summer vacations

musicgood morning everybody and welcome to the balancingact. i'm julie moran, but this morning i wish i was my friend,olga. julie, welcome to paradise. we just arrived in thebritish virgin islands - amazing! it is a very specialsplit episode of the balancing act today. julie, it's breezybut beautiful and we're about to experience the most famousisland hopping destination in the world. and we're gonna takeyou for a ride. and back here olga, on dry land, in this drystudio, we're also gonna show

you how to have healthy vacationready skin all year round. paradise awaits. the balancingact starts right now. musicwelcome to paradise, otherwise known as the british virginislands. we're at the luxurious villa aja trunk bay. i'm herewith my entire family. hiii! they are so excited becausewe're going to enjoy everything the british virgin islands hasto offer. but first - musicsharon, thank you so much for joining me this morning. yes, itis a pleasure to be here. and

i'm so thrilled to be here. myfamily is so excited. when i said bvi, they said what! yes,and it's a great place for families. it is, so tell mesharon what is it about the british virgin islands thatdraws thousands of vacationers every single year? well, i thinkit's the beauty of the destination as well. and, ofcourse, the friendliness of the people. we, i like to think,have some of the friendliest people in the caribbean. it's acollection of islands. it's 60 islands. we like to say,islands, islets, rocks, and

keys. some of them are so tinythat it's just a beach that's there. but what's really niceabout the bvi is that all of our islands are very very closetogether, and the color of the waters. that's what fascinatesme more than anything else. the different shades of blues, andthe shades of green. i have never done island hopping sodescribe that to me. it must be amazing! yes, it is. our islandsare so close together that it's actually so much fun. there'salways line of sight you can always see an island. no matterwhere you are in the bvi. so,

for example, you can start outin tortola, and that's our main island. take the ferry, hop onover to virgin gorda. visit the famous bats. those are our seafed caves. have lunch, you know, on one of the other beaches, orone of our island restaurants. pop back on the ferry, or maybedo something a little different and charter a powerboat. and thepowerboat can take you from virgin gorda direct to aspendyke or mosquito island. lots of different choices in the bvi.that must be a memory of a lifetime. indeed it is. indeedit is. and even on one of the

islands if you visit neckerthe kids and the families have an opportunity to take alook at the flamingos. we even have lemurs in the bvi.so, it's quite an adventure and something different that youmaybe don't expect to find in the bvi. so tell me more aboutthe summer freedom promotion that's launching here at bvi.so, we have a very fun promotion that's running, where kids stayfree. some hotels include meals, some include free toys. so it'sstarts on june one and runs through the end of october. soit's fun, not only for the

children, but then the adultscan also play. exactly. and the good thing about it is thatthere are activities for the adults and activities for thekids. some of the hotels include kids programs. so the parentscan go off and do their scuba diving. you know, while the kidsdo storytelling, etc. at the different properties. best timeto come to the bvi, well i'm a little bit partial, i would liketo see that all year. all year round is a wonderful time tocome to the bvi. good answer! the weather is great, great allyear. and there are activities

all around. we run the gamutfrom regattas to festival and carnival events. music events,we even have fashion shows in the summer. so it's a great timeall year to come to the bvi. we even have a major food event innovember, bvi food fest, where we have a host of foodactivities, taste of virgin gorda. we have a barefoot dinnerthat's held on a beach. it's barefoot and black tie. and ofcourse we tend to do our bar crawls as well for the adults.and speaking of food, because everybody out there knows thatolga loves to eat. so what are

some of the popular dishes here?popular dishes, we like to say is fish and fungi, and that'swonderful. there's also johnnycakes, which is what wouldbe similar to hushpuppies. and of course, fishing abounds inthe bvi, so there's lots of fresh fish. and we do it upreally nice and ethnic and local where we season the fish. wewrap in foil and we roast it over a fire. and once you havethat, it's, you don't wanna have fish any other way. and let'snot forget the smiley lobster. ummmm, langosta. langosta. andwe're famous in the bvi for our

anegada lobster, which is quitedifferent from the maine lobster. it's sweet, it'ssucculent, so it's, we enjoy our lobster. well, i've taught mygirls very well and their number one dish is lobster. lobster. sowe're gonna try that here. wonderful. now, we're stayingright here. this is the villa aja, it's gorgeous! tell meabout this villa and others that you offer as well. yes, villaaja is one of our premier villas in the british virgin islandsand this one is on the island of tortola. we're getting to bevery popular as a villa

destination. and our villas runthe gamut, from very simple, laid back bvi rustic, as i liketo call it, to the very high end and luxurious villas that comewith butlers, yoga pavilions, pizza ovens. so there'ssomething in the villa side of a vacation for everyone. somethingi wanna know too sharon, is that it's so spacious, the kitchen isgorgeous. if you love to cook, there it is. it has so manyrooms. an entire family can come and then you wake up in themorning and you have a cup of cuban coffee staring out tothis! yes, and you have the most

gorgeous view. what i reallylike about the villas at the bvi, it's very open living. somost of the views are predicated so that you take advantage ofthe water. take advantage of the views, and be able to sit on thepatios and relax, enjoy the sunrises and the sunsets. a lotof our visitors, they come as visitors but they leave asfriends. so that means that you'll be back to bvi. and i didwant to note that as well. everybody here is so nice. so,sharon, for our viewers out there, who i know are basicallysaying, ok we want more

information. where can they go?they go to bvitourism.com and for our special summer rates,they can go to bvitourism.com/summer. alright,so i had fun doing this interview but i think theinterview is officially over. definitely. so now it's time to?island hop. let's go! musicyou know getting ready for an exciting summerfamily vacation takes a lot of work. there's the packing, theflights, the budget. but what about making sure your skin isready for all that summer sun?

before olga left for paradise,she got some fantastic skin care advice from an expert. summer'shere and that means lots of family fun and sun. and it alsomeans skincare. it's may, it's national skin cancer awarenessmonth, and it's the perfect time to brush up on some importantskincare tips. dr. ivy lee is here. she's a dermatologist anda very busy mom. good morning. good morning, thank you forhaving me. thanks for being here because it's really an importanttopic, no matter where you live. skin cancer prevention. moreimportant today than ever. right

doctor? yes, being proactive andpreventive is key. so prevention and early detection is keyregardless of your skin type, where you live, whatever season,all year long. yes. would you agree? certain skin types aremore susceptible than others to skin cancer. but uv exposurehappens to every skin type, every climate, in every day. solet's talk about prevention, and i know sometimes people say, yehi know what i need to do, but let's go down those abc tipsthat are important to remember every day. so first of all it'sreally important for us to model

this for ourselves, especiallysince our children are watching. and you want to seek shade whenpossible. cover up, wear hats, sunglasses, sun protectiveclothing, and apply sunscreen. and sunscreen you wanna look forspf 30 or above. something that is broad spectrum, that meansblocks uva and uvb rays. and you wanna reapply every 2 hours. bemindful around water, sand and snow, where we can getreflective rays. and avoid tanning beds because there's nosuch thing as a safe tan. and a lot of common sense here, but alot of us don't do this. it's

always easier said than done. soit's key to practice this every day and make it a habit.something that we also have to make a habit is checking ourskin regularly. looking at ourselvesand looking for what? so, self skin exams are very important.it's important to get a sense of what your natural baseline is.what your skin looks like normally so that if and whensomething changes you can pickup on that really early. and whatyou wanna look for, what we traditionally see, are the abcand d's of skin cancer, looking

at asymmetry, borders, whetherthey're sharp or not, color, whether it's even in color ornot, diameter, and then now, most importantly, e, whichstands for evolving. so things that are changing shoulddefinitely heighten your suspicion and cause you to seekcare. and doctor, if you notice something on your skin thatcould be alarming and you're a little bit worried and you callthe dermatologist, you can't get an appointment. sometimes ittakes a long time. you know, that's a battle in itself.absolutely, we know there are

problems with access to care,and this is especially true in dermatology, and a lot of thedermatology organizations and companies are really working toimprove this. we know that better and faster access to ourexpert care results in reduced suffering and saved lives. soearly detection and early access is really important. and in 2010a team of dermatologists lead by dr. david wong created directderm, which is a online tele-dermatology company. itoffers consultations to both patients and providers. directderm, so how does it work? let's

say i notice something, i'm alittle worried. i wanna have some peace of mind or make sureit's nothing serious for that matter. what do i do? you logonto directderm.com, sign up for a secure and encrypted account,and you provide information about your specific skinconcern. when it started, where does it effect, any current orpast medical problems and allergies. and then you wannasnap photos with either regular camera or digital device andremember the better quality of the photo, the betterexamination of your skin is. and

within two business days you getan email notification that your consult report has beencompleted by one of these board certified dermatologists. andyou log on, you are able to view, download and print theconsult report. and with your permission we can share thatinformation with your primary care providers or otherhealthcare providers. so if there's any concern, now youkind of know that something needs to get done, and ifthere's no concern, you have peace of mind. absolutely. we'revery lucky to have a great team

of highly trainded u.s. boardcertified dermatologists from leading institutions in thiscountry. and we offer some specialists in pediatricdermatology, derma pathology, and we also work really hard tokeep constant communication with primary care providers to makesure that we're all working together as a team. that'sfabulous. and now let's incorporate insurance andprivacy. does that kind of stand the same as opposed to going tothe dermatologist? yes, so the same rules and policies applyand if you're insured we will

your insurance. and if you'reuninsured it's available for an affordable price. and all yourinformation and medical records are stored in a secure andencrypted platform that meets hipaa compliance and standards.we also offer kiosk clinics, and these are traditional brick andmortar clinics, that are available both in safeway andoutside of safeway, and this is really to improve theaccessibility and convenience for patients. so for moreinformation for our viewers to look into this, what's thewebsite? directderm.com. so it

really makes a difference?absolutely. thank you so much doctor. thank you for your time.thank you. and if you'd like more information, again go todirectderm.com or checkout our website, and that'sthebalancingact.com. don't forget we're also on facebookand twitter. musicgreat stuff. and now it's time to put all that skincare adviceto good use. olga's about to set sail down in the british virginislands. so much to see, so much to do. and we'll take you thereright after the break.

musicso you've met my family, you've met my bff, sharonflax-mars, and she has given us a really difficultassignment. we are excited because we're gonna go islandhopping with marinemax vacations. (music) we got abouta 30 minute trip to peter island on this beauty, complete with 4staterooms and lux cabin. i might just have to take thewheel when we're on the open water. we'll see. i've gottagreat team. i'm sure you do. so far i've been very impressed.great. we'd like to offer you

our ginger lemonade. wow, thisis really good. oh wow! oooh that's good! we've arrived atpeter island resort & spa, bvi's largest private island. whilepirates used to play here, now the world's elite stay here.(music) luxury abounds here, but before we explore, we need totaste the world famous coconut french toast, prepared by theone and only jean kelly. that french toast is just awesome. wemake the french toast from our own homemade bread, right hereat peter island. i love people, i enjoy them and i do whateverthey ask of me. and, i do enjoy

my job. with our tummies full,we checked out some of the resort's spectacular offerings,including 5 beautiful beaches. little dead man's beach,honeymoon beach, white bay, and dead man's beach, whichsupposedly is named after some pirates who washed up alongshore centuries ago. the resort has 55 ocean view rooms andbeachfront suites and 3 luxury villas, including its crownjewel, falcon's nest. perched high atop one of the islandsmost picturesque bluffs. this barcelona style estateconsisting of 3 separate

residences, with 6 spacioussuites, 7 baths, media room, elegant dining and great room,waterfall, grotto, infinity pool and so much more. totaling morethan 27,500 square feet, with spectacular views. we couldn'tfeel more pampered or indulged. the next stop on our island hopis norman island, due south of peter island. and it's wherewe'll find one of the most breathtaking natural wonders ofthe world, the caves. yes, i am steering this catamaran all bymyself. it's about 48 feet long, 26 feet wide, 15 feet high, andthe captain, nowhere to be

found. i'm just kidding, he'sright there, look. (laughing) but he told me to keep my visualand i'm keeping my visual and my kids are freaking out! and myhusband, i threw him overboard. (laughing). so here we are atnorman island. this beautiful location is privately owned anduninhabited. with the exception of 2 restaurants, onlyaccessible by boat. we've come to snorkel in the caves whichare at the base of the cliffs. bvi also has excellent divingwith over a hundred sights and wrecks. the fun never stops herein the british virgin islands.

that was awesome!! when we comeback, we're gonna shop til we drop, but not before we zip toit island style. musicwelcome back to the beautiful british virgin islandsand villa aja, located high above trunk bay beach on thenorth side of tortola, with views of guana island. itdoesn't get more idealic than this. what's great is that ilove the view. it's really pretty, so pretty. it'sbeautiful. what a gorgeous view. this private 5 bedroom villaoffers all the comforts of home

with gorgeous vistas, aninfinity pool and luxurious accommodations. family funabounds. and the secluded trunk bay beach is only 5 minutesaway. ohhh paradise. now full disclosure. i am not anadventurer, believe it or not. but my family is and they justleft with my crew. they're gonna go zip lining, who knows what?me, i'm gonna go shopping. (music) the family got suited upand learned the ropes at the original virgin canopy tour.safety first before they took flight. what an amazingadventure for them. flying

safely through the lush tropicalforest. (music) that was awesome! while they're havingfun high above. my feet are firmly planted at the tortolapier park. the gateway to your getaway. this newly builtfacility offers shopping, dining, and entertainment. thereare 54 retail stores to fulfill all your shopping needs. fromunique bvi stores, like imperial shellcrafters, which is so muchmore than a shell store. to diamonds international, oh my,look at all that bling! i wonder if my husband will buy me thislimited edition diamond hugo

watch. ummmm, maybe i shouldhave brought him after all. oh well. a girl can't have too manyclothes, and cedar white offers an array of caribbean made,caribbean inspired options. tijano boutique features up andcoming designers and artisans. these things are definitelywearable works of art. and speaking of art, had to checkout allamanda gallery and the work of photographer, amandabaker. what a trip! (music) we had an amazing family vacation.truly something for everyone. no offense to our beautiful studioand our fantastic crew out

there, but what a gorgeousdestination. i mean come on! i wonder am i ever going to see myco-host again? olga? well julie i have to admit i'm not sure i'mever gonna come back. stay right where you are. i'm gettin on aplane right now. for more information go to bvitourism.comor checkout our website thebalancingact.com.accommodations at villa aja trunk bay tortola provided bybvi villa rental. bye bye from paradise.music