Liesbet Collaert is a freelance writer from Belgium. She traveled all her life, and currently enjoys cruising the Caribbean with her family on the 35-foot sailing catamaran Irie. She spent four months in St. Martin, enjoying the unique atmosphere of Marigot, Philipsburg and the rest of the island.

From Liesbet:TOUR WITHOUT GETTING LOST, BEING RUDE, OR FOLLOWING THE CROWD

“When you travel to a popular place, there are always the ‘mainstream’ activities and the ‘usual’ ways to do them: an expensive guided tour, a day on the beach, a morning of shopping, an afternoon on the water, being shuttled from here to there. Or, if you are on a tight budget and/or you feel more adventurous, you set out on your own, aimlessly wandering around or having your nose in a guidebook to figure out what there is to see and how to get there.

Being a member of the second category, I have been lost more than once in my life, and on more than one continent. Those moments, it would have been nice to be guided by someone who knows the area and shows step-by-step how I could proceed, offering visual assistance and in-depth information along the way, like Tours4Mobile. Having a local friend showing you the sights is helpful, easy, flexible and encouraging and you can take your own time – adding breaks when it strikes your fancy or skipping parts without being rude – while exploring the destinations of your choice. The reason I wrote two tours about the intriguing ‘dual’ island of St. Maarten/St. Martin is because I was visiting for months on our sailboat ‘Irie’ and came to know the two capitals really well, and because I wanted to point out that Marigot and Philipsburg have way more to offer than what cruise ship passengers experience; to help visitors explore outside the box.”