This past winter, Rob & I had the opportunity to take a 2-month hiatus from work. Neither of us could remember taking more than two weeks off in a row since way back when we were in elementary school. Even with summer holidays, both of us had always worked summer jobs… so it was a great chance to be able to step away from it all, spend some quality time together, explore somewhere new and take time to reassess.
With all of December, 2010 and January, 2011 off from work, we decided to spend 6 1/2 weeks down in Florida. Originally we had hoped to go somewhere more exotic (like Hawaii), but in the end, we decided Florida would be more affordable. Neither of us had ever been to Florida so it met our criteria of being ‘somewhere new’ as well as ‘somewhere warmer’.
We spent the first 4 1/2 weeks in Naples, using a rental condo as our home-base to explore up and down the Gulf Coast. We went all over the place – Marco Island, the Everglades, Sanibel Island, Sarisota, St. Petersburg and Tampa. Then we finished off our holiday with 2 weeks in the heart of South Beach Miami plus a drive all the way through the Florida Keys.
The biggest travel highlight for us was sailing (twice) near Marco Island… so sunny and blissful with lots of dolphin sightings. After that, I’d have to pick the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, the Wolfsonian FIU design museum in South Beach Miami, wandering through the historic Art Deco district plus the streets of South Beach in general.
Aside from the travel memories, I feel as if I came home with a clear sense of what my priorities are, and what I need to do to feel happy, healthy and balanced.
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