Start Small

I've always been a bit bothered by the quote "dream big" because I didn't believe I could. I knew for some people, big dreams came naturally, but for me, not so much. I felt a little envious, a little bit left out. I realized this during one of my first sessions with my coach. He asked me to describe my perfect day. I struggled. I told him that in my perfect day, I wake up in Mexico, go to the beach first thing in the morning to take in the early morning stillness of the ocean. I continue my morning by doing some interesting work on my laptop at Starbucks and spend the afternoon back at the beach. I meet friends for dinner and we discuss opportunities and dreams. However, a big part of my life is missing from this "perfect day," namely my daughter, and that's why it really wasn't my perfect day after all. I realized from this exercise that I didn't allow myself to dream.. I mean, really dream. I didn't think to imagine my life in Mexico WITH my daughter. It wasn't an option and it's still not an option, but really, what's the harm of dreaming, even if your dreams seem impossible? One thing I've learned, especially lately, is what you imagine your life to be, it can be. Hold it in your thoughts and watch life bring it to you.. often differently than what was envisioned.. sometimes it's even better. But anything you create.. begins first in your mind.
During my last trip to Mexico, I spent a day with my friend, B. We had this wonderful conversation about dreams and dreaming big, as we feasted on fish at a little restaurant in Akumal. B told me that his dreams had started small, but then got bigger as he began accomplishing more. A trained (and very good!) chef, B dreamed of living at a beach location and cooking at a beachside restaurant. Then he dreamed of owning the beachfront restaurant. Now, B dreams of owning a small, beachside resort, which would of course, include an awesome restaurant.
I once believed I was just one of those people who couldn't dream big, but now I realize the secret.. start small, and build your dreams, one upon another as your confidence in what you can accomplish grows. With each accomplishment gained, every goal reached, dreams will continue to grow and get bigger. Start small.

Beaches & Sunsets

This week is the one week during the summer when I steal away with my daughter to Port Elgin, Ontario, located on the eastern shore of Lake Huron. If you've been following my blog posts you know that this is a place I have come to pretty much every summer since I was a child.

As I looked across the lake from the beach the other day, the thought occurred to me that, although I have visited the beaches of Mexico numerous times over the past couple of years, as well as many other beaches throughout the Caribbean, I still find this place beautiful. In fact, I think it may look especially beautiful now. Because I have become so accustomed to the beaches of Mexico, I notice the differences between the two places more. I looked across the shoreline and noticed how green the trees were against the colours of the beach and water. The sand is a dark brown and compact. Pieces of driftwood are scattered along the sand, as well as pieces of green seaweed, large rocks and tiny shells. There's a real wilderness feel here that is unique and beautiful all on its own.

There's a winding road (and now a bike path!) that runs along the beach, pretty much from Port Elgin to Southampton. It's the prettiest drive, although my eyes are naturally drawn to the dark blue and turquoise water when they should be on the road. My daughter and I stopped for a picnic lunch one day and the view was breathtaking.

Of course, for any of you who are familiar with this area, residents pride themselves in what they claim are the best sunsets anywhere. In fact, a crowd will gather each night at the marina in Port Elgin or the end of the main street in Southampton that leads down to the lake to watch nature put on her show. Camera's click away at the fiery display, and often times a round a of applause follows.

Then, turning to walk back, the moon.

It's good to be back.

20 Beaches and Counting: Maracus & Las Cuevas Beaches, Trinidad

Roma was my closest friend for many years, mainly throughout my 20's and early 30's. We met at church and were soon inseparable. When she moved back to her native Trinidad, I was crushed. It was as if a part of me had gone with her.

In the years that followed, I visited Roma in Trinidad every chance I got. Aside from reuniting with my best friend, taking a day trip to both Maracus beach and Las Cuevas beach were the highlight of each trip. Trinidad is an interesting country in many ways, to say the least. And getting to the beaches is not an easy feat. The beaches are of course located along the coast of the island, but getting to them means driving up and over mountains, upon extremely narrow roads. But once there.. ahhh, it' so worth the time and effort. Never crowded, Trinidad's beaches are naturally so beautiful. It was always well worth the visit.

Two things have stuck in my mind from those days spent on the beaches of Trinidad. One was the first time seeing a cashew tree and being amazed to see one cashew on each fruit (no wonder they're so expensive!). I also got my worse sunburn on one of those trips, on a cloudy day at the beach. I somehow thought a cloudy day meant sunblock was optional and I had opted out. A big mistake, it was a bad burn, but I learned after that to love my skin, in spite of it's whiteness. Another great memory was a cook-out one night with friends. As the sun went down, Roma and I took one last dip in the ocean and then ended the day just "liming" (Trini for "hanging out") with friends, awesome food and drink. Ah, those were the days.

20 Beaches and Counting: Tampa Bay, Florida

Located on the Gulf of Mexico side of the state of Florida, Tampa Bay reminds me of a time in my life when I took my first adventurous leap into the world of travel. I was 17 and had never been on a plane before. After learning that a great-uncle (whom I had never met) was living in Florida, I decided at that moment to book a flight to Tampa and embark on my first real trip.

I booked a flight on USAir (I still remember the airline) and flew to Tampa to meet my great uncle. He was lovely and so was his neighbour, Naomi. What I remember most about that trip were evening walks with Naomi, a visit to Tarpon Springs to buy sea sponges, my first taste of Tropicana-brand orange juice (we didn't have it in Canada back then), spending a day at Sea World, and a church experience I will never forget. I was a church-goer in those days, so one Sunday morning Naomi took me to her church - a drive-in church. If you think of the drive-in movie concept, it was pretty much the same. We drove to the back of the church and parked in clear view of the the pastor's podium, which was located behind a glass window on the second floor of the church for all the people in cars to see. I can't recall how we heard the sermon.. it was probably a channel on the radio we had to tune in to. I had never seen anything like it - you could literally attend church wearing your pajamas.

That first trip seems so long ago now, but I still get the same feeling of excitement when I travel today. It was just the beginning!

This is the second post in the "20 Beaches and Counting" series. In my first post I share the first beach of my childhood.

20 Beaches and Counting: My First

The other day my mind wandered over to the beach, and I missed being there. I thought about all the beaches that have been a part of my life over the years, and decided to feature one beach each week in this blog, along with a memory and a photo. I'm up to 20 beaches, but I keep remembering more each day, so the number may change from week to week. Ah.. the beach.

This week I'm remembering a beach in Port Credit, on Lake Ontario. I lived with my family on that beach from the time I was about a year old until I was seven years old, at which time my parents separated and we were forced to move. Our backyard actually backed right on to the lake. It was a rocky beach, and I remember spending hours walking upon the rocks, alone, collecting pieces of coloured glass, of which I would smash between two large rocks, into powder (now that I'm thinking back, I wonder just how "big" those rocks could have been in the hands of a 7 year old?). I would then pour the bits of glass powder into a clear glass jar, and with each piece, the jar would take on the beautiful colour of that glass, layer upon layer.

Three Things I Learned from a Trip to Mexico with my Daughter

Last June I took my fifth trip to Playa del Carmen, this time with my nine year-old daughter. I was excited to show her the Mexico I loved and I fully expected my trip to be the same as the past four had been when I visited alone, maybe minus the nightlife. Yeah, not so much. These are just a few of the things I learned on this last trip.

It's okay to change plans.
I had fantasized about what our days would be like, and was excited to show her the spots I liked to frequent and spend my time. It didn’t turn out that way though. On our first day we walked the many blocks to Kool Beach Club. I love everything about this club - the food (their fish tacos are to die for), the ambiance, the tunes - it’s a fine way to spend a beach day. Taking my daughter there, however, was a different story. On the morning we arrived, ready to spend a fun day at the beach, the ocean was quite rough with huge waves so my girl wasn’t too comfortable swimming in there, even with me. Kool has a pool, but it’s for adults only, which was unfortunate. Also, I realized that sitting on a lounge chair while she played in the sand just wasn’t going to work out too well.. it's just the way things are set up there. I could see that my fantasy of replicating my trips to Playa with her was not going to be possible, so I needed to be flexible and come up with a new plan. We ended up walking back to the beach in front of Fusion restaurant, which was located pretty close to our hotel (Hotel Azul) - a hotel with a lovely pool set among the trees, in case we needed it. It turned out we did need it and spent most of our days between the pool and the beach. No lounge chairs on this trip - just our towels on the sand. It was perfect.

There's more to buying a hammock than meets the eye.
My girl had brought money she had been saving. I showed her how to exchange it at the airport into pesos, and the whole currency exchange sort of amazed her. The first night in Playa, walking down 5th Avenue, among the many shops, my girl spotted the hammocks in among the merchandise. For whatever reason, she has always loved hammocks. We once decided on one hotel over another because one had a couple of hammocks on the property. Every chance she got, she could be found relaxing in one of them. So there we were, walking along the main strip with hammocks on either side of us, in different styles and different colours. We bargained with a few vendors (she loved this as well) and in the process learned more about hammocks than I ever cared to know. Cotton, nylon, silk, double stitched, single stitched, chair style, laying style - who knew there was so much to know about hammocks! Armed with the knowledge of a few days of asking questions and bargaining with various vendors, my girl decided on an orange and yellow, laying style hammock made of silk, double stitched. She spent about $30 for it. And she wants to hang it in her room. I haven’t quite figured out that one yet.

Eating ice cream EVERY night after dinner is a fine tradition.
That’s right, every night. I don’t think I had ever eaten ice cream in Playa before that trip, but this quickly became a new tradition while we walked up and down 5th Avenue after dinner. This is how it would go - first stop was Haagen Daz for two scoops in a cup for me, and then across the street to the gelato place for my girl. They got to know us there. Pretty funny that my girl’s first gelato experience was in Mexico. She teaches me every day to take pleasure in the little things.. guilt free.

I experienced so much with her on that trip - we often talk about it even now, four months later. She loved Mexico as I do, and in fact, didn’t want to leave. She loved the people, the culture and the food (chicken tacos at either Fusion at the beach or El Tulipana at 5th and 16th were a favourite - if it were up to her, she would have eaten them every day). The photo above was taken at Fusion - dinner right on the beach. Her favourite excursion was snorkeling at the reef off the coast of Puerto Morelos with the Snorkel Shop - they took such great care with her and gave her the experience of her life. She loved the butterfly conservatory, giant turtles and (of course) the hammocks at Xcaret Eco Theme Park. We walked 5th Avenue every night and enjoyed the artists who sell their wares each week off of 5th Ave. one night each week. The trip I had envisioned for us was quite different from the one it turned out to be, and I’m so grateful - we had more fun than I could have ever imagined or hoped for.