Daydreaming is easy, healthy, and free!
Here at AAV Travel, we would like to give your mind a break and the opportunity to enjoy and learn more about the world from the comfort of your home.

TASTE • LISTEN • EXPERIENCE • READ • HAPPY HOUR

Jamaica is a popular travel destination for March. This post is dedicated to the island of “One Love,” its people, and those that have had to reschedule their trip. #tourismstrong

Jamaica’s food is known across the world for its freshness and exotic flavors. Jerk chicken, likely being the country’s most famous export! If you’ve never had a chance to stop by Scotchie’s, you will want to put it on your list.

Although jerk varieties are plenty, we are in love with the patties!

Inspired by the British Cornish pastry, which typically is filled with meat and potato, the Jamaican patty has become its own delicacy. They make a great snack to pick up while on vacation but are also an excellent addition to your weekly lunch. Not to mention you can make several, so that you can freeze and reheat them at your convenience.

There are many recipes for beef and chicken patties out there. However, we opted to share a Rastafarian version, which is not only vegetarian but also vegan. Not to mention, super yummy!

Check out Our Green Planet’s recipe and let us know how you like it once you make it!

Music and Jamaica go hand in hand. You will be hard-pressed, not to come across a Jamaican that is either humming a tune or moving to the rhythm. Everyone knows Bob Marley and hearing his songs while in Jamaica is a guarantee. Jamaica, however, also has some incredible new talent, and if you want to get a better feel for what Jamaicans listen to these days, check out our Playlist on Spotify. It will take you straight to the Caribbean island!

When you can’t travel, movies and videos are a great option to get the daydreaming started. Jamaica has a few great options to consider!

Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond series, owned a house in Jamaica, and it comes to no surprise that his sixth novel, Dr. No is set on the beautiful island. Dr. No is interesting for several reasons, including the fact that it is the very first James Bond movie and introducing Sean Connery as the first James Bond. Of course, there is also some amazing Jamaican scenery.

If you are a James Bond fan in general and want to know more about the significant Jamaican movie locations check out Carib Journal’s post. 

The Port Antonio area provides most of the settings for the movie Cocktail as well as Knight and Day, which takes you to Frenchman’s Cove.

20,000 Leagues under the Sea features Negril and its cliff area, whereas How Stella got her Groove Back was filmed at the Roundhouse Villas, in Montego Bay.

If you just want to get a little feel for the island, have a look at this clip!

If you are ready to go deeper and learn more about the country as well as its history, culture, and behind the scenes, there are some excellent reads for you!

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Jean Rhys’s reputation was made upon the publication of this passionate and heartbreaking novel, in which she brings into the light one of fiction’s most mysterious characters: the madwoman in the attic from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Set in the Caribbean, its heroine is Antoinette Cosway, a sensual and protected young woman who is sold into marriage to the prideful Rochester. In this best-selling novel, Rhys portrays a society so driven by hatred, so skewed in its sexual relations, that it can literally drive a woman out of her mind. For more.

The Harder they Come by Michael Thelwell

Like the acclaimed film of the same title, this lyrical, lilting, densely textured novel is based on the exploits of the legendary Jamaican folk hero and reggae star Rhygin. With passion and precision, Michael Thelwell recounts Rhygin’s journey from a morally coherent rural universe to the teeming, predatory slums of Kingston, his rebellion against the poverty and corruption of postcolonial Jamaica, his blazing, simultaneous rise to the top of the charts and the Most Wanted list. For More.

A Brief History o Seven Killings by Marlon James

In A Brief History of Seven Killings, Marlon James combines brilliant storytelling with his unrivaled skills of characterization and meticulous eye for detail to forge an enthralling novel of dazzling ambition and scope.

On December 3, 1976, just before the Jamaican general election and two days before Bob Marley was to play the Smile Jamaica Concert to ease political tensions in Kingston, seven gunmen stormed the singer’s house, machine guns blazing. The attack wounded Marley, his wife, and his manager, and injured several others. Little was officially released about the gunmen, but much has been whispered, gossiped and sung about in the streets of West Kingston. Rumors abound regarding the assassins’ fates, and there are suspicions that the attack was politically motivated.

A Brief History of Seven Killings delves deep into that dangerous and unstable time in Jamaica’s history and beyond. James deftly chronicles the lives of a host of unforgettable characters – gunmen, drug dealers, one-night stands, CIA agents,  even ghosts – over the course of thirty years as they roam the streets of 1970s Kingston, dominate the crack houses of 1980s New York, and ultimately reemerge into the radically altered Jamaica of the 1990s. Along the way, they learn that evil does indeed cast long shadows, that justice and retribution are inextricably linked, and that no one can truly escape his fate.

Gripping and inventive, shocking and irresistible, A Brief History of Seven Killings is a mesmerizing modern classic of power, mystery, and insight. For more.

JAMAICAN RUM PUNCH

The Jamaican Rum Punch is a staple at many bars. Often you receive a pre-mixed version. However, if you are one for craft drinks and would like to make yours from scratch, check out Calvin’s recipe.

Ingredients:

• Pimento
• Rosemarie
• ½ White Rum
• 1 oz Dark Rum
• 3 oz of Ting or Grapefruit Soda
• 1 dash of Angostura Bitters
• ½ teaspoon of Strawberry Syrup

Directions: 

This list is compiled in response to the COVID-19 crisis, but also as a resource for anyone considering to travel to Jamaica, or wanting to get a feel for the island before their trip.

Please stay safe and healthy, wash your hands, and practice social distancing as long as it is necessary.

Being able to travel is an incredible gift. The experience can open our eyes to the unique cultures and spellbinding beauty of the natural world. But with this gift comes a responsibility – to protect the world as we know it. Please behave responsibly and show respect!

STEFANIE PICHONNAT
Stefanie Pichonnat is the owner of Cumar Gold Travel, a boutique travel firm specialized in creating customized travel itineraries. Originally from Switzerland, she started exploring the world at a young age and continues to expand her knowledge every year.

To plan a trip contact her at stefanie@aav-travel.com