i keep a diary

February 18, 2018

Five Days in Tulum

The NYC winter blues were hitting me hard so I booked a last minute trip to Tulum by myself for 5 days

Sunday, February 18th

Got to watch the sunrise as....
airport ˆ sunrise
...I ate my overpriced airport breakfast sandwich.
breakfast ˆ food ˆ sandwich
me
Excited for some sun on my pale winter skin!
airport ˆ me
Got an "official" Mexican snack when I landed in Cancun...
food ˆ mexican
...and then hopped on a bus to Tulum.
bus
Love me some Michael Connelly when I"m traveling.
book
Plane to a bus to a taxi. Lots of travel for that moment...
driving ˆ taxi
...when you finally get to see the turquoise ocean. <3
driving ˆ ocean ˆ taxi
Arrived at my hotel, Nueva Vida. (That's "New Life" for those of you who speak even LESS Spanish than me).
hotel ˆ sign
They loaded up my bag into a wheelbarrow and walked me through the treeline in the sand.
beach ˆ hotel
I wasn't sure if my room was going to be good, but when I saw the water...
beach ˆ hotel
...I knew I'd made a good selection.
beach ˆ hotel ˆ ocean
Unpacked and enjoyed the view from my bed!
feet ˆ hotel ˆ ocean
Walked through the cool, sandy jungle path...
hotel ˆ jungle ˆ sand
...to grab a bite to eat.
Tulum burger!
burger ˆ food
Spend the rest of the day reading and enjoying the ocean view!
feet ˆ hotel ˆ ocean

Monday, February 19th

Day 2: Excellent fruit and freshly-baked bread breakfast
breakfast ˆ food
Spend the afternoon enjoying the view...
...and mowing through this excellent historical fiction book by Graham Hancock.
book
Why do I like the beach so much?
beach ˆ feet ˆ ocean
Took a nap with all the ocean breezes coming in.
hotel
me
Felt good to have some sunshine seep into my skin.
bed ˆ me

Tuesday, February 20th

Day 3: I think I spent almost the entire day on this swinging beach bed...
beach ˆ bed
... alternating between reading and swimming.
beach ˆ feet ˆ ocean
My little cabana had this hamburger "mail flag" and if you wanted something to eat or drink...
beach ˆ flag
....you'd just flip it up in the air and then....
beach ˆ flag
...one of the waiters would come over and take your order. Pretty next-level.
beach ˆ food ˆ hamburger ˆ ocean
Finally came inside around 10pm.
bed ˆ laptop
Did some foam rolling on the balls I always travel with.
foam roller
me
Threw on my headphones and spend a few hours....
headphones ˆ me
...going through the hundreds of song sketches I'd recorded and making notes about the ones I liked most and wanted to keep working on.
songwriting

Wednesday, February 21st

jared
Day 4: After arriving in Mexico I'd found out that Gurj and Jared were going to be on vacation in Cancun. I convinced them to rent a car and come out to Tulum for a hang!
hotel ˆ jared
jared, jeet
Awww! Beach meet up! At the time Gurj & Jared were going through a rough patch in their relationship and it was really nice to see them and have some beach time together.
beach ˆ jared ˆ jeet
jeet
It was such a lovely surprise!
beach ˆ peace ˆ jeet
jared, jeet, me
Jared saw this photo and said "I look like a guy who hangs out in the parking lot and deals weed to the high school kids in my hometown." lol
beach ˆ best ˆ jared ˆ jeet ˆ me
jared, jeet
Such a solid beach day.
beach ˆ jared ˆ jeet
jeet, me
I love this photo! <3. My sister from another mister.
beach ˆ best ˆ jeet ˆ me
jared, me
Got showered and dressed up for an Italian feast.
jared ˆ me
jeet
My hotel's cool jungle lobby.
hotel ˆ jeet
I you haven't been Tulum it's still pretty up-and-coming. The main ocean-front drag where are the hotels are looks like this for like 2 miles and there aren't any sidewalks so you're just walking in the street with no streetlights.
walking
jared, jeet, me
walking ˆ jared ˆ jeet ˆ me
jared
Jared stopped to tiki torch-light...
cigar ˆ jared
jared
...his mini-stogie.
cigar ˆ fire ˆ jared
jeet
Stopped to take some pics of this woven art with mirrors.
art ˆ dreamcatcher ˆ jeet
me
"The cosmos is a multiverse not a universe. As are you." (Nice physical representation of Indra's Net)
art ˆ dreamcatcher ˆ me
We found our way to the winding, plant-filled path to Posada Margherita....
plants ˆ restaurant
...a delicious Italian restaurant that's right on the beach!
beach ˆ italian food ˆ wine
jared, jeet
Yay, so excited to have an impromptu hang with these two in Mexico!
tulum ˆ jared ˆ jeet
Food was excellent!
food ˆ italian food
jared
Right after our main courses arrived, this handsome lil cat-bro showed up...
cat ˆ food ˆ italian food ˆ jared
jared
...and Jared cat-whispered him into cuddling up.
cat ˆ food ˆ italian food ˆ jared
jared, jeet
Nice to see these two laughing despite going through a tough time.
best ˆ laugh ˆ jared ˆ jeet
After dinner we had a night cap on the beach and then walked back to our hotel along the water.
beach ˆ restaurant

Thursday, February 22nd

jared, jeet
Day 5: Woke up early and enjoyed coffee on the porch...
beach ˆ best ˆ hotel ˆ jared ˆ jeet
...with the lovely ocean morning view.
beach ˆ ocean
me
Got a little morning beach time in.
beach ˆ tulum ˆ me
A little before noon we hopped in Jared's rental...
rental car
...and drove ourselves over to...
driving ˆ rental car
...a nearby cenote!
cenote ˆ tulum
A cenote is sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater.
cenote ˆ stairs
You take the stairs down to the platform down below...
cenote ˆ stairs
...and then you can go snorkeling around the cenote and into the underground caves.
cenote
There are tons of turtles vibing.
cenote ˆ turtle
After the cenote, on our way back we stopped at the walled Mayan archaeological site at Tulum National Park.
ruins ˆ tulum
We took a tour and learned about the mostly-ceremonial city that was inhabited from 560 until the Spaniards took it over in the early 1500s.
ruins ˆ tulum
There are giant iguana everywhere sunning themselves on the walls.
iguana ˆ lizard
me
Me trying to take a photo on the beach without my sunglasses is Squintsville
beach ˆ squinty ˆ me
View of the coastal look-out wall.
ruins ˆ tulum
On the way out we spotted the Mexican cousin to the raccoon...
coati
...the coati (or coatimundi)!
coati
jared, jeet, me
FRONZ!
jared ˆ jeet ˆ me
On our way out we watched some locals perform the Danza de los Voladores (the dance of the flyers) where four guys descend from a thirty-foot pole while spinning upside-down and a fifth guy stands up top playing a flute. People think it's a 600 year-old ritual to ask for rain.
We got back to my hotel at 6:30 and packed up our things to head to Cancun. Said farewell to my favorite lil beach bed. (whispers: I'll miss you)
beach ˆ bed ˆ ocean ˆ tulum
Tulum sent us off with a rainbow that appeared out of nowhere as we were loading up the car.
rainbow ˆ tulum
jared, jeet
We made it to Gurj & Jared's hotel in Cancun...
driving ˆ jared ˆ jeet
...a little after 9pm.
hotel ˆ sign
Hit up the hotel restaurant for this bomb flank steak with mole sauce.
food ˆ steak
jared, jeet
And then we had a late night hot tub session!
hot tub ˆ hotel ˆ jared ˆ jeet

Friday, February 23rd

Day 6: My flight wasn't until the early afternoon and the hotel was close to the airport...
beach ˆ cancun ˆ ocean
...so I snuck in a extra hours of sunshine on the beach with my lovelies...
beach ˆ cancun ˆ ocean
jared, jeet
...before grabbing my suitcase and heading home. Love you guys, see you back in NYC! <3
hotel ˆ wave ˆ jared ˆ jeet
Airborne over the jungle at 3pm. Nice lil vacay. Gave me the strength to finish up the winter.
airplane ˆ flying