In late May of last year, when Brandon Thomas Brown and Jade Akintola were sitting in the back seat of a rickety jeep driving up a windy road in the hills of the Caribbean island of Bequia — the largest in the Grenadines — with their baby son on Akintola’s lap, they asked themselves, “What have we done?” For the couple, who co-founded the outdoor goods company ITA Leisure, the journey was the last leg of a trip that had started with a flight from New York to St. Vincent, followed by a lengthy car and ferry ride — two legs too many, perhaps, with an infant.
But then they reached the top of the hill: “The island kind of opens its mouth, and you see the sand, the town, more greenery,” says Brown, 37. The rest of their week was laid-back and restful. To celebrate Akintola’s 35th birthday, the couple and two of their friends spent time cooking, exploring the town of Port Elizabeth and taking more drives through the hills. The property they rented, named Villa Helianthus, after the genus of the sunflower, had a courtyard full of lilies and fruit trees as well as a view of the ocean and neighboring islands. “You feel so sun-kissed all the time,” says Akintola, now 36, of her time on Bequia. “There are some places you go to that just feel like God’s country.”
It’s not the sort of vacation the New York-based couple would have taken a few years ago. Typically, for Akintola’s Jade Parades, as she calls her annual birthday celebrations, she’s opted for adventure-packed trips; for her 30th, she and 15 friends went to Negril, Jamaica, to snorkel, bar hop and snack on spiked ice cream and extremely hot scotch bonnets. On a trip to the Philippines, Brown, a photographer, traveled to four different cities with a backpack full of cameras. But on Bequia, the pair saw the value in slowing down, to ensure that their then-8-month-old son, Taslim, could fully be a part of the experience. “Our rah-rah days are over,” says Brown.
They’ve still stuck to certain traditions, however. The couple, whose brand features handcrafted lounge chairs and patterned beach towels by designers of color, make a point of seeking out countries with a majority Black population, where they don’t have to worry about being only two — or now three — of few. (They’ve previously made trips to Namibia, Ghana, Senegal, Mauritania and Barbados.) “I’m looking to connect to something spiritually,” says Brown; during these vacations, they focus on walking a lot and meditating. On Bequia, they walked the grounds together and said a prayer, thanking the house’s previous owner, who was laid to rest on the property, for “allowing us to be there.”
For Akintola’s birthday dinner, the group cooked a meal using mostly locally grown ingredients, which helped them feel more connected to both their environment and one another. Afterward, they had cocktails and played records in the villa’s living room while taking photos with the baby. It was a quieter end to the night than they’d had for Akintola’s past birthdays — exactly the way she wanted it.
The attendees: In addition to their son, Akintola and Brown were joined by Symrin Chawla, a 35-year-old art director, designer and radio show host who is Taslim’s godmother; and Rhea Kumar, 34, a strategy director. Akintola has known them both for a decade. “It was our first family and auntie trip,” she says.
The table: For the birthday dinner, the group sat on the patio at a wood table covered in a white linen tablecloth embroidered with flowers. At each place setting were green or white ceramic plates and yellow napkins. The dishes were served family style, in stainless steel and crystal bowls and on yellow plates. The only table décor was two large white candlesticks; the view of palm trees and the sea didn’t require much embellishment.
The food: Everyone but Akintola went to Doris’ Fresh Food & Yacht Provisioning, a longstanding shop in Port Elizabeth, and the group worked together to prepare a menu based on what was available. Brown roasted a whole red snapper that had been caught that day, stuffing it with herbs and lime. Chawla made coconut-and-turmeric pilaf, cabbage salad with carrots and cilantro and a ribboned cucumber-and-mango salad with parsley. Everything was dressed with lime juice and olive oil. (For brunch the next day, they fried up the leftover fish and paired it with a watermelon-and-mint salad.) For dessert, they shared a Pavlova with fresh custard and passion fruit drizzle. Later the group would surprise Akintola with a chocolate layer cake garnished with yellow-and-red hibiscus flowers and orange marigolds from Sugar & Spice, a local cafe run by the sister of Villa Helianthus’s owner.
The drinks: After dinner, Brown played bartender, mixing classic rum and Cokes. He opted for Sparrow’s — a dark rum made on St. Vincent with West Indian sugar cane. They also drank Hairoun beer, another go-to beverage for Vincentians, and fresh fruit juices and coconut water.
The music: Everyone contributed to a playlist, which included African jazz, disco and alternative R&B by artists like the London-based singer Ojerime, the American saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and the Ethiopian keyboardist and accordionist Hailu Mergia.
The conversation: Before dinner — and every meal on the trip — the group played the mindfulness game the rose, the thorn and the caterpillar: Each shared a highlight, a challenge and an area of growth or a goal, as it related to their work, future travels and how best to take advantage of their time on the island.
An entertaining tip: Even if you’re tempted to pack items from your own pantry, cooking locally can be a meaningful creative challenge when you’re hosting away from home. Bequia doesn’t receive as many imported goods as New York, which Akintola at first viewed as a limitation. But then the friends started to see it as an opportunity to immerse themselves further into the local food and culture of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The experience, Akintola says, made her realize that anywhere you are, “you have everything you need.”
Concepción de León is a writer and book editor based in New York.
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