Time has been on warp speed the last eight months. EIGHT months since I’ve thought of this blog, or recording our lives for the future. Since Colombia Wren turned one, started walking and talking. She has so much more personality now, and preferences (and opinions). She’s been changing so much. At 14 months we took her to Mexico, only 4 months later, but travel was completely different. This was the first trip where she actively participated, instead of just being brought around to whatever we were doing.

At first, Mexico felt like a cop-out. We couldn’t figure out what to do with only one week in January, so decided we’d just take it easy, rent an apartment in Sayulita and pass some time eating, hiking, and going to the beach. It was a strange choice for us I suppose, as non-beach people but we were at a loss, limited by time and weather. But it ended up being great. We knew the food would be good, that we could hike and do yoga, and that there were secluded beaches we could find to avoid the masses. What we didn’t expect was how much Wren loved it. She hit the beach running, quite literally, towards the ocean.  A lot of kids her age aren’t fans of the sand and surf, but Wren was in heaven. Even in strong tides that tossed her back she didn’t mind. She would point towards the vast expanse of water in front of her and say “wow.” She also enjoyed being in the town, we bought a beach ball and she chased it around the plaza, pointing out dogs and other kids. She ate her weight in guacamole and el pastor. She is very clearly our daughter.

The trip was a success, and luckily travel with her so far has been. It certainly isn’t always easy, she doesn’t sleep as well as at home, we have to coordinate her naps around activities and she doesn’t exactly want to stay up for a leisurely late evening meal. But she also breathes new life into travel. We had so much fun taking her to the beach and into the water, something Alex and I normally have little interest in ourselves. Seeing the joy on her face made us love it too. And exploring the world through her eyes helps us to slow down, to notice smaller things, to be present with her and each other. Certainly it helps she’s a pretty easy going kid. And we are so excited to share this world with her as she gets older. If we had to I would be fine to live in a small apartment for life if it meant we could explore the corners of the earth together. I still firmly believe travel is one of the greatest gifts we can give our kids. It’s one of our greatest privileges and pleasures to be out in the world together as a family.

So back to Sayulita. We swam, we hiked to the next town through the jungle (only getting lost once) and ate very well. A week is never enough time, but it’s what we have and it was a good break from the norm; the monotony of routine that we lose ourselves in no matter how hard we try. A small reminder the world turns outside of residency.