How St. Kitts Helped Us Fall Back in Love Without Trying

We picked St. Kitts because it fit the budget, not because we knew much about it. We booked the cheapest flights we could find from London, packed snacks to avoid overpriced airport food, and stayed at a small guesthouse that didn’t pretend to be anything more than what it was. We joked about “travelling smart,” but secretly we worried the whole trip might feel limited.

It didn’t. Not even for a second.

We ate street food on day one — grilled chicken, plantains and johnny cakes from a tiny stand near Basseterre. It cost almost nothing and tasted like someone cooked with love and a whole lot of confidence. Our room didn’t have a sea view, but the beach was a ten-minute walk away, and we swam every morning like kids who didn’t care about anything except getting in the water before it got too hot.

The random moment that stuck with me happened on the local ferry to Nevis. We didn’t plan to go; we simply followed a group of laughing families and ended up spending the day on a beach we didn’t even know the name of. Someone handed us homemade rum punch, and suddenly we were part of the crowd — dancing, talking, joking.

The melting moment came later, watching the sunset from Timothy Hill Lookout. We didn’t have luxury, upgrades or fine dining. But we had each other, and we had joy. We realised we didn’t need perfection to feel alive — we needed presence.

St. Kitts reminded us that a trip doesn’t have to be expensive to be unforgettable.
— Mia Turner and Aiden Turner