Then, Reality...

When you live in one place for a month, the honeymoon phase eventually passes. The euphoria of experiencing perfection makes way and the imperfections become glaringly obvious...

Myrtle doesn't consider herself to be a pessimist (all the time) but it would be unfair to you, my two readers, to omit the potholes and inefficiencies and only write about the great weather and blue skies.

Would we ever have our meagre belongings shipped to the Bahamas and call this home? Yes and no.  If we were retiring, perhaps. If we still had to work (which we do, especially as we are now fast depleting our life savings on our once in a lifetime adventure!), hell no!

The crime rate is high and the front pages of the local newspapers trumpet each murder on a daily basis. It appears to be mainly gang related shootings but this may be exacerbated by the high rate of unemployment.
It seems that even qualified people have difficulty in finding a job, which makes living here an unattractive option (despite the fact that you could, were you sufficiently loaded, sail from island to island with your boat, from the front door of your house).

The Bahamas is on the verge of a $3 billion investment in a huge, Chinese-built resort which may bring much needed relief to the economy. Unfortunately this may all come to nought due to politics potentially causing the current drop in house prices to continue.

Another negative aspect is the locals' attitude of "no can't do, mon". Don't expect any help in finding something simple such as a small lock for your suitcase and expect that your hair will be ripped to pieces by an inexperienced hairdresser (who would have thought that Tony's hair could be messed up?).

There is still no internet access and no-one seems to care. Very laid back. Maybe too laid back for the Turtles...