Riviera Maya, Mexico
So Good. Simply, wow. Here we sit a few days into this spectacular "vacation" and loving every single second of it. It has already been exactly the relaxing and sun filled getaway we had dreamt.
Our vacation house is a designers dream, perfectly accommodates up to 6 and feels more like a private hotel for each room than a shared house. I spend ample time watching the shadows dance over the walls and looking at the exceptional level of craft put into the hand carved stone tile. I hope we one day in the future find zenbox with an opportunity to design a thoughtful beach house overlooking the ocean... guess i should add that to the list of goals.
Both our rooms and the main living space spill out into the outdoors thanks to sets of giant sliding doors that basically remove any separation between indoors and out, and all focus directly onto the pool and a few steps beyond the beach and bay. Even from bed the sound of the waves is pervasive and reminds us of our trip. Nights spent in the bus only a few feet from the ocean and able to hear every sound throughout the night.
Our days here are spent simply. Lots of staring at the ocean. Lots and lots of nothing.
This is the type of trip that used to be very difficult for me as my brain always needed something more to do...but i seem a bit more able to fit in now. I still find myself having moments of inspiration and working out a detail on a client project from time to time or trying out a different configuration for the sprinter build... but I also actually catch myself after long periods of simply staring. Watching the sun dance across the sea and thinking over and over again how perfect that blue color is that can only be found in the waters of the caribbean.
Our days may be broken up by the occasional wildlife sighting as we gather to stare at the worlds strangest caterpillar, the house iguana, or as one of us spots a ray or turtle in the bay...but almost just as quickly we return to the order of the day. The perfect combination of relaxation, sunshine and ocean. Our largest venture to date has been a halfhearted walk around the bay we sit at the end of and another around to the next bay in search of a "beach bar" that ended up being little more than a tarp to duck away from a passing storm.
Even the weather has been perfect. What looked like a week of half sun and half storms has thus far been perfect days with the addition of one dark and stormy day that pelted us with rain periodically without notice. It didn't change our habits much and somehow even the storm seemed a welcome change. Different sounds and smells and different colors to stare at from our perch on the covered porch or in the pool.
Our friends have been just as perfect to travel with. Low maintenance and tons of fun. Our simple taco diet has kept us fueled and our nightly margarita happy hour seem equally as likely to lead to relaxing conversation and dinner as to a poolside dance party.
One of these days we will actually gather the group to leave the house and explore more of the area but for now it seems each of us keeps waiting on the other to bring it up. Our place it seems, is too intoxicating. Too perfect for any one of us to be ready and eager to suggest it, much less trying to convince others that there is somewhere else we should be.