My hometown is Santa Barbara, California, where terra cotta tile roofs are a trademark sight, where the town sits perfectly poised between the ocean waves, and the mountains. Living on the West Coast Riviera, with its scenic backdrop to the sea, with its breathtaking sunsets, and sun-kissed climate, it is easy to see why I was called back to Santa Barbara from any temporary departure, back to the place of my childhood. It is easy to see that I was destined for St. Bart's, for Vitet, for Columbier, for Merlette.

The San Francisco Bay area was my home for 10 years, the place where I attended college and graduate school. International travel was a business necessity, and carried me extensively to Europe, especially the South of France. I was easily drawn to paradise; Hawaii, Malaysia, the Mexican Riviera, Cuba, and the islands of Anguilla, the U.S. Virgins, St. Martin, Jamaica, and Guadeloupe.

I made my first journey to St. Bart's in 2002, at the urging of a New York friend. I knew the very moment I arrived, it was possible to feel I was coming home to a place I had been, until then, only in my dreams. My fascination with the island continues to build with each visit, whether for business, with my children, or for romance and relaxation.

St. Bart's and St. Bart's Talk own a piece of my heart. I have made countless friends and forged lasting bonds through a shared ardor for this enchanted island. It is my hope to share the magic of St. Bart's with all of you, and to hear your story, for you to awake in your dream.

Perhaps, it is best said by the Alan Parsons Project, for I embody their lyrics each time I make the ascent to Saline for my first island swim...

These fancies arise in the soul
alas, how rarely,
only at epochs of most intense tranquility
when the bodily and mental health
are in perfection,
and at those mere points of time
where the confines of the waking world
blend with the world of dreams.
And so I captured this fancy
where all that we see or seem
is but a dream within a dream.