My Perfect Day

Day 5 of the 30 day Blog Challenge. Today you will see posts for day 5 and 6 then by tomorrow you will see 7 and 8 and then I will be all caught up so you'll only see 1 post a day.

So.....sit back, relax and come away with me.  Let us enter the world of fantasy as I spin a yarn and describe to you my perfect day.

I awaken to the sound of the surf lapping upon the shore.  It is early morning on Isabela Island, one of the Islands in the Galapagos chain of islands.  I am staying in a small house on the beach that we purchased a few months ago.  It is very simple, two bedrooms with french doors to allow the breezes to flow through, a large open plan living area that has folding doors on three of the four sides.  These doors are folded open most of the time unless we are experiencing one of our lovely tropical storms.  The floor throughout our cottage is a natural brown german tile.  It feels fantastic under foot and keeps the place cool in the summer and warm in the winter, not that we have much winter.

The first thing I notice as I awaken is the smell of the ocean, I love the briny smell of the ocean, it makes my nose tingle with joy.  I stretch, get out of bed and pad out onto the patio where my husband Wade is sitting enjoying a morning cup of coffee.

"I was going to bring you coffee in bed", he says, "but you looked like you needed to sleep a little longer today."

I yawn and smile.  "Yes" I say, "yesterday was a long day".

I have just flown back from a speaking engagement in the United States.  In the three weeks I was gone I travelled from Houston to Chicago to New York, Philadelphia, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.  My flight back from Los Angeles although long was uneventful and I am thrilled to be back in paradise.

Wade brings me coffee and we sit quietly watching the birds flit in and out of the surf.  It is only 6:00 on the west coast, too early for me to check in with my Vancouver based team to see how the feedback has been from this particular tour.

I think I will spend the morning relaxing with the kids today.  They are here during the Christmas break and I cannot wait to play in the waves with them.  Being typical teenagers, they are still sleeping so I get to enjoy some quiet time with Wade first.

 After a while I walk into the bedroom and grab my laptop.  The sun is beginning to get quite hot, but our patio is still a little shady so I curl up on the outdoor couch and check my email.  I have a request from The Africa Adventure Company to join them on a safari in January and to write about my experience on my travel blog.  This along with a confirmation from Princess Cruises that I am to join them as a guest on their 16 day South Pacific and New Zealand Cruise on February 25th.  I am thrilled to know these two jobs are coming up for me, however the logistics might be a little challenging.  Nothing I can't figure out though.

I log onto my Amazon author page to check book sales of my latest novel and am thrilled to see a large increase in sales for December and it is only mid-month.  After a quick check in on my kindle site I close my laptop and walk down to the oceans edge.  It is lovely and warm, I let the water lap against my knees as I look off into the distance.  The fishermen are starting to come back in now, it doesn't look like they had the greatest of days out there today.  Smiling I turn to the sound of my children's voices.  They have come out onto the patio and are arguing about what to do today.  Ben want's to go surfing and Kate wants to go into Peurto Villamil and do some shopping.  Some things never change.

After a quick breakfast of Mango's, Guava's, fresh croissants, more coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice we sit down to plan the rest of the day.  It is decided that while the waves are good we will do some morning surfing and then go into town for lunch, shopping and to pick up some supplies.

Surfing is a blast, I'm just starting to get the hang of it and constantly fall off, but the kids really know what they are doing.  Kate has this terrific new board that not only looks great, but keeps her going much longer than her old one.  Wade watches and takes photographs of us as we get tossed around in the surf.  It is exhausting and by noon we are sunned and surfed out.

We take a quick shower in the outdoor shower and drive into town for lunch.  The drive is only thirty minutes, but it is bumpy and dusty.  On the way we pass a local stand where we pick up fresh fruit for tomorrow and chat with a few of the local characters.  They are lovely people, very pleasant, easy going and love chatting about the great fruit they grow.

Puerto Villamil is busy today.  Lots of tourists here for the holiday season.  We have a relaxing lunch at Beto's Beach Bar.  It is lovely, right on the beach, the food is simple and the cocktails are fabulous.  Although at this hour I settle for a simple pineapple juice and soda.  The kids run off to do some shopping and I go to the post office to see if they have mail for me.  No such thing as delivery here and the mail can take a long time to get here.  There are a few letters in the mail, some advertising from suppliers wanting me to write about their resorts and finally a nice cheque from a client in the US who I did a two day speaking event for.  This particular client hires me twice a year to speak at their sales events in both Florida and Texas, so it is a regular contract, but they take a while to pay.

We head back to the house for the afternoon and while the kids go down to see the family a mile down the road I sit down to write my latest article for AFAR Travel Magazine.  The breeze has stopped blowing and the afternoon is hot and still.  I can smell the heat emanating from the sand and can feel a small rivulet of sweat trickle down my back.  Still, you can't beat this for a day in paradise, sitting here on the patio, the great expanse of the ocean in front of me, a cold drink beside me and some wonderful Lana Del Rey playing in the background.

My lovely husband is relaxing inside, it's nice to have a few weeks together now before he has to go back to Australia for work in January.  I will miss him, but look forward to our reconnecting in Sydney so he can join me on the South Pacific cruise.

The afternoon passes quickly and just before six the sun begins it's quick decent.  The kids come running home down the beach and we begin preparations for dinner.  I love the food in this part of the world and we live primarily on fresh fruit, salads and fish.  Tonight however Wade is creating a wonderful meal for us on the BBQ.  There is nothing like the smell of the BBQ wafting through the air tempting our tummies as I cut up the fruit and Kate creates a magical salad.

Dinner is a quiet affair once again on the patio that is now lit up by tiki torches.  The moon is out and we can see the Ocean gently making it's way up and down the shore, we can hear the sound of the surf and smell the salty air.  This truly is paradise.  After dinner the kids disappear to "play on their devices" and Wade and I pour ourselves a glass of wine and take a lovely stroll down the beach.  I cannot believe we have managed to do this.  To create this perfect life for ourselves.  We hold hands and marvel at how blessed we are.  Yes, there is still lots of hard work involved and times when we are apart, but in the end, to come back here makes it worth it.

Wade takes me in his arms and we make love gently on the sand.  All is well in my world I think as I forget about everything for a while and drift of in his arms.

This is a great ending to a perfect day.

Love, Life, Peace and Happiness!