Dear Sir,

Thank you for giving me the platform to write this to the people of Bermuda.

I want to take some time out of my day to express my most sincere gratitude and appreciation for what you and your island have meant to my wife and I since 2013. For many people, Bermuda is an amazing holiday stop. For us, it’s part of our story. Out of loss came a place that lives in our hearts.

We found our way to Bermuda by pure chance. We went through a devastating time in August 2012, and we wanted to plan a trip around the one-year anniversary to get away and make new and better memories that week. We walked into a travel agent and mentioned our budget, and one of the options was a cruise to Bermuda with a day and a half docked at the island.

We decided to embark on our first cruise together, and it was an adventure to say the least. We sailed through a tropical storm and arrived at a very rainy island. The rain didn’t deter us as we made our way to Hamilton and took a bus to the aquarium and zoo. We made the best of it, and vowed to come back again. And we did. Eight more times!

We have boarded cruise ships and sailed a total of nine times to your wonderful island; each trip being its own unique adventure. We switched the timing after the first voyage and made it a yearly June wedding anniversary tradition to coincide with happier memories and a reason to celebrate.

We have never had more than 36 hours on the island at one time, but we have done so much with the time we had. We’ve done the usual “tourist stuff” such as going to Horseshoe Bay and the Crystal Caves, and walking around the shops of Hamilton — but we’ve also done some things that were unique and that have started traditions we’ve done many times since.

We have sailed on the pink catamaran and had our first rum swizzles — a drink I have grown to love and have only when I’m on the island — we’ve taken Hidden Gems tours and swam in underground caves and cliff-jumped.

We’ve snorkelled throughout the island, we attended the America’s Cup, we (mostly I) have been on the mission to find the best swizzle on the island and have done my own self-guided swizzle tour where I’ve filled myself with my favourite drink and walked a little sideways afterwards.

We’ve walked through the museum learning about your history and culture, and we have made friends at the Bone Fish Bar & Grill and Frog & Onion at the Dockyard that we go and see every year. This year we were present for a parade for the King’s birthday.

We have reminders of your island all over our house. We have canvas prints on our walls of pictures I’ve taken at Horseshoe Bay and Snorkel Park. We have pink-sand ornaments on our Christmas tree. My wife wears pink-sand rings on her finger on a daily basis. We buy a magnet for our refrigerator each year we come. We would go to the glassworks shop at the Dockyard every year and come home with a different glass fish to display with all of the rest in our hutch. Pictures of nine trips are all throughout our phones that we look at often and show our friends and family.

They may not “get it”, but we do.

I don’t think either of us truly appreciated our connection with your island until we couldn’t return to you because of the pandemic. Holidays were cancelled and life got in the way, and five long years went by until we were able to return. Our 2024 return was emotional for both of us. We were finally back at our favourite place in the world. We didn’t even leave Dockyard on that trip, as we took the time to appreciate every second we had.

We talked with every local we could so we could share smiles and laughter again. One tradition my wife and I have is to watch your sunset from the deck of our ship. We only get to experience one sunset a year, and we try to take advantage of every beautiful second of it. The sunset on our 2024 return solidified that we were finally back.

Next year is our 20th wedding anniversary and we have another cruise booked. It will be our tenth time sailing to the island and our tenth time spending about 36 hours with you.

Bermuda, you’ve been so good to us. You have been so welcoming and have given us memories that will stick with us for ever. Even though we’ve been on your island a total of less than two weeks over nine trips in 13 years, you have become a part of us and our story.

Thank you for every second of it. We would love to spend more time with you one day, but we cherish every second we can. We’ve done so much with you, but there is so much more to do. We cannot wait to see you again.

With gratitude,

VIC AVON

Brick, New Jersey