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I am always looking for good reads about life stories of those settling in the Caribbean as I have attempted several times. The Blanchards love of Anguilla matches my love of St. John and Tortola and now Dominica. After reading this book I also enjoyed Live what you Love and would really love it if they would write a sequel to A Trip to the Beach.
THis book was a joy to read. I love the trials and tribulations of the Blanchards in Paradise. I only wish I had half of the determination they have. Highly recommend.
I too agree, they may have worked hard at the restaurant but there is no mention of owning other restaurants before, "Blanchards".Melinda Blanchard has the reader believe that she is a complete novice in the restaurant business and reads cook books and magazines to help her cooking, I also believe they now have "self help" books out there, all fine and dandy but the money they had to start has all to do with the opening of a restaurant.I too followed my dream and moved to a tiny Island, (which I will not mention as this island is truly paradise and we like to keep it this way) the only way I could "follow my dream" was by working very hard at my business and being lucky enough that my business can support me.Island life is very laid back but can also be very expensive, living on an Island requires hard work or hard cash or both.What I did like about the book was overshadowed by the references on the large amounts of cash they spent and the true details they chose to omit. If I were a writing a book about "my Island" I would certainly change the characters names to protect their identity, I would probably change the Island's name to protect It but then I am not the owner of a restaurant.
Bob was asked to help build and crew a boat for some locals. I felt like I was reading about some other book.The Blanchards, who were probably the worst business people in the western world decide to open a little beach bar restaurant on the island of Anguilla. He was thrilled to be asked. Things change when they find the perfect place, but the rent is thousands per month--way too much to build a beach bar. In fact, they still have most of the staff they originally hired when they started the restaurant. They didn't say it did. Just the customs duty on everything was staggering.
So, they start designing and planning. Did it occur to them to negotiate or look for a cheaper place. They soon learn that most everything has to be imported from elsewhere. They tell him $2,400 and he says, "OK".The Blanchards worry about their son in college in Washington state, but there are no long winded boring phone conversations with him as someone else reported.This book is not at all a "cure for insomnia" in fact, I found the opposite to be true.
The bitter reviews are totally undeserved and off-base. Luckily, they had sold their former business which provided them with the dollars they needed--although, they came perilously close to running out of money.The Blanchards respect and care for the people of Anguilla is obvious. The people of Anguilla seem to have accepted the Blanchards as citizens and friends. I especially enjoyed the sailboat race story. Bob is back in Anguilla supervising the construction. he asks. It has to be a fancy restaurant. When he asked about how they were going to get a sail the group told him they hoped he would pay for it.
Melinda flies home to Vermont to pack everything and put the house on the market and then to Florida to buy EVERYTHING they'll need to build and furnish the restaurant. This is all Very Expensive. "How much". I stayed up too late reading it.While I'm not sure I would like the Blanchards if I knew them and I'm a little disappointed that their newest venture means they can't spend much time on the island they wanted to spend the rest of their lives on--I still loved the book.
The Blanchards have done what a lot of us dream of doing: a fun job without bosses in a fun country with fantastic weather--at least in season. Aside from providing a thoroughly enjoyable account of their move to Anguilla, the book is also a passionate description of how one can make a dream come true, and with not that much money at all. Having said that, their repeated references to the Anguillan "paradise" maybe a bit excessive when one considers the horrible red-tape, vicious hurricanes and logistic nightmares they had to deal with. But perhaps that is what makes this book really excellent: it is a realistic view of the pros and cons of the Blanchards' choice, devoid of sticky romanticism and with no trace whatsoever of the smugness and superiority complexes one often finds in writers who move to a foreign country and tell their story.
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