I’m starting this post by sharing a random act of kindness moment with my husband Pat. Many of you know that he wears a gadget called a Reader Rest on his shirt that was invented by an entrepreneur on Shark Tank. Pat ordered the Reader Rest from the moment they were advertised and has been wearing them nonstop…to the point that he notified the company of a rust problem and they replaced them with all new redesigned Rests. Anyway, Pat ordered at least 10 pairs for the boat so that he wouldn’t be without ever…. Last year, Pat gave away a few of his rests to people in remote areas who fell in love with the concept of keeping their reading glasses safe. On our first return back to the US he ordered at least 10 pairs to keep handy on the boat so that he wouldn’t be without them. Recently, while in a Bangkok restaurant, Pat noticed a gentlemen struggling with trying to hang his reading glasses on his t-shirt. Pat said, “I should give that guy my reader rest”. After our brief chat, Pat walked over and handed the gentlemen the Reader Rest from his shirt. The gentlemen was very appreciative once Pat explained how to use it on his shirt. We hope this act of kindness will be paid forward to someone in the future. Pat and I talked about living life with kindness, compassion and mindfulnesseach day. After living off the grid for months at a time, we’ve become increasingly aware that there is not enough random acts of kindness shown throughout the world.

Now, let’s move on to our next stop on our world tour throughout Asia. Pat and I decided that we wanted to visit the Maldives located in the Indian Ocean. Many of the islands on the chain of atolls are protected by UNESCO and is known for world class diving and snorkeling. It is also on the list of islands that are predicted to be underwater from global warming in the next 30-40 years. We obviously aren’t going to visit by our boat, so Pat picked Soneva Fushi on the island of Kunfunadhoo to have our next adventure. It is touted as one of the largest islands in the Maldives in the Baa Atoll and a recognized UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The resorts focus is sustainability, recycling, and reducing their carbon footprint. In fact the government has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2019 because of the rising tide levels.
Upon our arrival to the main island of Male, we were whisked to an awaiting sea plane by the resort staff. After a 30 minute flight, we landed within the atoll and taxied to an awaiting boat moored onto a floating dock. We were instructed to remove our shoes for the duration of our stay to thoroughly enjoy the natural environment of the island. Their philosophy is “no news, no shoes”, which made us happy. Yes, that is correct, there are no newspapers, TV or radio except for what you choose to read via the internet. We have learned to live without TV these last 18 months and frankly, I don’t miss it at all. While traveling, we turned on the TV one evening and I had enough within 30 minutes. There is just too much white noise.

The island is covered with pure white sand trails dispersed through a natural jungle of palm trees, thriving coconut trees and many varieties of lush tropical plants. It is truly a beautiful and majestic island with buildings that were built with all sustainable, natural and recycled materials. They even have their own glass blowing studio to produce glassware, plates, pitchers, vases and artwork from all recycled glass on this island and all other islands in the area. The island has their own desalinization station and bottles all their own water in glass bottles for all the rooms. No plastic is used on the island and if you bring plastic bottles, batteries or cans, you are given a bag to carry your items back to your home country for disposal. There are no cars on the island and mode of transportation are golf carts as needed for staff, but otherwise, all visitors and staff can either walk or ride a bicycle to the restaurants and activities. It is quite fun to ride the bikes on the sandy trails as we weave through the marked paths of our jungle oasis. Our villa is beach front and has our own private pool and a butler called Mr. Friday. We prefer to call our Mr. Friday by his given name “Ashmin”.
As usual, Pat did an amazing job in scoping out this island for our stay so that we can learn how the owners are using their resources for sustainability.

I’m in my happy place and can’t wait to see how the week unfolds as we tour the island and interact with the locals and marine life.