With COVID-19 restrictions and testing requirements finally lifting for international travelers, my wife and I finally decided to schedule our long-awaited vacation to the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Shortly after the beginning of COVID-19, BVI shuttered its doors completely to all international travelers. We thus had to reschedule our trip repeatedly, which was originally supposed to take place in March 2020, because of the long list of limitations impacting travel.

But, 32 months later, we finally made it. And, the amazing BVI hospitality is unparalleled. As I write this blog, I am sitting with my wife Jessica at a small pool bar overlooking Oil Nut Bay on the eastern-most tip of Virgin Gorda. Writing this blog post for tomorrow (it’s Sunday) is the last piece of work that I have to do today before putting the laptop away and snorkeling in the sea turtle sanctuary.

There is a fair amount of life on and around the island. So far, we have seen sea turtles, black tipped reef sharks, sting rays, hermit crabs, lizards, herds of goats, sheep, cows, and even some pigs. Our room is perched on the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. After retiring for the evening, we usually like to keep the sliding glass doors wide open, so we can hear the waves crashing into the cliffs below.

But, last night, Jess found herself unable to sleep, instead laying awake listening contently for the source of the numerous small noises both inside and outside our room which she was convinced she was hearing. We have been visited on occasion by hermit crabs who like make their way into our room — so you have to exercise caution waking to the bathroom late at night — but hermit crabs don’t usually make noise if they are not stressed. As Jess’ mind started to imagine more dangerous creatures like snakes slithering into and through the room, she shook me awake. It didn’t help when I mentioned that the sounds she was hearing might be a wild goat in the room looking for something to eat.

While I was joking, Jess was taking the predicament far more seriously. To make matters worse, I was not hearing a single sound that Jess was certain she was hearing. But her instinct had her convinced that there was something in the room. After what seemed like hours, we decided (at about 3 a.m.) to turn on all the lights, grab a clothes iron, and hunt for the perpetrator.

There were no hermit crabs, no snakes, and no goats. We did, however, discover what appeared to be a somewhat aggressive Jack Spaniard Wasp which had entered and was flying around the room. The sounds Jess was hearing were the buzzing of its wings, and the clicks as it would fly into and bounce off the walls. While I didn’t need to use the clothes iron, the bottom of a flip flop did the trick.

As Jess and I closed the sliders, and nested in for some now-needed sleep, I realized that, in the food industry, like in BVI, it is the little things that we can’t see that keep us up at night. And like BVI, in the food industry, if your instinct is that there could be something lurking in your own processing room (like an unwanted pathogen), you’re instinct is probably right.

So, when looking for persistent strains of pathogens, take your time, grab the proverbial “clothes iron,” and hunt down whatever might be lurking just out of sight. If you do, when you go on your own long-awaited vacation, I promise you’ll be more likely to take a deep breath and relax.

What snuck into our room?

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