A Calming Podcast for Sleep | St. Kitts & Nevis Reflections (Season 11 Premiere)

Recorded on February 18 2026

Welcome to the insomnia project, season 11. I'm Amanda Barker

Welcome to the insomnia project, season 11. I'm your host, Marco Timpano.

Amanda: Welcome back.

Marco:: I'm Amanda Barker and as always, we provide a podcast. If you're new to the podcast where we talk about topics that aren't so Interesting that you have to stay awake for the whole podcast. But if you are awake for them, great.

Amanda: You can relax with us. You can chat with us along with us. Some people do so actually talk along with us, and that's what we aim for. Or you can simply drift off, let your mind wander, attached to whatever point in the conversation, and disattached whenever you fall into sleep. Does that make sense?

Marco: Timpano: Yeah, it makes sense. We have a lot of lovely listeners that listen in the morning.

Amanda: Is disattached a word?

Marco:: It is to me.

Amanda: Okay, great.

Marco:: Or we have listeners who, listen when they're feeling a little bit of anxiety to get them out of that. So if you're one of those listeners, you're welcome, too, of course.


Amanda and I recently went to St. Kitts and Nevis

Amanda, we're starting our new season.

Amanda: We are.

Marco:: We just got back from a little trip.

Amanda: We went to St. Kitts and Nevis. I thought it was pronounced Nevis, but it is Nevis. Pronounced Nevis. It is always pronounced Nevis.

Marco:: And I thought it was pronounced St. Kitts, but it's pronounced St. Kitts.

Amanda: That's correct. Funny man. yeah, we went to St. Kitts and Nevis. we spent a week there. We.

Marco:: Six days, actually.

Amanda: Oh, yeah.

Marco:: Six days, okay.

Amanda: Yeah, not quite a week. yeah, we have both never been there. And I tried to go to as many countries as I am old, so.

Marco:: So, so that's, quite a

Amanda: few countries, because I'm a lot of old.

Marco:: But you also like to explore new places.

Amanda: Like, for every year that I have been on this earth, I would like to see a new country. So that's in case that needed clarification. So I just wanted to go to somewhere new. St. Kitts and Nevis is its own country. It's actually, I've learned the smallest country in this hemisphere.

Marco:: Sounds right to me.

Amanda: Something like that. 48,000 people live there, but it is its own country. the Caribbean can be really confusing for that. you and I talked about that a lot because there are a lot of, islands that are their own countries, and then there's others that are considered part of another country in a way.

Marco:: And what Amanda did, which was pretty brilliant, I must say, is that you looked into travel and in the Caribbean early in the or in the summer,

Amanda: I just look at flight deals. If you know me, you know that I'm into frugality.

Marco:: Yeah.

Amanda: We might talk a little bit more about that, as we continue on with this season, because we might be cooking up some other ideas as we go.

Marco:: And you looked in the summer and said, let's plan something for February when it's cold where we are.

Amanda: You're making it sound like it was a big grandmaster to me.

Marco:: It was. Because it wasn't on my radar at all.

Amanda: no, I just. When I'm in the bath, I just troll flight deals. And I just happened to see that there was this deal of flights very cheaply going to St. Kitts and Nevis from Toronto, where we are. and it was for kind of January through to March, something like that. So I said, hey, why don't we just book it now?

Marco:: And that was in July.

Amanda: It was in July. End of July. So we did. And you went, go for it. And then we found a hotel and we got a hotel that we could get refunded up until, I think, a week before or something, just because plans change. And, we had meant to kind of go back and look at other places, and we just never did. And then we went, okay, well, we're gonna stay there. which I think in the end was the right decision.

Marco:: And one of the things you said when we were booking the trip, which was very wise, was it'll be something we can look forward to when the weather gets cold.

Amanda: And something to look forward to, I have realized, is really important, not just for excitement reasons. although that is a thing. Like when you're a kid and an adult, you want to look forward forward to something. You know, you get the same dopamine hit. In fact, scientifically, I have read from the looking forward to the thing as you do doing the thing.

Marco:: Sure.

Amanda: And so there's that great excitement. You know, I'm thinking holidays, I'm thinking birthdays. You look forward to them, you know, as an adult, but as a kid. But I also think, and this is something I've only learned, quite well into my adulthood, that having something like that planned also grounds you so that when life is getting a little bit tricky or crazy or confusing, you can just go back, click on the name of the hotel that you're staying at, maybe find a YouTube video that somebody has inevitably filmed of the. Or the promo video of the hotel, or a promo video for the place you're going, or just, you know, look up information on it just to educate yourself. I find that now very grounding as well. Do you. Do you know what I mean?

Marco:: Yeah, I. I hear what you're saying. For me, what I liked, what I, took. Took away from this experience as well, was when you book that early, by the time Your trip comes, you've had the time to sort of pay it off. So it's not a last minute sort of, oh, I've got to dish out this money to go next week kind of thing, which that could be fine.

Amanda: The financials is a whole other conversation. I mean, I. We paid for it in July.

Marco:: Right.

Amanda: So it was paid. It wasn't paid off. It was. I mean, it was, but it wasn't like I was like, contributing to it. I had some money set aside. Sure.

Marco:: But if one doesn't, then you can, then you can do that. Right. But I agree with you. The anticipation of that goal or that item. So it doesn't even have to be a. A trip. It could be planning, going to a restaurant or to a certain thing.

Amanda: Well, if you know me like, I'm. I'm much more of. I don't book and then pay. I'm a sinking fund person. Meaning, or whatever. There's different terms for it. But sinking funds is just this idea of setting money aside to every month for a goal.


Another reason why to book ahead makes. Sure. So I'm. Pay it ahead. So that when I actually buy it, I have it

Marco:: Sure.

Amanda: So like a hundred bucks every month, and then at the end of the year you have money for your trip or whatever it is. So. So I'm. I'm more of a. That type of person. Pay it ahead. So that when I actually buy it, I have it versus paying it off. I just take umbrage with that because that's just a different way of thinking about it.

Marco:: But some people work that way. So I was just saying that's another, alternative reason why to book ahead makes. Makes a lot of sense to me.


When planning a wedding, when things get stressful, look at cupcakes

Amanda: But the grounding thing, I want to get back to that. I call the cupcake theory. Oh, yeah.

Marco:: I. I need. And here's the thing. I like muffins. I don't like cupcakes. I'm sure there's a past episode where I talk about that, so I need to hear. Maybe this will change my mind on cupcakes.

Amanda: Probably not. I don't think it will. when we got married. Married. Weddings are stressful. At least ours was not. Everybody's is. I knew ours would be. And it was, But I'm proud of how we orchestrated and the party that we created. But as I was planning all of it now, 16 years ago, I realized that when things were getting confusing or stressful, I would just go back and look at the cupcakes. And so we got. When we booked the hall I had. I don't know. We went to, like, when we got engaged, we went to wedding event shows. You know, and everybody there is trying to get your business, and so you end up with a big bag full of cards, free samples and cards and things.

Marco:: Samples and.

Amanda: And so we had booked this haul after 17 other ones that we had gone and toured. We had a list of 50. Oh. Oh, it was a thing, was it?

Marco:: 17. We. We went to go see.

Amanda: Wow. yeah.

Marco:: Okay. Yeah, I don't recommend that, folks, anyhow.

Amanda: But what I do recommend is if you have an event like that that you're working through, that, you know you will work through, but an event that you're working through, have a touchstone that you can just go back to. And so what happened was, at one of those wedding event shows, I was handed a card that said, if you book at this hall, they're called halls here. I don't know. It was a. It's a movie theater that we got married at. But anyway, if you book at this place, we will give you free cupcakes for all of your guests with

Marco:: this cupcake company at the reception hall that we booked.

Amanda: Yes.

Marco:: Okay.

Amanda: And so, I. Well, and I should clarify, we didn't get. We got married in a church, but that was. The reception was at the movie theater anyhow. And actually, I have to say it. It was at the movie theater that Margot's parents had their first date at. so, anyhow, I knew that we were getting these free cupcakes. It wasn't a huge thing, but it was an exciting thing that I realized after we booked the haul. I said, oh, by the way, I have this free cupcake thing. I forgot to mention it. I didn't realize it until after. And she said, oh, no problem. We'll add that to your thing, and this company will provide your free cupcakes. We had a wedding cake. We had other things, but knowing that I could choose the cupcakes, knowing that I had the cupcakes locked down, as silly as it was, when things got stressful, I would go back to the cupcakes website and just look at the cupcakes and go, well, I've got that. I've got that locked down. And I would just go back and look at it over and over, and I found it really grounded me. I know that's really random.


St. Kitts was our cupcake theory this year

So for you and I, you know, dealing with things, the last few months, we had highs and lows and ups and downs, and I would just look at St. Kitts.

Marco:: Okay.

Amanda: And so St. Kitts would become that cupcake. So that's my cupcake theory.

Marco:: I love it.

Amanda: Where I would just go back and look at the thing that I knew was going to happen. I knew I had it already locked down. I knew I had booked it, I knew it was going to be a nice week. And yeah, St. Kitts was our cupcake theory this year.

Marco:: I love it. I love it. And so we went and I should say about Saint Kitts, it's a beautiful island with beautiful beaches, but above and beyond that, the people on that island are some of the most wonderful, kindest, loveliest people I've ever.

Amanda: A reserved people, a ah, proud population, so generous, so warm, courteous.

Marco:: Warm.

Marco:: Just helpful, lovely, wonderful folks.

Amanda: Kidians and different from other islands I've been on in the Caribbean of which have been on a few at this point. because I used to work in the. You and I used to work on cruise ships, so. But we had never, St. Kitts just was never a port that we had gone to.

Marco:: And they have monkeys on that island as well.

Amanda: They have, I believe they're called Green Beret monkeys. Now I had been told that years ago and I, I questioned it because I had never seen that I could remember anyhow a monkey anywhere in the Caribbean. Various populations that have come and gone from a few, just a very small handful of islands, but really I think three or four, the most notably being St. Kitts and Nevis, brought with them on their ships.

Marco:: Right.

Amanda: Monkeys.

Marco:: Wow.

Amanda: Yeah. And so the green verret monkey, which is a smaller monkey, cute monkey, thank goodness.

Marco:: Because, I, I wouldn't want any bigger of a monkey on the beach.

Amanda: Marco's afraid of monkeys. I should just tell everybody now he has a, true fear of them.

Marco:: I don't know why. I feel like something may have happened when I was a kid at the zoo or something that may have.

Amanda: I think it's just fear of the unknown. I think you probably didn't have a lot of monkey time.

Marco:: I didn't, I didn't.

Amanda: I mean who does really?

Marco:: But anyways, there is a beach on

Amanda: St. Kitts called Shipwreck beach and it's Friars Bay.

Marco:: On Friars.

Amanda: On Friars Bay. Friars Club Bay. No, not Friars Club is something else. What's the Friars Club?

Marco:: The Friars Club is where they would do, roasts and stuff.

Amanda: Okay.

Marco:: It's, it's not the, it's not the, the monkeys might roast you.

Amanda: Frank Sinatra was not doing a tight 10 on Friar's Bay ship.

Marco:: Shipwreck Beach.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco:: But you'll see them there.

Amanda: I don't know if there's a shipwreck on that beach?

Marco:: There isn't, but we did snorkel a shipwreck.

Amanda: We did. On a different beach.

Marco:: Do you remember the name of that?

Amanda: Majors Bay.

Marco:: Oh, wow.

Amanda: On Majors Bay.

Marco:: You're good.

Amanda: I know. That's what I'm saying. It's on. It's. I think it's called South Friars Bay, where we were. I don't. I think they call it Shipwreck beach because the bar is called Shipwreck and it has a beach.

Marco:: Or the bar named itself after the beach. And maybe there was a shipwreck or there is one we just can't see.

Amanda: Okay. I'm not. I'm not really. I'm not going to contest you too hard.

Marco:: We could look this up, but we're not going to.

Amanda: I have looked it up. That's why I know that it's. The bar is called Shipwreck, and the beach is actually called South Friars Bay.

Marco:: Oh, okay.

Amanda: Yeah. But anyhow, whatever. Shipwreck is the bar. And, on the bar, there's a beach and there's monkeys.

Marco:: And the bar makes wonderful drinks and food.

Amanda: They have something called acidian. Acidian Snafu. That's what you drank. I brought you one.

Marco:: No, but I like the other one. The coconut. The beach Aada. Coconut.

Amanda: Okay. But Acadian, Snafu, I thought was a really cool. Unique to. Only St. Kitts drink.


St. Kitts has a birthmark that looks remarkably like Korea

Marco:: Oh, the other one you brought me. Yeah, I like that one, too.

Amanda: The lime one. The kitty and Snafu. Yeah, the other one. But the bicelada we did really like. And I don't know if that's unique to St. Kitts, but my goodness, it was good. It was like coconut and nutmeg and. I don't know. And love. And rum. They all had rum.

Marco:: Now, one of the fun things about St. Kitts is that it is in the shape of a chicken drumstick.

Amanda: It is.

Marco:: So you know how certain countries, like Italy is the shape of a boot?

Amanda: Yes.

Marco:: you know, Michigan, they say is in the shape of a hand or a glove.

Amanda: Oh, really? Yeah. I didn't know that.

Marco:: other places are in the shape of things. I can't think of another country.

Amanda: I can't think of anything.

Marco:: Well, St. Kitts, if you take a

Amanda: look at it, you have a birthmark that's in the shape of north and South Korea.

Marco:: yes. On the back of my head.

Amanda: Is that tmi? That's the only thing I can think of.

Marco:: I have a birthmark on the back of my head. Kind of a reverse Gorbachev. You know how Gorbachev had it in the front of his head? Yes, I have one behind my head.

Amanda: But anyway, it looks remarkably to me like Korea.

Marco:: Okay. So there. There you go.


Amanda and Margot went to St. Kitts and Nevis this month

Well, we rented a car and we drove the island La Loop.

Amanda: We did. Yeah. So we had a car the whole time we were there, which was another reason originally we booked that particular hotel. The, hotel was on Frigate.

Marco:: Frigates.

Amanda: Frigates Bay.

Marco:: Yes.

Amanda: That's a hard to. There's a lot of names, hard to remember. But, But that's where we were. I mean, I was there yesterday, so I really shouldn't have forgotten it already. but we did have a car for the six days that we were there, which I personally recommend. I like having a car and really getting to know and getting out there and driving versus having to rely on taxis.

Marco:: I love driving an island. Amanda knows that about myself.

Amanda: We just love driving. We love exploring. Yeah.

Marco:: And in Saint Kitts, they drive on the opposite side of the road to what we drive in North America. And so, you know, that's a challenge. But on an island, they tend to go slower than when we rented one in Heathrow Airport and got on the highway.

Amanda: Yeah. And we both ran. We both drove on the other side of the road. For us, in Turks and Caicos two years ago as well. Very similar kind of trip. In fact, we kept calling this trip Turks and Caicos by accident, because St. Kitts and Nevis. Turks and Caicos. It's the. And thing. although, to be fair, we never actually went to Turks Turks. We only went to the Caicos. anyway, this time we went to St. Kitts and Nevis.

Marco:: We took a ferry to Nevis.

Amanda: We did a car ferry.

Marco:: And if you go to Nevis. Don't go on a Sunday if you're just going for one day, because it

Amanda: tends to, I would say, plan your trip better than we did because the ferries are tricky.

Marco:: Yeah. So it was a short stay on Nevis, but I'm glad we went.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco:: And. And, we had a lovely time. It's a lovely island.

Amanda: We went to the bar Sunshines on Nevis.

Marco:: Rock Lobster was a restaurant we enjoyed.

Amanda: Not on Nevis. On Saint Kitts. On Saint Kitts, but back to Nevis. there is a. This bar, Sunshines, has a signature drink, since we're talking about drinks, called the Killer Bee. And it's like a punch. And I think it has pepper on top of it. Like black ground pepper.

Marco:: Secret recipe.

Amanda: Yeah. That apparently there's one Ingredient we know because Margot was allergic to it so that he couldn't have one.

Marco:: So Amanda had just described the drink as she was having it. As you may know if you listen to this podcast, I'm m allergic.

Amanda: That's delicious.

Marco:: I'm allergic to passion fruit, which is never a problem here in Canada because we don't have much passion fruit. But anytime I travel to somewhere tropical, I always have to be mindful.

Amanda: You do have to be mindful. And you never know when passion fruit is going to. Or as they say in Hawaii, lilikoi.

Marco:: Yes.

Amanda: You never know when lilikoi is going to show up in cuisine. but you were.


Rock Lobster was probably our favorite restaurant because you got to love the name

We were talking about the food, so Rock Lobster was probably our favorite restaurant because you got to love the name. But also it has lobster in the name, so I'm going to love it regardless. and it did not disappoint. It rocked me with its lobster one. Like a B52.

Marco:: Yeah.

Amanda: but the other thing that the islands. Islands are known for, in fact, are chicken wings. And I don't know if that's because it's shaped like a chicken drumstick. I. I really don't know. But where. Why chicken wings are such a big.

Marco:: Because of the shape of the. Of the island.

Amanda: But wouldn't that be great if it was?

Marco:: Although Italy is known for its fine leather boots.

Amanda: So there you go. Maybe There you go, there you go. So, yeah, so we had chicken wings a lot, and they were all delicious and they're all very different, but everywhere you went, there was really amazing wings. So I don't know if I would say go to sink. It's just for the wings, but that's a nice bonus if you're there. If you like wings, you may not like.

Marco:: And if you don't eat, if you're a vegetarian, they have some great plant plantain dishes as well.

Amanda: Some wonderful curries.

Marco:: Yeah, curries and whatnot.

Amanda: So you can never go wrong with the beans and rice. Yeah, it's like there's something magic about Caribbean beans and rice, man. Oh, so good. So, so good.


My Albuquerque, New Mexico, Post office theory applies to postcards

Marco:: Now, you talked about your cupcake theory.

Amanda: Yes.

Marco:: And I'm going to talk about my. A lesson that I've learned that I

Amanda: applied your Albuquerque theory.

Marco:: My Albuquerque, New Mexico, Post office theory. So I may have talked about this on the podcast, but I'm just going to be brief and concise about it. When I was. I like to send postcards to a few friends when I travel, and postcards now are a little bit more of a challenge. To buy and mail because it's not as. They're not as convenient as they once were. Where you could m. Get a postcard, anywhere you could find stamps. Post offices were everywhere. So it's more of an effort.

Amanda: Yeah.

Marco:: So when we were in New Mexico, we went to, we went to Albuquerque. I had some postcards I wanted to mail and about five of them. And I like to put pretty stamps, nice looking stamps, different kinds of stamps on my postcards because I like them and I think the people I will send them to will like them too. Or at least I hope they will.

Amanda: Uh-huh.

Marco:: Now there's a stamp in the US which is a circular stamp with a flower on it, which is the stamp that you use for mail to Canada. But I've used that stamp a lot. So when we went to Albuquerque, we went to the old post office.

Amanda: And I went there, which was beautiful, by the way. It was in a nice historic part of Albuquerque. If you're ever in that neighborhood, the sort of historic square, really lovely area.

Marco:: New Mexico is just wonderful.

Amanda: Yeah. So many art galleries there. My goodness.

Marco:: So I go in and I say to the postal worker, I say, I would like some stamps. Can I see your stamps for Canada? And they say, circle stamp. And I said, I don't want the circle stamp. I want pretty stamps.

Amanda: Who doesn't?

Marco:: Who doesn't? Before I had a chance to state why, the postal worker put the circle stamps on the postcard, saying, these are the ones you need.

Amanda: Yeah, she did.

Marco:: And I wasn't happy about it.

Amanda: I walked in at that moment, which I think I was a distraction. Like I was working in tandem with Albuquerque post office lady. But I was not. For the record.

Marco:: For the record, she wasn't. And when we got in the car, I was not happy. And I realized I wasn't happy because I wanted my pretty stamps.

Marco:: So then I said, I will never let someone tell me how things should be if I don't want them that

Amanda: way and make that decision. She. She kind of, for her, for you, the postcards were kind of a boundary too. And she just, she just, she put those stamps on there before you even had a chance to discuss it.

Marco:: And they're and their stamps on a postcard. So it's not the, you know, be all and end all. So like it's, it's. It's certainly first world problems here that we're talking about.

Amanda: Yeah. But champagne problems.

Marco:: Champagne problems. Sorry, is that how we say it now? Okay, sorry. Champagne problems.

Amanda: Well, I mean, yeah.


Amanda says St. Kitts and Nevis have beautiful stamps

Marco:: And so now I'm very, concise and direct with my words when I want stamps. And so we went to the post office in St. Kitts and Nevis, and I said, do you have lovely stamps?

Amanda: And they said, you said, I want beautiful, colorful stamps. And she sort of said, well, it's these ones. And she said, you said, I want the most beautiful and the most colorful. And she said, but they might take a lot of stamps. And you said, I don't care if I put eight stamps on each postcard. It covers the whole back. That's what I want.

Marco:: Yeah, I don't mind if I cover all the words that I write on the postcard, as long as I have nice stamps. And she laughed.

Amanda: And the addresses and the address. Yeah, she was laughing.

Marco:: So I was able to get pineapple ones. I was able to get.

Amanda: The funny thing is I think all of her stamps were nice. I think you could have just had the one stamp.

Marco:: It's true.

Amanda: Because they weren't American. Like, I know the stamp, the, the flower stamp. That is the one. The US to Canada stamp. Because any mail from my cousins or whatever, that's what it is. But I actually think all the St.

Marco:: Kitt stamps were beautiful.

Amanda: Were beautiful, yeah.

Marco:: And what was nice was she gave me a variety of different ones so that each postcard pretty much had a different stamp on it. So I was really happy and I kind of danced in the, in the post office when I mailed them. And Amanda was, was laughing, as was the postal worker, but I had a great time. And so that's my cupcake theory is get the stamps you want, not the

Amanda: stamps that someone else decides for you.

Marco:: Exactly. I was going to say deserves, but that's not true.

Amanda: No. they're the stamps you want and deserve. You deserve to have the stamps you want.

Marco:: Yeah. And now I travel with US Stamps when I'm in the US because I bought a whole bunch of Keith Haring stamps and spongebob. Spongebob stamps.

Amanda: Are those the beautiful stamps you create?

Marco:: Well, they're fun, right?

Amanda: I mean, Keith Haring, yes, but the spongebob ones.

Marco:: Yeah. Imagine a Keith Haring stamp next to a spongebob stamp.

Amanda: That's a fun. Those are some fun stamps.

Marco:: Yeah. You just have to know how many stamps you need to put on, so.

Amanda: And leave room for that too.

Marco:: I know it's always best to put the stamps on before you write the postcard if you can, but that's hard

Amanda: because then you don't really get to. Well, you can, I suppose, but we got a coffee. I drank coconut lattes throughout those two islands, and they were the most delicious things I had ever put in my mouth. They're so delicious. Coconut lattes.

Marco:: Iced.

Amanda: Iced, yeah. Because it was hot. It was hot, but it wasn't crazy. Like, it was perfect, actually. The wind was beautiful through the palms. It would rain gently, but you kind of didn't mind. It's a very sleepy. It's a quiet island. St. Kitts and Nevis is quiet, too, Certainly even more so. They're quiet islands. Yeah.

Marco:: and even though it's not no longer warm here where we are, it's cold.

Amanda: No longer warm. It hasn't been warm in a long time.

Marco:: I shouldn't say that. I'm trying to say, at least now, even though we are in a cold place, there's still warmth to be had. And I want to wish all our listeners all the warmth that they can find around them, even if they're not in a warm climate. Does that make sense? I feel like I, did a real.

Amanda: I don't know what roundup saying. Be warm, people.

Marco:: Yeah. Be warm. Enjoy your warmth wherever you find it.

Amanda: Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, always enjoy your warmth. And listen, I hope for you this year, you know, Saint Kitts was my cupcakes. But find that thing that can inspire you, that you can look forward to, but also the thing that you can land on that can ground you a good little, little jewel that you've set aside just for you. That's what I wish for everybody.

Marco:: Thank you, Amanda. and thank you for listening season 11. And as always, we hope you were able to listen and sleep.