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For as long as she could remember, Rona Beame wanted to have an adventure, complete with handsome strangers, faraway locales, perhaps even an element of danger. But how does a 59-year-old divorcee living in Westchester, NY, take that first step?

The answer, which came in the middle of one night, was scary. She could move to the tropics if she gave up her home and put all her furniture in storage.

She embarked on self-imposed fact-finding missions to Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and St Thomas, none of which seemed right. Then she visited Tortola in the British Virgin Islands and her heart sang.

"Tortola's a small island surrounded by beautiful aqua water," she said. "There were no highways and the shops were painted peach, pink and yellow. There were chickens strolling down the streets and cows munching grass in front of sleek banks. I loved the funkiness and knew this was the place for me."

Rona returned home to pack, excited but anxious.

"I was determined to go through with it," she said. "My friends didn't help. They thought I was crazy to move to a tiny island where I didn't know anyone. And I was spooked by the idea I'd no longer have a ‘home' for my children to visit. But somehow I let go of my fears."

It didn't take long for Rona to feel comfortable in Tortola. In three months she had made enough friends to throw a 60th birthday party. Her apartment was tiny but overlooked the Sir Francis Drake Channel, where sailboats glided by all day. By the end of the year she realized that she had become a more confident person. She knew she could pick up and make a new life anywhere.

"I loved living in Tortola. It was peaceful and there was beauty everywhere—gorgeous flowers, the bright blues of the water and skies. I didn't have a car so I walked everywhere. I was in great shape."

One adventure leads to another: After a few months, Rona met John, an Englishman who invited her to go cruising on his sailboat. She spent the next seven years with him sailing from island to island in the Caribbean. They visited deserted islands, bought fish fresh from fishermen's boats, and spent countless nights anchored far from civilization looking up at billions of stars.

"It was a spectacular time, the biggest adventure of my life," she said. "It was the first time I ever tested myself against nature."

Now she's back in New York just in time to meet her new grandchildren. She ought to have lots of stories to tell.

To learn more about Rona's travels, go here.