ever since my trip to nicaragua in december, i’ve been feeling this insatiable itch to pack my bags and just go. on a whim, to a warm, sunny destination, a place with aquamarine waters and the scent of coconuts and palm trees that swish back and forth in the wind. as a child, i hated the beach. the ocd neat freak in me didn’t like getting sand everywhere – in my books, in my discman, in my bathing suit. but over the past few years, (especially since moving to new york), i’ve really come to appreciate the beauty of the ocean. the open horizon, the hot sand burning the bottom of your feet, the scent of sunscreen and the feeling of slightly crisped skin. there’s something about escaping to the beach that allows all your problems to melt away.
there’s this quote i love – you’ve probably seen it floating around pinterest – that reads, “the cure for anything is salt water. sweat, tears, and the sea.” living in a place that’s constantly go go go (and being a person who isn’t very good at slowing down) has taught me the true value of getting away, and doing so in a place where all i’ve got to do in a given day is sit on the sand, fry in the sun, and read my book.
in nica, my phone didn’t work unless i had wifi (which was hard to come by). there was no email. there were no text messages. there was no beeping, no buzzing, no ringing. there was just the hot air tossing my hair around my shoulders, and the sun waking me up each morning, and the feeling of total and utter freedom. my week in nica gave me back a piece of myself that i think i’d lost in the past few years in new york. the piece of me that couldn’t care less about shoes, about clothing, or makeup, or material things. the piece of me that appreciates natural beauty, and the art of just being, of good conversation and friendships that make my heart grow a few sizes bigger each day. i love this city, but anyone who’s lived here knows it’s a trial to do so, and that new york can drain you. it’s such a shame that vacation is a luxury that only some can afford, because it’s oh so important to get the fuck out of the city and out of your head every so often. going away for the week taught me that, now that i’ve been blessed with a salary that allows me to escape, i need to do so. often.
i’ve got a trip planned to LA the last week in april, but i’ve still got the travel bug crawling through my body – the urge to cut myself off from what i know and get back to the basics. so much that i actually considered splurging on tickets back to nica for memorial day weekend. this post, from grace atwood (who has, in the past few months, become my favorite blogger – i like to think she and i would be friends if we were ever to meet in real life), featuring shots from her latest trip to tulum, has me dreaming of that turquoise water and a stay at playa papaya. i also happened to look up flights to tulum for memorial day, but they’re uber pricey, sadly. i’m secretly hoping they’ll go down last minute and i can hop on a plane and be touching down to sunshine and sand in just a few hours. i’ve never been to mexico, but grace has put tulum on my list, big time. it looks like my sort of place, the kind where it’s not just optional to disconnect, it’s mandatory.
a few nights before i left nica, my friend martha’s friends (locals), drove us down a long, bumpy, winding road to a secluded beach where baby turtles are rescued, raised, and released back out into the ocean to find their lives. 30 minutes through the woods, through waters and fallen trees and into the black, we came out the other side. a short walk away was a beach unlike anything i’d ever seen. white light hurts the turtles, so there was no light to be seen. all there was to lead our way to the water was the moon, and the stars (along with tiny little red flashlights we could use to ensure we didn’t step on any of the babies, which were approximately the size of a reese’s cup, if not smaller). i tell you, those turtles may have been tiny, but i’ve never felt so small. the sky stretched higher and wider than any i’d seen, and i swear the stars in nica are the brightest stars around. the natural beauty literally vibrated around us, the silence elevating the enormity not just of the beach itself, but also of the moment. it was a magical moment, and one that i think reawakened in me my desire to see the world, to go. 
we need to be reminded that we are small, and the world is large. and the best way to do that is to travel. tulum, here i come. also on my dream list: istanbul, santorini, the dominican republic, and marrakesh.
sweet studio 