This is about me and the history of the Caribbean Guide, it is about a 15 minute read. I wrote this as it shows what we went through to succeed. Hello, for many years I have lived and worked in the Caribbean, and at a certain point with Sint Maarten has live and work hub. It was a fantastic time, and I enjoyed island life to the max - I was there in my early twenties into my early thirties. Now I am in my sixties and traveling back and forth between Holland and Bali, still an island man! Back to St.Maarten; with my partner at the time we traveled most of the Caribbean, everything was new to us, but we discovered Sint Maarten was the perfect logistical hub. Why? Well because we were traveling as travel writers collecting information to make a restaurant guide: Best Restaurants in the Caribbean. See all places, eat everywhere (and went over the top with my Amex card, you could still do that in those days) and rate them, with a rating evaluation schedule we developed.

We actually never thought we would be going to the Caribbean for that. Prior to this Caribbean adventure, we were working for Northwest Airlines as inflight interpreters on the transatlantic flights. Passengers often asked us nice eating spots in London, Amsterdam, or Copenhagen, Paris. At the time cigarette branding for cigarette companies was already on the way out and we (my partner and me) thought why not make a restaurant guide about European cities, like the Philip Morris or Marlboro Guide with best restaurants in major European cities. We had picked up a guide in the US made by Mr Hebert, published by Simon & Schuster, called The Best Restaurants in America. We liked the concept and we went to see Mr. Hebert in Los Angeles, because we wanted to use his rating system. I guess it wasn't that exclusive, but it would look very similar and we didn't want any trouble: we got the okay to use his star rating system and our publication would be called The Best Restaurants in Europe - of course if a big cigarette brand would sponsor it.

We wrote to half the world and finally got an appointment with Philips Morris in New York at Park Avenue, and we explained our idea. Good enough for a follow up, and a few weeks later we had put together a proposal. No computers, everything on typewriters and images through copy shops. Looking back at it maybe a bit rudimentary. Why they rejected it, I will never know: maybe we were too cheap with $600.000 (in 1987/88), and maybe it was too much. Interestingly enough though a few years later I saw a hard cover Philip Morris Restaurant Guide for Europe in a bookstore!

Mr. Hebert called us. "Why don't you guys make a Guide about the Caribbean'? ", "11 million Americans go there every year", he said. He would help us  to make a manuscript and even find us a publisher (for a fee of course). We were still working for Northwest Airlines, so we could fly cheap as staff, and we made a few trips to Jamaica (stayed at Round Hill in Montego Bay -  oh I love that place - with an airline staff discount at 50% discount for $250 for a room. We split the costs, my partner and me, but still $125 (each) in the 80's was serious money. We also went to the Cayman Islands, and Cancun. From there we visited Cozumel and we rented a VW Beetle and drove to Belize. So, yes we got a good taste of the Caribbean!

Not long after we decided to make the big jump and quit with the airline and make this restaurant guide. A big leap because we had to finance everything ourselves. With the perspective of Mr Hebert's help and the prospect of an advance when the manuscript would be ready, we just went ahead.....super risky of course. I guess it is 'youth' that makes you kind of reckless or have a solid faith in 'everything will be all right'! After 5 months we had maxed out our Amex cards, but we had all the information for a first edition.

We had send Mr. Hebert almost twice weekly our results with a courier service, and the last few weeks we explored Venezuela; also because with dollars it was cheap to be there for a while. We got message from Hebert the manuscript was ready and he told us he had already send out a promo version (a few pages and outline) to many publishers, but sadly no results. We would have thought that Simon & Schuster would have taken it, because they also published Hebert's Best Restaurants in America. Now we were getting a little nervous - there was so much money to reclaim with an advance on royalties, and it seemed farther away than ever.

We flew to New York, still a time with open cockpit doors, one of the pilots was smoking a cigar, open overhead racks. Hebert had couriered us the manuscript and promo version, (but not before we settled with him, I can't remember how much, but it was a lot!). We booked an self service apartment close to the UN for a few weeks, went to a clothing store to get some warm coats and shawls and started working: knocking on every publishing door. An keep making copies of the promo version of the manuscript, and keep writing introduction letters. Having these dropped off and a few days later follow up with a phone call. All very unusual, that is not how it works in the publishing world. 'Unsolicited' material would either be returned to us, or we would never hear anything anymore.

3 weeks we tried to get our foot between every door. Finally we got a meeting with Tim Zagat. That was a dream come through - he and his wife were still working as lawyers, but the Zagat Guide was already on the rise (they sold it to Google in the early 2000's for 151 million US dollar). A charming man, open and honest. His concept was different than ours - his was rated by guests and with quite often sharp, funny comments, ours was rated by us. In the Celebration Edition of Best in the Caribbean, we will also (like Zagat) add crowd sourced ratings and comments and stories from guests.  I guess would we have met Tim Zagat a few years earlier it could have turned out differently. So no cooperation, but for us a thrilling experience.

Than the phone rang in our apartment, and we were invited by a certain Arnold Greenbaum. When I google it now, I can't find any reference. Maybe I have the name wrong, but I don't think so. Whoever feeds the information in Google, probably don't know and than it seems it didn't exist. I did see an obituary from an Arnold Greenbaum in Boston, maybe the same person, he was already older than and could be in his 90's now.  He made travel booklets. And he was interested. And we struck a deal. No advance! We had to print and he would buy it off from us for an absurdly low amount, but maybe that was normal. We took it.

Went back to Holland, Amex was already knocking on the door literally with two debt collectors. My partners niece had the know how and equipment to do the typesetting and I had to get money as soon as possible to pay off Amex in a payment plan. Greenbaum would pay on shipping so no worries about the printer. And my partner crashed - it had been all too much for her. Up to me to save the ship. For months I worked for different temp agencies work i could get immediately: factories - sometimes in one place the day shift and somewhere else the evening shift, or overtime in a 3 shift system. Winter time in Holland, on my bicycle in wind, snow and cold with a lunch box and thermos, never saw daylight for months! A big shift from the luxuries in the Caribbean with multi star hotels, nice food and sunshine, to the dark world in Holland and the monotonous work: on the line at Oil Of Ulay, Reynolds Aluminium at the press where strips are made for sliding doors, windows, bumpers for cars, Maars, where you had to punch/blank thousands of small pieces or bend them for those system ceilings, street cleaner, Nestle dairy factory in various shifts, making infant formula, processing farmers milk, day shifts and evening shifts, topping infant formula cans off with spoons (8 hours straight). And a few more that I selectively have somewhere far away. I made as many hours as I could, I guess everyday (including weekends) 12 to 16 hours every day. So the money was adding up quickly and a few months later Amex was sayonora. The books were printed and paid. We were left with a tiny little profit  - but we survived it. Would you have done the same thing?

I could finally relax and breath again. My partner (Corinne, the other name on the Guidebook: Aalbregt&VanBeukering), moved to the US to work as a tour guide in Los Angeles. Sometimes hardship brings people together, more often than not, it is the other way around.

During our time with Northwest Airlines, one of the flights we had the Dutch Philharmonic Orchestra on board on the way to Los Angeles. They had a guy who would take care of them, like a technical tour leader. We got to talk. After while I gave me his business card saying: "I you are done flying and you want to do something else, call me and I will set you up with tour operator who needs tour leaders for their group tours to Indonesia"

A few years later, after we had printed the first edition of the Caribbean Guide, we had organized an informal launch reception in the garden of a friend who had a wine store. I wanted to launch and let everyone know we did the impossible. So, I also invited the guy that gave me the business card when I was working with Northwest on that flight to Los Angeles. He didn't come, but he called. And had set up a meeting in Amsterdam with the travel coordinator. Two weeks later I was leading my first 35 day tour to Indonesia with 30 people, a few days Singapore, Sumatra overland, Java overland, a few days Bali and on the way back a few days Bangkok.

A year went by, and than suddenly I got a letter and than another one: Rafters restaurant in Trinidad sending me picture of our logo that they had supersized in the entrance because they had so many people walking in with our Guide. Another in Saint Barths in a remote corner of the island, same thing. It was working. There was no money in it anymore, but it was a very warming glowing feeling. A Wow feeling too.And the questions came: will there be another edition, a new one?  When are you going to put together a second edition?  Okay......what now?

A small year later I had hired 4 people with hospitality back ground or affinity, There was going to be a second edition, but also with hotels, leisure, and other things we would find. I had already worked with some knowledgeable people on a on-site evaluation sheet for hotels - that would measure 'comfort', and rated as such, because a 100 room luxury hotel on a cliff, with golf carts to go around the island, would not need 100 parking lots, but in traditional rating structures could never be rated. We did extensive training, dinner observations and evaluations in Dutch star restaurants. God knows how I had the money for that.

A very good friend, a Chef, who also helped with the training, advanced me the money for 5 tickets to Sint Maarten. Inclusion in the Guide would be our consideration, but we were planning to sell advertisements and consultancies. And it happened quite often that we were invited (for a well compensated fee) to sit in as mystery guests, or stay in a hotel for a couple of days, observe and evaluate, and in a later session evaluate every detail with the employees/staff.

No one ever knew that when we were on the way to Sint Maarten with KLM, and 4 people I had just hired, I only had FL300 (about $150) in my wallet. No creditcard anymore after the Amex thing. $150....and within a month we had to generate enough to pay 4 peoples salaries, car rentals and the tickets to the next destination. Gamble? Yes. But I just knew it would work. I also had grown to feel a deep connection with the Caribbean and its people. Another good friend years later once said: don't do it for the money, do it because your heart is in it, and than the money come automatically, and if it doesn't at least you do something you like. I didn't know that than, but she was right.

I leave it here: this is how it started and after this second edition I published six more! I sincerely hope (if you have managed to read all this) you will look at the Celebration Edition with different eyes and I also hope that with what you have in your hands, if you pledge, with this story in mind, it encourages you to reflect on your blessings and know that if you persevere everything is possible!