WRITTEN by JOHN MORRIS
In the first verse of the song Toes by Zac Brown Band, you are invited to join them in a very familiar fantasy for many of us:
Well, the plane touched down just about three o’clock
And the city’s still on my mind
Bikinis and palm trees danced in my head
I was still in the baggage line
Concrete and cars are their own prison bars
Like this life I’m living in
But the plane brought me farther, I’m surrounded by water
And I’m not going back again
Sound familiar? For many of those, who have come to Roatan for the first time, it probably strikes a very warm memory and I am not talking about the weather! I know it does for me.
Some 20 years ago, my wife and I were working on the mainland (our former life) when an old friend, also working in Honduras, asked what we were doing for the weekend while in San Pedro Sula. Realizing that this industrial city is not exactly known as very touristic city, we anxiously awaited any suggestions. “You guys should go to Roatan. You will love it”, he said with a mysterious smile. Of course, our first thought was, where the hell is Roatan? Earlier in the week I saw a family at the Hilton Princess with a T-shirt asking the same question. On the back was the simple answer—Between Utila and Guanaja” I didn’t pay much attention to this somewhat cryptic answer, but now my curiosity was suddenly quite stimulated.
Four hours later, after a short 30 minute flight, we touched down in Roatan at, ironically, about three o’clock. Next stop was West Bay, which was more than I have ever dreamed. Now, I did not write the song Toes, but at that point, I was living it. As Zac croons the next part of his journey:
I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand
Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand
Life is good today, life is good today
And that, was basically our weekend on Roatan.
In the few years that followed, weekends got longer and soon became weeks until we finally caved in to the what had become inevitable. Roatan had captured our hearts and we were not going back. That was over 14 years ago, a decision to this day that carries no regrets.
I’m not sure if it’s was the sea, the warm inviting expat community, the strange magnetic powers the island seems to possess, or a combination of all of it, but it happens a lot on Roatan to a lot of folks. Being realtors on the island, we often see that look in the eyes of new arrivals looking to fulfill their dream, which for us brings back a flood of similar memories. Rest assured that, when you first arrive and your senses are overcome with an unfamiliar but somehow calming effect, you are not alone. We actually find it normal and honestly, almost expected. That is why we love our job. Roatan sells itself and the rest often falls in to place. Sounds easy, right? Well, it often is.
Roatan has changed a lot in those 20 some years, since we first touched down. New roads, faster internet, more choices for retail, restaurants and bars but that charm of a laidback Caribbean island still permeates through the growth and that is a good thing. Old meets new and they coexist in harmony, which makes Roatan even more desirable.
Whether you are looking for complete relocation or just a winter escape, Roatan should be high on your list. International flights are on the rise, making this little paradise quite easy to find, in a relatively short period of time, compared to other Caribbean destinations. So, if you are curious, come have a look and you may find yourself also saying—
Adiós and vaya con Dios!
