I'm back... after being kidnapped by pirates
and taken to a deserted island

Blazing Reader,

I'm back from a month-long trip to Mexico and the Netherlands.

Below, I'd like to share some photos from our first full day in Puerto Vallarta where we were captured by pirates.

Our trip began in Toronto, on Tuesday, January 21, with my son Jonah and I meeting up with my fiance Ina Backbier and her two sons, Kevin and Robin, at Lester B. Pearson Airport. They'd flown in the day before from the Netherlands and were still adjusting to the six-hour jet lag. Here's how Robin handled it...

Ina, on the other hand, was wide awake. We hadn't seen each other in person since December 13 — when we met for the first time in Amsterdam. Now we were off to elope in Mexico. Here she is in flight wearing the pearl engagement pendant I gave her on Christmas Eve (when I proposed over Zoom)...

Upon arriving at our resort in Puerto Vallarta, Kevin was soon running through the waves as the sun set over the Pacific...

In the background, yes, you do see a pirate ship. The next morning it came ashore and we were kidnapped...

And taken on a long journey out to sea...

And forced to watch the pirates argue over who would be their captain...

A few of the mutinous crew were even thrown overboard...

None of the hostages was mistreated, though they did make Robin dance...

We were eventually herded onto tenders (shore boats) and brought to a deserted island...

We were not, however, stranded there. After some swimming, snorkelling and lying in the sun, the pirates were nice enough to take us back to the mainland and even fed us a delicious lunch on the way...

Being Jonah's 18th birthday, upon arriving back at the resort, we celebrated with chocolate cake...

On Wednesday, I'll share with you how we ended up getting food poisoning in the jungle. And on Friday, I'll share with you photos from our commitment ceremony on the beach. Then, next week, I'll share stories and photos from the week we spent at The People's Reset in Morelia (see if you can spot my son and me on their home page).

—John C.A. Manley

P.S. For more about my engagement to the lovely Ina Backbier, please read "Falling in love is a thing that strikes like lightning".

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.