60 Days in Paradise

Why Choose Casey Palmer for Tobago's First Island Connoisseur

Last updated on March 23rd, 2021 at 11:01 pm

NOTE: While I didn’t make it to the shortlist for the 60 Days in Paradise Island Connoisseur contest, I did make a splash with my subsequent wrap-up post on the matter! Thanks for all the support I got in my bid!


I don’t come from a travelling family. Save trips to see family in the States and Jamaica as a youth; I didn’t really start exploring the world until 2005 when I spontaneously used a tax return to go backpacking in Western Europe!

And since that trip, I’ve been hooked.

In just under a decade since, I’ve touched four continents, hit 12 countries and captured it all with tens of thousands of photos and videos in all my adventures!

Music: The Custodian of Records, “You Can’t Eat“, She Hate Me (2009)

You Can’t Eat (The Custodian of Records) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

As you may have seen from my video submission, I tap into my creative side as often as possible, trying anything from rapping, singing, drawing, writing or photography to express myself. Part of being an Island Connoisseur would involve taking this unique mix and adding it to the 60 Days in Paradise experience, finding ways to tell stories that others might normally gloss over.

60 Days in Paradise Photos (80 of 135)

Also, I’m comfortable in any climate! Whether it’s the sandy beaches of Montego Bay, exploring the rainforests of a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro, or staying in a swanky Vegas hotel suite that’s bigger than my house, if you tell me to “make myself at home”, it’s not too hard to make it happen!

Food: Get Your Nom On!

#60Days in Paradise—Las Vegas—Mon Ami Gabi—Salmon Eggs Benedict

I’m no gourmand, but you can see from my I Am Not a Foodie blog series that not only do I frequent restaurants across North America in search of the perfect bite, it also extends to my life at home—where I’m whipping up tasty treats—and my upbringing, working for my Dad, a restaurateur for 20 years.

Through experience and experimentation, I’ve learned how to take excellent food photos, making people hungry when they read food reviews since I don’t wash my photos out with harsh flashes. I was a picky eater as a kid, but I’m older and wiser willing to try anything once, whether it’s a fermented lizard or mysterious dishes from the front window of a Mexican Abuela in Long Beach. What doesn’t kill you…

Adventure—Living Life on the Wild Side

60 Days in Paradise—Tanzania—Leopard

I don’t live a life borne of fear—the world’s too big a place filled with adventure to be scared of trying new things!

60 Days in Paradise Photos (51 of 135)

You want a Connoisseur who loves water? I overcame an inability to swim at 16 and would later explore Bahamas’ Exuma Islands on a trip with my wife in 2009; been on two cruises — loving them—despite being a land creature; and trying everything from kayaking and canoeing to paddle-boating, putting thoughts of the murky water below in the back of my mind for the thrill of adventure!

You want a Connoisseur that immerses themselves in the culture, striving to live as the locals do? I’ve played mas in Toronto’s Caribana festival, celebrating my Jamaican heritage in full regalia with a million others, dancing through hours of blaring sun and monsoon showers on a toasty August day. I’ve visited tribal villages in Tanzania, bridging cultural and language barriers to learn about their lives, how they live, and how their communities work.

You live life but once, so you’d better live it up, right?

Getting Social

60 Days in Paradise Photos (126 of 135)

My social media story’s almost a decade long, and my time sharing stories online even longer yet. The numbers you see today don’t come from strategy or some urge to be famous—they come from years of building relationships with the people I now call friends and family, developing trust amongst numbers rather than treat my friends as the audience for a one-way conversation like all too many do.

I treat every social media channel differently—my Facebook is a conversation with long-time friends, keeping up with my antics as the years pass and as I explore family life. I’ve learned how to stuff strong messages into tiny packages with Twitter, favouring its frenetic pace for public chats, quick observations or both seeking and giving information on any number of topics. When someone wants to know how I really feel, they only need to go as far as my blog, where I share in-depth thoughts on everything from fatherhood to the 100 things I want to do in a year.

But social media’s only so much of the picture—to be a social connoisseur “in real life”, you need a willingness to go outside your comfort zone! You’re looking for someone who’ll fly 4 hours to hang with their Internet friends in LA. Or perhaps someone who can score free upgrades at Caesar’s Palace from making the concierge laugh while wearing what appears to be nothing short of a Technicolor Dream Coat! The kind of person who’ll instantly makes friends on a cruise, throws parties that go down in legend (for better or worse), and can win Paradise Island’s “Mr. Riu” crown after a rigorous competition involving karaoke, dancing and lip-synching to “My Heart Will Go On” while cross-dressed as Céline Dion! (That last one’s between you and me, though!)

To give you an idea of my reach, here are some facts and figures:

Twitter

3100+ followers | 43,000+ tweets | 5 ½ years

Klout

Average Score of 72

LinkedIn

900+ contacts

YouTube

80+ subscribers | 5000+ views

Facebook

1600+ friends | 300+ fans | 8 ½ years

Instagram

600+ followers

CaseyPalmer.com and other blogs

Blogging since 2002

Foursquare

4000+ check-ins | 4+ years

The Bottom Line

#60 Days in Paradise—Palmer Family Photo

Really, though, at the end of the day, I’m a provider. Everything I do—all the social media, hijinks and networking—ultimately it’s to build the life I want for my family. I want my son to know what the world is bigger than his backyard. I want to show him that there’s no limit to what you can accomplish if you dedicate yourself to the work needed to make it happen. My parents moved to Canada from the Caribbean, and I’m hoping that this return there would be the first in many adventures to truly make my wife and child part of a global family.

So, why choose me for the Island Connoisseur to chronicle 60 Days in Paradise? Because I really want it. I’d use all the tools, tech and knowledge I’ve attained so far to tell the tale of an island—its people, culture, heritage and experience—through photos, video, blogging and banter, there’s no end to the possible stories. With my energy and enthusiasm, I can promise it’d be one to remember!

Tobago’s Division of Tourism & Transportation, consider Casey Palmer as an excellent candidate for your Island Connoisseur because he’ll bring qualities to the table that you can’t get anywhere else!

See you at the beach!

The second logo for Casey Palmer, Canadian Dad

24 replies on “60 Days in Paradise”

Casey is such an inspiration! His energy and enthusiasm attracts more energy and enthusiasm. He’s so well suited as an Island Connoisseur!

So, I’m surprized there aren’t more comments, and likes and stuff!

Love the video.
Love the post.

I think you’re a perfect fit for this! Let me know how I can help. If there is voting involved, let me know where and how often…

As we both know, I forget stuff so might have to send out reminders. 😉

Good luck my friend. I know you will rock this… they ain’t seen anything like you before. They need ya!

C.
<3

Thanks for the support, Christine 🙂 I think it’s going to be a slow build on this one, rallying support from every edge of the Earth!

This week is the judging to see who might be the best fit for the contest, and they’ll take the Top 10 from that to compete for the spot — whoever gets the most votes wins 🙂 So hopefully I at least make it that far so I can show them what I can REALLY do.

When the voting’s live, I think everyone gets two votes for the life of the competition, so I’ll be relying more on shares to spread the message to people than simply having the people closest to me vote multiple times. It’s going to be quite the undertaking!

Will definitely keep you in the loop!

There’s no one more committed to THOROUGHLY covering an event than Casey! If you send him to Tobago you’ll get TONS of great PR pieces to use to promote Tobagan tourism. You’ll also get a small army of built-in readers who are already following him. It’s a win for everyone!

You got that right, Angelique! If I go to Tobago, I’m going to do all that I can to make the experience resonate with everyone who checks it out — to get them to feel what I feel, see what I see, all that. Oh man, I’m getting excited 😀

Hopefully I’ll equip this army with enough ammo to see this go all the way!

Thanks for the support!

Day in and day out he finds a way to push his personal envelope just a little bit more while uplifting those around him.

I can’t think of another person who would be better suited to take on such a strong social role within the 60 Days Of Paradise as Casey.

I really appreciate it, bud. You know better than most how much goes into all the stuff I put out to make this life interesting — I think it would be awesome to apply that to two months in Tobago 🙂 There’s a lot I have in mind to make this extra-special, but I’ll touch on that in a future post 🙂

Appreciate the support!

Casey Palmer is an excellent candidate because he knows how to use all the tools, tech & knowledge he has attained so far to tell the tale of an island which involves its people, culture, heritage, & experiences of life by using his photos, videos, bloggings; and whatever else it takes for him to accomplish the job..you are not going to find anyone better…My vote all the way!!

Thanks so much, Lillian 🙂 It’ll be my goal to take everything I’ve learned about social media and blogging so far and kick it up a level to really make chronicling the story of Tobago something that everyone will remember 😀

Keep those fingers crossed, because I know this competition’s going to be fierce, and I’m going to need just about every trick I have up my sleeve to make it to the top!

Thanks again for your support!

Thanks, buddy! I plan to pour a ton of energy into this contest — hopefully I get the chance to fight my way all the way to the end!

Appreciate the support 🙂

Go Casey! Every blog post here proves that Casey covers any event in a fun, engaging way that makes you feel as if you were there. You won’t regret choosing him and I can’t wait to see what he does with his 60 days 🙂

Kavita, thanks for the support 🙂 I didn’t end up advancing in the contest, but it was still great to see all the friends I’ve made over time rally together to lend a helping hand to the cause 🙂

Now, I’m just going to work on having even more of an impact next time 😀 !!!

Casey, I know you would rock this. I really hope you get it! The video, the post, the passion – it’s all there. That, and you’re just an awesome person and it would show all over this amazing opportunity. I’ll be thinking of you!!

Julia,

Thanks for the support 🙂 Even though I didn’t make it to the second round of the contest, I feel like I learned a lot from the experience, and hope to carry those lessons forward to all I do in social media from here on 🙂

2014’s going to be a great year yet — I can feel it!

Love the video and the rap! This is an awesome opportunity and you would be the perfect representative by making people feel they are there with you. Wishing you and your family luck!

Rebecca,

Thanks for the support 🙂 Though we know by now that I didn’t advance to the Top 10, it was great that everyone was rooting for me so loudly!

I hope you get some great news on the G20 front! Good luck!

Heh. Thanks for the support, Kumaran! Even though I didn’t make it to the Top 10, I still feel like I learned much from the experience, and will work harder to show value the next time something like this arises.

It’s a big world out there — it’s far too early to quit 😉

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