In middle school Tricia accompanied her parents on a trip to Bermuda and spent most of the trip pondering why on earth she did not live there. It was that trip that made Tricia realize “island life” was in her soul. In high school Tricia spent a summer studying Marine Biology on Little Cayman. SCUBA diving the famous Bloody Bay, wrecks, and caves were part of her daily curriculum. This is also where she fell in love with coral, reggae, and conch fritters. Since that trip Tricia has jumped at every chance she gets to see the world.

Tricia met her match 19 years ago when she attended a dinner party one winter night in Dorset, Vermont where she was fixed up on a date. Donald, her now husband, grew up spending his summers on the shores of Lake Michigan and shares Tricia’s love of travel. These parents of seven 20-somethings live on an island in Florida and spend their vacations exploring parts unknown. Tricia’s love of travel, storytelling, and photography was the catalyst for her to start The Island Hopper.

Meet Tricia Heaton

Tricia Heaton is a needlepointing, party throwing, traveling, bookworm. An eternal optimist who sees beauty in everything, she most often has a camera in hand or at the bottom of her purse covered in M&Ms.  A love of all things design related began as a small girl who was obsessed with the set of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood of Make-Believe and a beloved custom dollhouse inherited from her mother. As the youngest child in a family of sailors, Tricia grew adept at bringing toys and books with her for long hours of sailing on Long Island sound on her family’s Pearson 36, Chocorua. 

Tricia began island hopping during her first summer of life as she joined her parents, brother Henry, and sister Puddy on their annual summer vacation to Martha’s Vineyard. She has since returned to this dearly loved island and others, up and down the eastern seaboard, most summers of her life.