is the small matter of selling our house here first. However, to keep the dream alive over the coming months we’re going to continue to research traditions we can embrace when we finally get to spend our first Christmas in the Bahamas.
Be kind to yourself …
In CANBACE friendship!
If anything, I have written resonates I’d love to hear from you in the comments. I appreciate that this can be a difficult subject to speak openly about. If you don’t want me to publish your comment on the website, please let me know. I will keep your words private.
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