Island of Vieques

Note: Guitarists know Tim Brookes as the author of the critically acclaimed best-seller Guitar, An American Life. He’s also a Blogger, magazine writer, commentator on NPR Radio, and a notorious world-traveler. He occasionally sends us updates of his travels and adventures with his Voyage Air guitar. Here’s his latest:

“I originally met custom luthier Harvey Leach when I was doing research for a book. At the time, Harvey was showing me his legendary inlay work, but then he showed me an early prototype of the Voyage Air guitar. Harvey sent me home with that guitar, and it has changed the way that I travel, and the way that I can make music during my travels.

“My Voyage Air guitar is now over six years old, and has been literally three-times around the world. I’ve taken it to Pakistan. A couple of times to Bangladesh. I’ve played it live at the Cairo Jazz Club in Egypt. It’s never let me down.

“I recently took a vacation to the island of Vieques, which is off the coast of Puerto Rico. This page has pictures from the trip. As usual, the Voyage Air guitar easily fit in the overhead bin for the flight from New York to Puerto Rico.

“A much smaller plane is used for the hop from Puerto Rico to Vieques. As you can see in the first photo, the ‘baggage compartment’ is forward of the pilot, up near the prop! The Voyage Air fit easily in this space, and the buzz from the engine caused no harm to the guitar whatsoever.

“I spent a long weekend on the island with my family. My wife plays the flute, and we performed duets as we made stops on our way around the island. Every time I opened up the Voyage Air, it never failed to draw a crowd!

“Well, that’s the latest. It’s great to have a no-hassle, great-sounding guitar with me during my travels. Whether it’s killing time during an airport layover, or just strumming chords while hanging around the pool on a tropical island, I’ve always got my Voyage Air!”

Tim Brookes