I'm free to do as I please!

I've been debating whether or not to spend a few weeks in France this summer, its been on my new years resolution list for the past three years and I never did it for different reasons. But recently I've been thinking about it and I thought, WHY NOT!?? I have NO kids, I have a good STABLE job, an adventurous spirit, theres no reason not to go! I can't live my life with fear, worrying about money, happiness, or any of that, I just have to live and do what I want! So thats what I'm going to do. In a few weeks I'll be flying into Paris!

I CANT WAIT! I'm So excited! Every time I travel, I leave a bit of my love in the places I spend time in and I take a little bit of the cultural love with me. It's a beautiful thing.

creating flow

Lately, I've been doing things that create flow for me, that engage me so much in the activity at hand that I'm fully involved in it and not thinking of anything else. This for me equals happiness, not worrying about time, space, work, or life in general!

These last few weeks I've played paddle ball with children at the beach, had a picnic in the park, spent my grandmothers 91st birthday with her, cooked healthy nourishing foods... in addition to the photos below, I've also been writing a lot more in my journal, sometimes twice a day, and I've read two books. I couldn't put them down!

These are the true pleasures in life. Spending unlimited amounts of time with people, and fully focusing on one thing, multi-tasking and multi-worrying are a product of our overproduced society. They aren't healthy or natural for us. Sometimes we just need a break...

a spiritual journey

Today I began a spiritual journey to nourish my soul. It consists of artistic endeavors, eating close to nature, outdoor living, and reflection. I need to stay connected to my being.

Nurturing my Marriage at Virginia Beach

After spending a week in Panama with my ladies, I craved some adventures and private time with my husband, aka Spanish Guy. So we set off on the open road to spend a few days in Virginia Beach! It was a 7-10 hour drive including pit-stops and we enjoyed every second of it-- blasting music and singing out loud, having long conversations about nonsense, and laughing our hearts out! These are the moments every married couple cherishes.

Virginia Beach astetically was absolutely gorgeous, The Chesapeake Bay area was breathtaking. The canals and tunnels used to arive at the beach showed us how small we were in relation to the earth. Its like being lost in the woods, all you see are trees around you, here all we saw were miles and miles of sea. Gorgeous, undulating water! LOVED IT! Spanish Guy and I were both in love with what we saw.

While in Virginia, Spanish Guy and I ate LOTS of food, soaked in the suns rays, went shopping and swam. He's such an important person, I cant imagine my life without him. I always have fun with him, and he is always up for traveling, which is super important to me.

Marriage takes work, and we put in that work through nourishment of experiences, feelings and body. While at the beach, we took care of each other by lotioning each others bodies, we shared food at restaurants, we shared childhood beach memories while enjoying the ocean waves, we explored new environments and listened to live music which always provokes emotion. It was fantastic. Heres a lot of pictures/documentations:

The Panama Canal

Historical Central America

I visited the Panama Canal with lots of expectations and enthusiasm but when I arrived it was not quite the picture I had in my mind. I had imagined a large natural-looking canal, as grand in width as it was in history (click here for the wikipedia history of Panama Canal) , full of large vessels packed with shipping containers, and it was that to some extent, but a bit more industrialized-- this is what it is in actuality (from my perspective):

Impressive? YES! Did it match my imagination? NO! lol. There is so much history here. I remember learning about the Panama Canal in elementary school, so to be there in person for me was like visiting the Great Wall of China-- 

MAGNIFICENT!

AMAZING!

UNIQUE!

Panama City, Farron, & Valle de Anton-- PANAMA

The air was thick, buildings protruding out of the seemingly endless construction sites, and traffic was unregulated and heavy. So was Panama City, Panama. Its been compared to Downtown Miami, and as we drove around, I understood why, it was beautiful, the juxtaposition between new and old was magnificent.

Straight from the airport, my friend and I rented a car, a small, white, boxed car, the type escapes me. Thats irrelevant anyway. We drove about seven kilometers to our hotel in the center of the capital. It was LUXURY! A rooftop pool, state-of-the-art gym, inviting decor, we were living the life, very detached from the locals, but at that moment we felt good! We chatted with locals, and they advised us to stay with the tourists, that it would be dangerous for us to go into the local areas.

But after two nights in Panama City we got restless and ventured into a small mountain town called Valle de Anton-- and so began our explorations. While there, we stayed at a charming inn with a cobblestoned yard and murals painted on the interior walls by local artists.We enjoyed 3-4 hour long meals at nearby restaurants where we tried the local cuisine and beers. This particular town was home to mud-baths, hiking trails with draw bridges (just like in the movies!), natural springs and waterfalls. All of which we took full advantage of! One afternoon we visited the mud baths. We glopped the mud on our bodies and dried off in the sun, followed by a rinse in the natural spring waters. It was a gritty place, but oh-so spiritual. I felt close to my soul and connected to nature. There was a renewal of my senses while there.

Then it was off to the beach town of Farron. My friend booked the hotel, and because of my busy NYC life, I had no time to even research the place, so what I saw when I walked in was unbelievable! The hotel had HUGE pools with swim up bars, connected to a private clearwater beach. The rooms were immaculately kept and decorated. EVERYTHING was the highest quality! They treated us like queens. Valet parking, room service, anything we asked for we got. One day we requested bikes to go exploring and in 5 minutes they were ready for us. A ride on a golf-cart, CHECK, they got that for us too. And to really push it one day, we requested extra blow driers and a boost in electricity so that we could all get ready at once! We got that too! We felt what it was like to be part of the upper crust. We mingled with international bank owners, oil investors, and the owners of the place we were staying. It was such a different world than what I'm used to, and I have to say, I could have gotten used to it! But of course, I stay connected to my roots and appreciate every second of my life and every moment I get to enjoy. I recognize the privilege that I have in society and the unique moments I get to live.

(I didn't document this leg of the trip much, my memory card was full, haha)

This trip was unlike any other. The Panamanians were super nice, the country was very intriguing, and I got to experience what it was like to live a life of luxury and abundance.