My friend’s birthday was coming and I wanted to gift her an experience. Artechouse in Miami had COVID-19 restrictions that made me feel safe enough to visit—so I bought tickets to take her there for their current exhibit.
Aqueous is a cool, blue, ocean-inspired multi-media art experience at Artechouse. Far from art hanging on a wall, Aqueous is video production and atmospheric audio. This art makes you feel it emotionally and interact with it in a physical way!
I loved this exhibit and feel lucky to live in a city like Miami with access to art like this. Sometimes, you don’t have to go far to experience something new and creative!
Sometimes we just need to get away! Taking care of your mental health is so important especially when locked down in quarantine during a global pandemic. I decided to do just that for my birthday a few weeks ago—and it was so wonderful!
I decided to spend my quarantine birthday in a tiny house North of Miami. I took a short drive there from my South Florida residence so I could try out this living experience for a few days.
I was also interested in checking out a nearby wildlife reserve. I had my inflatable kayak with me. I was ready to spot some manatees and view the blue glow of bioluminescent plankton in the water at night.
I managed to experience all of this and so much more during my tiny house stay in July. Read on for the full story!
Curaçao has plenty of calm, clear water and beautiful, sandy beaches flanked by sheer cliff walls and sea caves.
But that's the southern side of the island. Travel to the north side and craggy, rocky shores, rough waters, and natural blowholes make up the scenery.
With all the snorkeling I did, I really appreciated mixing things up to see natural attractions at Watamula Hole and Shete Boka National park.
This is a quick little story and video to share with you the most amazing snorkeling experience I have ever had.
While snorkeling in Curaçao, I was absolutely awestruck when a huge school of fish, known as a bait ball, came out of nowhere, surrounded me, and then shot back out to sea. It happened in less than 25 seconds but it gave me a natural high I’ve never experienced in my life!
At the time, I was traveling solo in Curaçao after a recent and difficult breakup. I was finally feeling like myself again, like I had made all the right decisions, and that my time in Curaçao was already proving that I am my best self when I trust my instincts.
That’s when the Caribbean sea sent me this gift.
Who knew tracking down manatees in a mangrove maze would be so mind-blowing? (I promise that's the only bit of alliteration in this post)
One day in the Florida Keys, Jono and I decided to kayak the mangroves around Islamorada. Two maps were handed to us and we were off. Confident in both our navigational abilities and physical abilities to take us around, we did not anticipate the amount of effort we were about to put into this trip.
In the end, we learned that when other people lay out a path for us, it's not always the clearest one to follow!
Plans don't always work out—and sometimes that's okay! When the alternative is possibly getting electrocuted underwater, almost any alternative seems preferable.
When your plan goes awry, I find it's best to try to enjoy the moment for what it is because, sometimes, the unexpected can occur. You end up having an amazing time!
This is what happened on my 29th birthday this year. I traveled to the Florida Keys with Jono specifically to go diving. We were all set on the boat for our first dive when a massive storm hit. Instead of getting upset, I sat back, took in the excitement of the storm, and spotted the next best thing in the distance: A pod of dolphins heading straight for us!
Throw back! I never talked about the time I visited Cape Kidnappers, so here it is!Throw back time! Once upon a time, I did a review of all the great places to visit in Hawke's Bay New Zealand. I mentioned a golf course named Cape Kidnappers, but later learned Cape Kidnappers is so much more than a golf course.
After 7-months living in the area, I got increasingly curious about this place with its criminal name, rumors of mudstone protrusions, and an enormous gannet colony. I had to see what it was all about.
Jono and I took a day to stroll along its shore out to the headland and back. I ended up being enthralled by its geological features, I had a photo shoot with seabirds, and I was even almost caught in a landslide on the return trip!
Niue has some stunningly crystal clear waters and insanely beautiful coastal rock formations. The tides flow in and pools form across reef flats and into chasms in the rocks just off the island’s shores. There is easy access down to the pools which are deep enough to swim in, safe from the ocean currents behind the coral wall, and teeming with marine life best viewed at low tide.
These features make for some of the most epic snorkeling conditions imaginable. In this post, I share my favorite snorkel locations on the island, including lots of photos and even a video of an epic off-the-beaten path find!
I watched Carolina trot away from the car toward the bus stop in Höfn. It was early in the morning and we had just said our goodbyes. I was excited to learn that one of her stops on her 10-month journey will be New Zealand—one of my main destinations. Perhaps we’ll see each other in a few months on the other side of the world.
Fabrice and I got back to Route 1 to continue our drive around the Ring Road. Today we would have to travel the most distance in one day: 360 km to Lake Mývatn. I had heard there were amazing natural hot springs there—less expensive and less touristy than the famous Blue Lagoon near Reykjavik.
On the dashboard, Earl was propped up next to Fabrice’s phone blaring music from The Nationals. My cheeks felt warm as I squinted out the front windshield at the dark fields spotted with greenish-yellow plants. In the distance we could see Vatnajökull, Iceland’s largest glacier at 8300 square kilometers, emerging from behind craggy mountains in the foreground. As we got closer, we saw many tour buses pulling off the Ring Road to the left. It looked like something to check out.
At Skaftafell, tourists can purchase guided tours of the Vatnajökull glacier and surrounding park area. Many locals told us that walking on the glacier on your own during or surrounding the summer months is never something Icelanders risk—only tourists who do not know the dangers of falling through the ice, never to be seen again. Guides are absolutely necessary and increase your safety significantly, but instead we opted to do an off-glacier, self-guided hike along the Gönguleiðer trails. Up the mountain 30-45 minutes would take us to see another waterfall—Svartifoss. A morning hike sounded good to us all even though we had already seen spectacular falls the day before. Grabbing water and a few snacks, we headed in the direction of the trailhead.
