Alyssa Smith

In December of the year of 2011, I went to St. Kitts, Caribbean. I was eleven at the time and I had never been on a plane, nor had I been out of the country before. My parents went on cruises every year, visiting the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and Mexico. They never brought me with them. They say it’s because, “I’m too young.” So they left me at the house. I was so excited to finally be able to go on vacation with them. I didn’t know what to pack or what to bring. I had gone on previous vacations to the beach and other places before, Just never a place like this. I did not know what to expect when we landed. It was a whole new experience. 

         When we landed in St. Kitts, I was just speechless. The first thing I had experienced was to see the palm trees, feel the wind, and feel the salty air. Back in Roanoke, it had been snowing. The transformation of the temperature was so different. One minute you are freezing, the next, warm. The airport was small and packed with people. That wasn’t really what I was focusing on at the time though. It was extremely mind blowing. When we got through the airport and walked outside, there was a gorgeous rainbow. I guess it had been raining earlier. With everything that was happening around me, I felt at ease.

The next day we went out to one of the many pools the resort had and they were giving out free scuba diving lessons in the pool. It looked cool so I tried it. I instantly fell in love with scuba diving. I took the lessons every time I had the chance while I was there. By the end of the vacation, the scuba instructor was very impressed with how well I was doing and asked me if I wanted to go with him on his next dive.

It was the first time I had ever gone scuba diving. We first had to sign some papers in their office, then we go all geared up and got on the boat. I was so eager to get down there, I thought I was going to explode. We went of two dives that day. The first dive we had made was probably my favorite. It was on an abandoned shipwreck. It was probably the best experience of my life. Right before I jumped into the water, I got a surge of nervousness. Everything around me stopped. I could hear nothing but the waves crashing on the side of the boat. Then I jumped. To get down to the bottom, you have to climb down to the bottom. About every foot you go down, you had to pop your ears because of the pressure that was bearing down on you. We were down a total of sixty four feet. When I first saw the sunken ship, the first thing you notice is the algae that is covering it and the rustic look of it. I got to hold a pufferfish, feed all types of tropical fish, see a trumpet fish and lion fish, touch a sea turtle, and see a king crab. From the bottom up, all you see is a fog of blue. You can’t see the surface of the water. To me, it’s the most serene place. You feel free, relaxed, and at peace.

While I was there, I also went zip lining through the rainforest. I really did not want to do it at first. I was petrified. I tried to talk my mom out of making me do it. But that didn’t work out so well for me. She said, “Just strap her up.” to one of the workers. So the guy did. They had to put weights on to the line so that I wouldn’t get stuck in the middle of the ride. I was all set to go. He gave me a countdown of three. He went one, two, and let me go. He had skipped three. Now I know what the saying, “hanging by a thread.” feels like. By the end of that run, I was hyped on adrenaline. We had five more lines to go before it was over. Each line got steeper and steeper. On the second to last line, we started to see the forest come alive. We saw monkeys in the trees and birds in the sky. It was amazing to be able to feel free, relaxed, and completely in control for once. It was the best experience of my life.