Farrin in Jamaica: The ‘Jnesis’ of a new destination tour
Published:Saturday | January 6, 2024 | 12:08 AMKrysta Anderson/Staff Reporter
Reaching a significant milestone can inspire someone to do the unthinkable. On the morning Jnesis Wright turned 30, she made a promise to herself that she would take time out every single month to see the world. Sharing her journey with others sparked interest among fans, and, after answering their queries, Wright formed her very own travel company, Isle & Luxury. Following that success, the entrepreneur decided to take things one step further by creating a new destination tour titled ‘Farrin in Jamaica’.
“When I formed Isle & Luxury, I wanted Jamaicans to enjoy the trips I curated. A lot of Jamaicans are unable to leave the island. And that’s when it hit me; why not bring foreign to them? So let’s do a foreign in Jamaica experience,” she told Saturday Living.
Jotting down ideas about the look and feel of the tour, Wright was inspired by the belief that Jamaica, with so many hidden gems, stays true it’s motto, ‘Out of many one people’, having a similar appeal to that of other nations across the world. “The aim is to focus on Jamaicans who want to experience the country through a different lens and see it in a different light,” she noted.
Born in Jamaica, Wright left the island at the age of 12 to embark on a new journey in the United States. After doing a year at St Hilda’s High School, the transition proved to be difficult for the budding explorer, who struggled to navigate in this foreign setting. Viewed as a scholar back home, she was seen as an outcast for knowing the queen’s English, and would experience frequent bullying.
It didn’t help that she was being raised by young parents, whom she admitted were still children at the time of her birth. “My mother was 17, while my father was 18. He became a single parent and I went from place to place,” she confessed, adding that, as a young girl having to go to different persons exposed her to things and situations that a stable environment wouldn’t. Scarred by abuse, she slowly but surely picked up the pieces and forged a path of greatness.
Through her studies, she attended Florida International University in Miami, where she received her associate degree in business administration. And, with the desire to have real work experience, she prepared for her homecoming, “I got a grant from the New Zealand government and I went back to Jamaica. I wanted to get that real life experience and, what better place to do than where I was born and raised? I was in Jamaica for about 2 years, from 2017 to 2019,” she revealed.
Upon her return to the United States, she realised the broad nature of her degree, decided to zone in on a speciality, operations management, and she attained her bachelor’s degree.
Exercising resilience from as long as she can remember, Wright took us back to 2014 when she ventured into the most important role in her life: motherhood. She had her first child at the age of 22 and this only fuelled her desire to excel in this world.
“I moved out of my parents’ house when I was 19. I was 21 when I got pregnant, had my son at 22. Life was hard but I was so determined not to go home. My son and I were on the brink of homelessness and, because of my high-risk pregnancy, I was unable to work,” she shared.
But a divine intervention would change her story. “Boynton Beach Community Church, the church I went to, stepped in, paying the rent for my apartment, buying groceries, even helped to pay my car note for a few months.”
Grateful for their support, she paid it forward by starting a non-profit organisation called 1Jam1Love Foundation, to help others who walked in her shoes get the help they needed. For her valiant efforts, she received the Prime Minister’s Youth Award for Excellence for her active role in philanthropy, in 2019. Then, life suddenly took a drastic turn.
The mother of two was just on the mend, rebuilding her life from a devastating fire, when she found that she had cervical cancer, “I actually found out when I was pregnant with the third little one. And, by the time I was supposed to start treatment, I got pregnant with my fourth child.”
After a successful childbirth, Wright postponed treatment by two years to celebrate, considering the uncertainties. “There’s so many different emotions, and one of those emotions for me is that I’m going to pass away with no one to raise my four children like I would.” That will to live was faced with optimism that all would go well with the procedure.
Following an eight-hour long hysterectomy and receiving no report of residual cancer, the mother and cancer survivor decided it was time to set sights on new adventures. These included visiting St Lucia, Greece, Aruba and Zanzibar, just to name a few. “I was bored one day in June of this year and always on Tiktok scrolling, and I said I was going to post a video,” she explained.
After many comments, shares and queries about locations, Isle & Luxury was born. “It wasn’t supposed to turn into a business, I’m just doing this to enjoy myself and tick stuff off my bucket list,” she shared.
The first tour, already set for March with a repeat in May, is almost sold-out. Imagine experiencing Bali right out of Negril, with the delights of a floating breakfast floating swing , a private chef experience and twilight massage. The co-owner of Mayfield Falls is already looking towards creating a South African tour in April, to give a refreshing view of Cape Town with safaris and idyllic mountain and sea views from the bread basket parish of St Elizabeth, “This one still has a lot of planning and research to be done. But the hope is to provide the everyday Jamaican travel enthusiast with the opportunity to explore the island in a luxurious way. It’s the champagne life on a beer budget!”