The Midwest is experiencing a blast of hot weather causing a wave of nostalgia for the ocean breezes of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Our journey began with four of our friends who had also been invited to do some volunteer work and vacationing in one trip. We made our travel plans together, down to the minutest details. Afterall, we were going to Grand Turk Island, which at the time, had not been built up with any businesses to speak of. It was mainly for snorkeling, diving and offshore banking. So, it’s not like we could run down to the local Walmart and pick something up. If we forgot anything we would just have to do without.

The six of us piled into a Chevy Suburban and headed to Miami. It was to be about a 22-hour drive and, for some reason, the guys in the group wanted to do it all in one stretch. Yikes! This is when the Drive Time® Power Car Fragrancer™ came in handy with its 3 scent options: Alertness-A-Go-Go (spearmint and peppermint), Energy (sweet orange, ginger and ylang ylang), and Rejuvenation Station (lavender, lemongrass and eucalyptus.) That last one is my personal favorite.

A plane had been chartered due to the volunteer work we were going to be doing. The island was very poor, so we brought tents, chairs, food, sound equipment, etc. with us to accomplish our purpose. There were about a hundred of us volunteers on the plane and each of us was as excited as the next to be on this trip. That is, until we started our descent. Grand Turk Island is only 1.5 miles wide and 7 miles long. You’d think the runway would be running the 7-mile way, but no! The runway runs the 1.5-mile way! We all had confidence in the pilot but when you look out the window and all you see is big blue ocean and the runway disappearing, and very quickly at that, your heart does skip a beat or two! We landed and came to a screeching halt and were immediately greeted by everyone on the island who drove a car. You see, there were only one or two taxis on the island so everyone who had a car went to the airport for the daily flight and became a taxi! That was one of the only ways the locals had to make money, as there was no industry other than dive shops and a couple of hotels.

We spent four days in our volunteer work and enjoying snorkeling in the most beautiful azure waters we had ever seen. Our backsides were quite sunburned as we spent as much time as possible in the water. We saw so much sea life and even found an old shipwreck in the coral reef close to shore. Our love of snorkeling was born!

On the last day of our trip, David and one of our traveling companions, Bob, decided they’d rent a moped and tour the island. The guys rented just one moped for the two of them. They are both over 6 foot tall and well over 220 pounds. But they climbed on, determined to enjoy their last hours on the island. I should mention here that Turks and Caicos were a former British colony, so they drive on the “other” side of the road which didn’t seem to concern David and Bob at all. But, when they popped up over a hill, they found themselves heading straight towards one of the island’s “taxis.” David was driving and his instinct told him to go right to avoid a collision. But the “taxi” driver’s instinct told him to go left! They, unfortunately, met in the ditch.

They tipped the moped over to avoid a head-on crash and Bob just rode David into the sand and dirt coming to rest under the taxi. They climbed out from underneath, scraped up with a few friction burns from the sand but were basically okay. The taxi driver just laughed and said, “You crazy Americans!”  The guys returned the moped and were only charged $20 for damages! We felt like we got off easy. David and Bob got cleaned up and we all headed to the airport.

For our long drive home from Miami, we’d definitely be needing the Drive Time® Alertness-A-Go-Go Fragrancer!

Retailers can purchase this product from our Faire online market or directly from AERONDriveTime.com.

Lori Herr for Drive Time® Brand