How my trip to Barbados was good for my mental health

I visited my second cousin, Monica, in St. James Barbados from July 16–24th. My mother and I stayed in her lovely house that has white tile floors and ceilings as well as intricate white iron grates over the windows. There was no AC, just open windows and fans. Thank goodness the temperature in Barbados stayed in the mid-high 80s. It took my body a day or two to adjust to cooling itself down without the help of AC. During the week, we went to the beach (all beaches there are public) just about every day for a few hours at a time. One day at the beach I did some yoga on the sand and rocks and took the opportunity to take some photographs (with the help of my mother.) There’s just something purely blissful about yoga on the beach, especially in the Caribbean.

The beach in general is great for anyone’s mental health. The water is a clear-blue and you can see fish and rocks without goggles. You can wade out quite far at low tide and still be able to touch the sandy floor of the ocean. And if you can’t touch, it’s easy to find a rock to stand on, just be careful of fish nibbling at your toes!

I took advantage of being closer to the equator and soaked up some rays of vitamin D from the sun… Maybe too many rays as I burnt my skin on the very first day. Oops. Thankfully we brought aloe vera with us. I learned the valuable lesson that one should apply sunscreen to their armpits…

Being on the island made me feel like my anxiety was melting away with each new day. I felt so relaxed and free.

On Saturday, we woke up at 5am to go on a hike in St. George. The hike was almost 5 miles long! We trekked through sugar cane fields and on some surrounding roads, as well as going through a gully and walking through a polo horse farm and witnessing a broad green polo field on our walk. I felt so productive after that hike, especially because I walked the whole thing in a pair of Chuck Taylor’s (not hiking shoes.)

After our hike we went over to Brighton Market to get something for breakfast. I got banana bread and it was delicious! That evening, we went to Holetown to go to dinner at a fancy restaurant called The Mews, but first we went to a bar and ordered margheritas (mine was virgin of course because I am on Revia.)

That’s one thing I really missed out on during out trip- the drinking. I miss alcohol. I can’t consume it now because of the Revia (it would make me very very sick) but I wish I could have drank wine with Monica and my mother at night and at restaurants. I felt fancy enough with my virgin margherita though. I felt very adult-ish. I mean, heck, I am 20 years old now!

On Sunday we went to explore the incredible Harrison Caves in the middle of the island. This was a magnificent experience. We were several hundred feet below the surface observing stalagmites and stalactites formed by calcium deposits in the water dripping through limestone. It is said the water that drips on you in the caves makes you younger. These magnificent caves reminded me of how small I really am in the world, and that I am no match for Mother Nature. This is a good thing, I think.

After the caves, Monica took us to a restaurant on the east coast called Atlantis. I had some of the best curry and roti of my life there! I tried macaroni pie, and pumpkin fritters as well. The food was excellent, but the view of the white capped waves was even better. Afterwards, we drove through Bathsheba along the coast and I witnessed lots of brightly colored houses. When we got home, we took a nap- all of us.

Monday morning, the day of our departure, we got up early and went to the beach one last time. It was lovely and at low tide. The water felt warm and the breeze was cool. I did a headstand on the beach just for kicks. I really enjoyed our last moments at the beach.

A lot of this article is simply me telling about my time in Barbados, but truly, this trip helped my mental health by allowing me time to give my mind some peace and rest that it needed so greatly. I feel so much happier at the end of my summer than I did at the beginning of it. And that, my friends, is progress.

Broken BPD Butterfly 🦋

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Faking it ’til I make it. Just another girl on a self-love journey who’s looking to share her story.

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