OK, if you ever head to St. Barth’s, here’s a small piece of advice: When making the trip from St. Maarten to St. Barth’s, TAKE A BOAT.

I think the size of the plane already had me visibly nervous, because the lady in front of me was nice enough to turn around and explain to me what was about to happen. If she hadn’t done that…let’s just say that a new pair of pants would have been in order. Basically, it’s a 15 minute, very bouncy and scary trip that ends with a very sharp, fast drop towards what looks like the side of a mountain (there’s actually a tiny gap in the mountain, but I couldn’t see that from where I was sitting). Our ride was made extra entertaining by the afternoon’s high winds. As a finishing touch, you land on a runway about ten feet long.

On the plus side…adrenaline? Up.