Mindful Traveling
It’s Not a Vacation
It’s life in a vacation spot
We’ve all seen quotes like this floating around the internet:
“I’ve decided I no longer want to be an adult.
If anyone needs me, I’ll be on the beach building sandcastles.”
There are so many images and quotes about dropping out of the real world to move to an island. As if you no longer have to “adult.” As if the sand and salt air are some force field, protecting you from any pain or challenges that life throws at you.
Sure, you can drop out of the real world, but you can’t drop out of life. Even though we dropped out, we have friends and family back in the states still fighting the good fight. As we are living here, they are living there. And since we don’t live in a bubble, we know all about their challenges, illnesses, and heartbreaks.
You can leave a job, a house, a car, even a partner, but you cannot leave life behind. Life follows you wherever you go.
You can’t escape life. You have to be happy with living.
When people go on vacation to a tropical island, they CAN escape life. That’s what vacations are for. I see tourists in San Pedro had the time of their lives. Drinking in every moment of their tropical escape and filling up on rum because they are here to escape their real-world life.
But when you live in paradise? It’s not a vacation.
It’s life in a vacation spot. There’s a big difference.
Despite what most people think, we don’t spend every day lounging in hammocks, drinking umbrella drinks while wearing floral shirts, and listening to Jimmy Buffet music. (Shocking, right?)
We LIVE here, which means we really LIVE here.
We work and pay bills. We shop for groceries and wait in lines at banks. We volunteer at schools and clean up the beaches. Our golf carts break down. Our boat docks and businesses get destroyed by hurricanes. Our sweet dogs get old and arthritic.
Our dear friends get sick. And some even pass on before their time. For some reason, friends on an island are more than just friends. They are our island family. And when one hurts, we all hurt. We feel such a connection with everybody. It’s hard to explain.
Recently we lost Big Eric. The most loving, generous, and happy soul. Our little island is grieving because we all know our home will never be the same. When you see people almost every day and wave to them as you pass by on a golf cart, it is glaringly obvious when there is a missing nut from your coconut tree.
We don’t like losing our coconuts.
Some we lose to new life adventures and others to divorce. Maybe it’s because our island community is so small that the voids (the missing nuts) are even more obvious.
Here’s a picture of part of our island family before one of our Christmas Eve toy giveaways:
We are all a bunch of misfits, but we all fit together perfectly. We wish it were possible to put into words why everyone we know is family to us. We feel this incredible connection and are so grateful to be so accepted and loved by all of them.
Through all of the best times and the worst of times and the “can’t remember what happened” times, we always have each other.
If you’re planning to drop out of your “real world” and move to an island, always remember:
Life’s better on the island. But it’s still life.
Sign up for our new newsletter to stay informed with up-to-date curations from our editors:👇
