What do we pack for a beach vacation? Instruments, of course.

When my mom invited us to join her for two weeks in Aruba, one of our first thoughts was: we’re going to get bored sitting on a beach for that long—we need to bring instruments. It’s impossible for us to be bored if there’s music to play.

As it turns out, Aruba is breathtaking. We spent our days visiting different beaches, snorkelling, eating spicy curries, and stopping by the donkey sanctuary (which we highly recommend). Jeremy especially loved the roosters that wandered the property—and being Jeremy, he recorded several samples of their crowing for future use.

Enter: The Travel Setup

This particular trip fell over St. Patrick’s Day, which is usually a big performance weekend for us—kind of like Black Friday for fiddlers. But traveling with traditional instruments comes with risks. Taking a violin to the beach, for example, sounds like a recipe for disaster: sand, heat, humidity, salt water…

Jeremy had a Traveller guitar—a sleek little electric that looks a bit like a canoe paddle—but it needs amplification. We had a small Fishman amp, but it required an outlet, and wasn’t practical for beachside playing.

That’s when I remembered my friend Martha’s Cricket fiddle—a lightweight, mostly plastic travel fiddle that comes in a plastic tube and handles the elements like a champ. I ordered one of their five-string models and paired it with a battery-powered Bose speaker. Jeremy plugged in his Traveller guitar, and I plugged in the Cricket, and just like that, we had a perfect portable setup.

We ended up playing music every day. Other vacationers would gather around to listen and ask when we’d be playing again. Music is a magnet. It connects people instantly, especially when it stirs up warm memories. Our traditional tunes often remind listeners of family gatherings, trips to Cape Breton or Ireland, or moments of joy they hadn’t recalled in years. It’s one of our favourite parts of performing—hearing the stories people share in response.

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🎥 Music in Aruba: Neil Gow’s Lament for the Death of His Second Wife

Here’s a little glimpse of our travel setup in action—a video recorded in Aruba with the tune Neil Gow’s Lament for the Death of His Second Wife.