Resort living for a week

In a single word, perfect.

That’s how I would describe the Xmas holiday week my wife and I spent in Mexico at the lovely Excellence Riviera Cancun resort about twenty minutes away from the Cancun airport. We’re not all-inclusive resort travellers by any stretch of the imagination, but on a few occassions, that’s exactly the kind of vacation we crave. We had a particularly hectic 2016 so the idea of laying around in a warm climate, reading some books, taking long afternoon naps and generally shutting off our minds was very appealing. With that in mind, we picked the resort and sprung for a room with direct access to a lazy river and its own dedicated sun bed. Ours is the one with the two blue pool floaties in front of the bed. We spent a lot of our vacation either lounging in the river or on that bed.

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A true vacation

December 30, 2016 – Puerto Morelos, Mexico

Maybe this trip has reminded me of the definition of “vacation”. For all the good in 2016, this past year hasn’t been a year of relaxation and this escape to Mexico came at the right, if a bit overdue, time. My feet are dangling in a pool, there is an ice cold Sol beer beside me and my wife is half dozing, half watching a movie on her phone on a sun bed behind me. This is a true vacation.

Excellence Riviera Cancun, Mexico

I guess I am a bit of a travel snob to have felt at least a little bit guilty in even calling this a trip. I know this isn’t authentic Mexico, but the moment I walked into the resort and someone handed me a glass of sparkling wine, I was immediately relaxed. With what has been on my shoulders this year – leaving a job, moving, starting a bigger job with more pressures, living without my wife and dog for nearly two months, Chewy’s death, making new friends in Saskatoon, selling our Halifax condo – this vacation is exactly what I needed.

Simple, uncomplicated down time. It has felt great to just shut off my mind and simply be for a week. Yes, there’s winter and work ahead back in Saskatoon, but after this vacation, I’ll be ready for whatever 2017 throws at me.

Writing his name in the sand

December 26, 2016 – Puerto Morelos, Mexico

I’m not much of a traditions or habits guy. That’s kind of obvious since I’m in Mexico rather than Nova Scotia over the holidays. This morning, with my wife showing no sign of waking up any time soon, I packed up the camera and headed to the water to catch the sunrise.

One of my very few travel-related traditions was forgone for a newer one this morning. Rather than dipping my right foot into the sea, something I’ve been doing forever when I encounter a body of water away from home, I crouched down and wrote Chewy’s name in the sand. This is my relatively new “Greg meets water on a beach” tradition – to pay tribute to a furry little guy who got into my heart, and won’t leave. In many ways, my 2016 was a year of saying goodbye, and the May 27th goodbye to Chewy was, and continues to be, the most difficult.

Alone on a Mexican beach, remembering my dog. The best dog that ever lived.

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