Lucky Teenager Anthony Picks Grand Cayman

Vin Tomasula promised his grandson, Anthony, a trip 
anywhere in the world. He chose Grand Cayman

Friday, March 26, 2004

A lucky American 13-year-old spent this week exploring Grand Cayman, after his grandfather gave him the choice of travelling anywhere in the world to "bring his studies to life."

Anthony Tomasula, a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, had the world at his fingertips but chose Grand Cayman as the place he wanted to discover, when his grandfather, Vin Tomasula, promised him a trip anywhere in world for his 13th birthday. 

"My objective was to make those studies more than merely pages in a book," explained Mr Tomasula, or 'Pops' as he is called. 

"I want him to realise and understand that the world is full of wondrous places and part of what makes them wondrous is the fact they are so different from what they see each day. I always want them to understand that these places are within their reach."

Anthony had already been lucky enough to visit New York, Washington DC and South Carolina with his Pops and, literally, had the world to choose from, before making his final pick. 

"First I thought about Italy, then Germany for a while, then China and Peru," said Anthony. "Then my Pops told me about the sting rays when I was at an aquarium in South Carolina. He told me, in Grand Cayman, you can swim with, pet and feed them."

On his six-day visit to Grand Cayman, Anthony would be treated to surprise after surprise, including a ride on a submarine, a visit to the rum cake factory, and, of course, a trip to Sting Ray City. 

For this 13-year-old, Grand Cayman was a world away from home and an Island full of new things. 

Anthony said: "There is a lot more greenery here, a lot more plants than back home. There are iguanas and parrots. I like the culture. I like the accents. I've even tried different foods down here, like pig's tail, cow's tail and goat and they were pretty good."

An open mind and a diverse experience is exactly what Mr Tomasula hoped to offer his grandson. He said, "My career allowed me to travel the world and through those travels I gained a huge appreciation for the diversity of beauty and cultures to which I was exposed. 

"I wanted to give my grandchildren a head start, as it were, and to introduce the notion that distant places need not be so 'distant.'"

As for why he chose 13 as the right age to travel, Mr Tomasula explained: "First, he needed to be mature enough and to have a broad enough context to appreciate what he'd be seeing. 

"Second, I wanted him to have studied enough different places in school to provide a large and diverse set of places from which to choose. Lastly, this will be his first time outside the USA and what better time than when he enters his teens?"

Anthony, for his part, could not have chosen a better travel partner than his grandfather, and he knows it. 

"I like him a lot because he's always joking," he said. "I like the ideas he gives me about why certain places would be good to visit. A lot of other grandfathers would just tell their grandkids to go and watch television. He's out for my best interest."

Indeed, for when 13-year-old Anthony piped-up that, as a result of this trip, he would someday like to pursue a career in marine biology, his smiling, proud Pops admitted, "I'm impressed."

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