About jamat: I admit it. I've been hooked on beaches ever since spending childhood summers in Belmar, at the beautiful Jersey shore. Years later I'm still addicted to warm sand and blue water. But now I've added palm trees as a criterion--and have been able to sample some pretty phenomenal combos of all three in the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean, and Europe. Although I'll always have a certain allegiance to Belmar, I can't deny that viewing the snow-capped mountains from my lounge chair across British Columbia's Georgia Straits, eyeing the rich and famous on their megayachts off the coasts of Italy and France, and gazing into clear pools of azure water between shallow coral reefs on Kauai have their own special appeal. And best of all, as a freelance writer, I can share my experiences with others.