Tulum.

This trip was one of my best. A few of us piled into a jet and flew down to México for some sun and fun over the Christmas break. After a seven hour trip to Cancun via México City and a two hour drive from Cancun, we finally took a left onto RT 109 in Tulum. This is a magical little strip of road parallel to the beach that's filled with smaller boutique hotels, dimly lit restaurants and some of the kindest and best looking squatters/swingers/hippies/philosophers/musicians/artists/yogis around. This part of Tulum is very different than the downtown area that I've visited twice before. Both are unique in their own way but our hosts at Casa Luna Limon, who own and operate a production company (http://www.gorilafilms.com), provided us with the opportunity to experience Tulum in the way they live it.  Here are a few highlights: fresh squeezed juice and chilaquiles each morning, family style Méxican dinners, dance parties on the beach, a super close call with two wild dogs, guided tours of cliff jumps-yep I did it-and cenotes (underground fresh water systems) that are not advertised to tourists (scariest thing I've done in awhile), knowledge of the best and cheapest places to buy ceviche, pool parties, taco lunch for 4 people for $13 bucks, a group bike ride past the check point to the Sian Ka'an reserve at the end of RT 109 for a ridiculous lunch on top of some hotel we didn't know existed and then a mad dash home at dusk on a dark, dirt road with no lights or reflectors on our bikes, a self guided tour of Pablo Escobar's abandoned home 'Casa Magna', evening music session including didgeridoo lessons for Kayte with some guys living in a tent city across the street from our place and then a moonlight jam session on the beach-for real, body painting, body surfing, skinny dipping, coconut harvesting, storytelling, some tequila and a whole lot of other stuff. Oh yeah...music, music, music--our hosts had the BEST taste in music and played it from about 10am-12am. Amazing. 

This was our lunch while visiting The Sian Ka'an Reserve. 

Kayte and Felix on our way back from Pet Cemetery Cenotes. 

Lunch in The Sian Ka'an Reserve. 

This ladder down through a tiny, dark hole in the ground led us to the fresh water cenote we swam through for about an hour. Clearance above our heads was about a foot at some points. Yeah. I didn't appreciate Kayte biting my toe 1/2 way through. We all made it and I'm glad we did. It was so incredibly beautiful. 

Here is Randi, Itai and Missy on a Tulum beach. 

Kayte and me, chillin' on our terrace. 

Missy and Kayte at sunrise.

Randi, Missy and me on tour with Itai.

Here's our rooftop terrace and a view of the penthouse. 

Every morning we woke up to fresh juice and coffee!!!

Here's Missy and The Ice Cream Monkey.

Kayte (my partially exposed butt) and D. Dave. 

The Cliff. 

More soon. 

Balance.

What does it mean to be balanced? To me, it means that you have a handle on the the various elements in your life and don’t feel that your heart or mind are being pulled too hard in any direction. More often than not, you feel calm, grounded, clear-headed, and motivated. The elements in life that require the most balancing can be divided into two categories: internal and external. Oftentimes, people focus on one more than the other. For example, you may find that you focus on external things–like work, relationships, and activities, and that you pay very little attention to what is going on inside your heart and mind. On the other hand, you may find that you spend so much time being self reflective that you sometimes miss out on the experience of living. Other people may be fairly balanced between the two but might want to balance out some specific elements within each category. Here is an outline to help us better understand the beneficial components on both ends of each spectrum.

1) Internal (Mind, Heart, Health)

• Mind: Challenging yourself intellectually vs. creating opportunities for your mind to rest
• Heart: Giving love vs. receiving love
• Health: Eating, drinking, exercising properly vs. resting and treating yourself to some extra yummies

2) External (Work, Social, Family, Fun)

• Work: Pushing yourself to achieve goals vs. seeing the bigger picture and enjoying the ride
• Social: Satisfying your social desires vs. taking time for yourself
• Family: Fulfilling your familial responsibilities vs. creating healthy boundaries
• Fun: Allocating time for things you enjoy doing vs. making sure you don’t overdo it

Both ends of each spectrum are actually positive; but if either side is taken to an extreme, something that is intended to be positive can end up being detrimental.

What works for some people does not necessarily work for others; and that one person’s idea of balance may not constitute anything remotely balanced from another person’s perspective. Create your own definition.

-Tiny Buddha

The Pricelow's Wedding!

Cristina and Jeff posted some pictures today of their beautiful (albeit soggy) wedding day back in August! Such a fun weekend with friends in the Green Mountain State. Cheers to the newlyweds!!

Go ahead. Punch me.

Long week. Feeling down. Goodnight.