An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude

By Ann Vanderhoof

“As I write this, back in the real world, back in an office, back home, back up against a deadline, I glance down at the mouse pad to my right, and I am filled once again with powerful longing. The pad is printed with a picture of a laughing woman stripping off a wetsuit on a golden beach. Her hair is streaked blond, her shoulders broad on an otherwise slender frame, muscular shoulders that look like they know how to work. She is completely relaxed, and radiates happiness. The slice of beach in the photo is deserted – pristine, private, no one and nothing on it, except for a pile of snorkeling gear in the sand at the woman’s feet. Behind her, the sea is turquoise glass, on which sits a lone boat with a white hull and a tall mast that has impaled the sky’s single puffy white cloud like cotton candy on a stick.

The woman does not appear to be looking at anyone, to even realize that her photo is being taken. She is just plain damn happy. That woman is me.”

“Ann Vanderhoof and her husband Steve, won’t be on their deathbeds thinking, ‘I wish I’d given my crazy dream a try.’ In the mid-1990s, they rented out their house, moved onto a 42-foot sailboat, and set sail for the Caribbean. During the two-year escapade they dropped anchor in sixteen countries, steered their way through one sun-drenched adventure after another, and discovered that chasing a dream can lead you to paradise.” – Working Mother