Tony and Renée in the Maldives
Empty nesters in the Maldives
By Tony and Renée Fini
Hi Tom and Margo, your mom is doing well and happy. Renee and I have been on the move since getting off the Carpe Nove, but we have a little downtime at the airport in Bangkok, so we wanted to drop you a line.
While you guys were sorely missed, I do have to tell you what a treat it was for Renee and me to get to know Josh. He contacted us when he landed in Male, and we met briefly. Later that day, we reached out to see if he would like to join us for dinner. He had plans with Janet, so we decided on a foursome. By dinner time, it turned into a group of, I believe, 8, and the trip was off and running.
Once on the boat, Josh exemplified every KSC value in the best possible ways. He spoke with reverence for KSC and Tom and yourself, the way the NFL protects its shield. Since we are KSC early adopters and also somewhat protective of the brand and the opportunities it provided our family, we were pleased to see Josh as such a good steward.
As this trip rolled on and everybody got to know each other, Josh really shined. He was like the big brother of the group. Even though he was never really needed for any particular crisis, it was nice to know someone was looking out for you in the event you did need a hand. He easily straddled the line between a participant and a KSC representative.
As the trip wore on and we got to know him better, we really came to appreciate his person and character. He spent countless hours editing photos for the web page and for the group because as he put it when encouraged to relax…” it’s my job”.
In our humble opinion, what wasn’t his job was tracking us down 8 hours later in the airport as we were waiting to jump our flight and just spending the last few minutes making sure we had a good time. The guy was studying his tail off for an exam while everyone else went to a hotel for naps, massages, etc., and still put us first when we returned to the airport.
In short, he is the kind of guy you would like to have as a neighbor. The boat itself exceeded our expectations, the diving was great, and the Maldives were beautiful. All of that, in and of itself, would have made for a successful trip. But for Renee and I what really drives us to travel is meeting people and making friends. In this case, Josh checked that box. We discussed how we are a short flight away from each other and I am sure we will connect with Josh and his wife in the future.
Renee and I are KSC junkies and obviously would follow you guys to lord know where if you said it was worth the trip. You can now add Josh to the list of KSC folks we would look forward to spending time with as much as we would look forward to the trip itself.
We look forward to seeing you guys in the future. Please keep us in mind when planning trips. We have a bit of wanderlust so won’t be able to make them all but we will try to make some. Josh did ask what we thought of possibly adding a terrestrial component to some of the trips in the future and we thought that would be a great addition. We love land-based travel and if you are ever considering adding it and want to bounce ideas around contact us anytime!!