The Quantum of Bermuda: Books, Movies, and Travel Wishes

Bermuda’s Flag

The Quantum of Solace is probably best known as the second in the rebooted series of James Bond movies beginning with that first Ian Fleming novel, Casino Royale and ending most recently with Skyfall.

But, the title Quantum of Solace was originally connected with a Fleming story published in the collection of short stories, For Your Eyes Only. Like a few of the Bond flicks, the film Quantum of Solace and the story of the same name have nothing to do with one another.

The film is an action-packed romp around the world. The short story centers on travel, but in an altogether different and more subtle vein, taking place in a different time.

Fort St. Catherine, St. George’s Parish (from gotobermuda.com)

The bulk of the story is set on the island of Bermuda….one of the top spots on my travel wish list.

Bermuda, while it is often though of in tandem with the Caribbean, is a portion of the British realm a mere 640 miles east off Cape Hatteras; we might can even claim it as part of the South.

Beautiful clear, blue water (from gotobermuda.com)

Bermuda is actually rather far from the Caribbean, but it shares some cultural and geographic similarities.

Why Bermuda?

Not sure, exactly, maybe it’s my English roots, maybe it’s my taste for Shakespeare (the Tempest is said to be about the ship wreck that settled Bermuda), maybe it’s my anti-Puritan streak (Bermuda was home to anti-Puritan loyalists during the English Civil War, so much so that the Puritan sympathizers were booted off the island and ended up in the Bahamas), maybe it’s Gosling rum and Barritt’s Ginger Beer, maybe it’s my love for Fleming’s books, or maybe it’s just a thing for little islands surrounded by thousands of miles of ocean.

The beach at Church Bay (from gotobermuda.com)

Nevertheless, Bermuda is high on my list of travel wishes.

Maybe it should be on yours too.

Why?

Bermuda is actually quite close to North Carolina, it’s only a 2 hour flight from Charlotte.

The island’s people are said to have a southern-like sense of hospitality along with an accent some compare to our own.

Cathedral of the Most Holt Trinity in Hamilton (from gotobermuda.com)

I know more than a few folks who have raved about trips to the British island, and they all seem to have that certain flair coming along with travel to a slightly unusual destination.

Where do books and movies play in?

For those places we’ve not yet visited and those places we may never get the chance to explore in the flesh, books and movies can take us there.

Movies engage our eyes and ears. The movie Quantum of Solace takes us from Italy to England, to Haiti, to Bolivia, ending in the snows of Siberia.

As a short story, Quantum of Solace lets us gently explore the island of Bermuda. We sit down in the Bahamas with Bond and the colonial governor of those islands who recollects his own experiences with a young colleague years earlier in Bermuda. He recounts travel from Africa when flights were rare, before Pam Am, before even BOAC, when flight commercial meant propellers, white-gloved stewardesses, and fine china.

Horseshoe Bay (from gotobermuda.com)

We explore Bermuda’s society as the British empire was crumbling. We visit the golf clubs and the harbors. And it all makes me more excited for that inevitable visit to Bermuda.

What if that visit never comes?

It’s ok, I’ve read the book.

You can too. Check out For Your Eyes Only, and the Quantum of Solace at your local library – take a trip…it won’t cost you a dime.

When you’re ready for that actual trip to Bermuda, give us a call, and never forget to: