A New Beginning

A New Beginning in the Cayman Islands 

Cheers to a new beginning.

At least that’s what it feels like to me. My name is Paula and I’ve lived in Jamaica for most of my life. 

Recently, I had to make a big decision and leave my home country to start a new life in a foreign land to me. 

Let me tell you how this all started.

So I met this guy, D, and he is everything that I have been looking for in a guy, and pretty much a best friend. 

We have been together for more than 3 years when we came to the crossroads of deciding to pack up our stuff in Jamaica and move to the Cayman Islands. 

I’m not going to lie, I was pretty nervous and scared to make such a decision given I’ll be leaving all my friends and family behind to “run-off” with this guy. 

But I trust him and our love is real so it wasn’t so scary when we started to take the necessary steps. 

How Did We Get Here?

When D and I met it was just before the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus and then the pandemic began and took over the entire world. 

Not a great time honestly to start a relationship but like I said we trusted each other and so the relationship started to grow into this beautiful blossoming love. 

As we went through the ups and downs of the pandemic and the ripples it brought across the world we were placed in a position of what to do next with our lives together. 

Living in Jamaica I must say is not for the weak.

Especially if you didn’t grow up in the better parts of the country. I have no shame in saying that I grew up poor. 

Times were rough for my family and going through it all I didn’t put much thought into my future.

Now that I am older I am left with thoughts of “what if’s” and “why didn’t I think this before”. 

With all these thoughts going through me, I needed to make a plan for myself, my family, and the family I wanted to have in the future. 

Vacationing in Grand Cayman

Back when I was working in Jamaica, I had to start thinking about my vacation and what I wanted to do with the time. 

I’m not really a vacation kind of person to be quite frank.

I usually let the vacation pile up which isn’t very good. 

So D and I decided to plan a little vacation time away from Jamaica and go to Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands. 

At this point, it would have been my first time traveling as an adult and the first time traveling in the last 15 years. 

Most of the planning for this trip was done by D’s family who already lived in the Cayman Islands.

So all I had to do was pack my bags and be at the airport, haha. 

Tips Before Flying to the Cayman Islands: 

• You MUST have a visa before entering the country.  To apply for a visa application click here. 
• It’s important to at least know someone living on the island which helps with the process of acquiring a visa for entry. 
• Have a valid passport. This will not only help with travel but is used as a form of I.D., especially in an emergency. 
• Check out recent news and updates about traveling to the country just to ensure you’re aware of the right rules and regulations in place. 
• Always have your spending money or emergency funds. 

For more info on obtaining a visitor visa click here or visit their website at cbc.gov.ky for all other travel information. 

We had a great vacation together which was actually our first vacation together and it was international.

Now that was an amazing time to remember. 

We spent a week at this lovely little hotel inn called Turtle Nest Inn.

It was quite an experience for me to say the least. 

The room was spectacular as it came with a sweet kitchenette (so you know I got my cooking on. haha), a living room, a spacious bedroom, and a bathroom.

Which all faced a gorgeous beachfront view. 

The pool was my favorite part as I am such a water person.

I went for a swim almost every morning. 

After spending all that time there and exploring other parts of the island I was sold on the idea of living here. 

Living in Grand Cayman

Which was D’s plan all this time when we wanted to travel to the island.

He told me he was nervous I wouldn’t want to live here. 

And I understand his concern, packing up everything I knew in Jamaica to come to this foreign land wasn’t really on my agenda of things to do with my life. 

But for me to achieve my lifelong dream of retiring at 30 which means doing my own thing and being my own boss I had to take the risk. 

So when I flew back to Jamaica we started the process of planning and executing coming back to the Cayman Islands on a more permanent basis. 

At the moment I don’t want to jinx myself as I am still in the process of establishing some permanent basis in the country. 

However, once all is complete and I am successful I will definitely share my experience with you. 

For now, I am going to enjoy this new beginning and experience some island living which is what I keep hearing ever since I got here. 

Thanks for being here and I hope you enjoyed the content. You can follow me for more content and recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok.

~ TheShyFoodBlogger