Day 1:
"I'm going to write so much after this trip.” - Me, circa September 2016, after my most recent post.
It took nine months of writer’s block, regret/surprise from the auto-renewal charge from Squarespace and half a year of sitting on my PTO, but I’m back. This time, we’re off to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The people I’ve told about this vacation fall into two groups.
The first thinks I’m going to Mexico (I’m not) and makes jokes about how tan I’ll be when I return (I won’t be)
The second tends to call this decision random and doesn’t understand why I’m going to New Mexico and not Old Mexico
*goes to the gym once*
The takeaway from this is I didn’t do a great job describing my experience after the maiden voyage to Santa Fe. Aside from getting eviscerated over a shirtless Instagram post at Ten Thousand Waves, there wasn’t a lot of discussion around that trip. Here's why I went back.
I’m not a very spiritual guy. I’ve never commented about the energy of a particular area. There are places that have made me feel better than others, but it’s always been more of a surface-level “I’m on vacation” feeling than anything else.
Santa Fe was different. There is something so unique and truly indescribable about the town and the surrounding landscape. I can’t articulate why, but I can confidently point to that trip as several of most peaceful days of my life. And since my anxious mind isn’t always so accepting of peace, making a tradition out of a short, annual pilgrimage seemed like a good idea.
This was the fourth take. For some reason, she didn't think this was a picture occasion.
So how did I kick off my peace pilgrimage? By forcing us to get to the airport two hours early so we could take advantage of our sweet new credit card perks. Marisa and I both found a way to rationalize getting cards with expensive annual fees so we could travel like assholes. Just look at the happiness caused by free sparkling wine in an overcrowded airport lounge.
One-thousand combined dollars (annually) well spent!
We arrived in Albuquerque around 7:30 p.m., and decided last night that we would grab traditional New Mexican food nearby before the one-hour drive to Santa Fe. And if we’re being very real with each other, I actually planned out exactly when I would allow myself to eat New Mexican food during our stay.
Why? Look at this plate:
RIP my stomach. You would have to stretcher me out of bed if I didn’t set some limits.
Until tomorrow.