If you’re looking for the most relaxing trip filled with beach, sun, yoga, bike riding through palm tree roads, incredible food, and just straight up beautifulness (btw – who isn’t?!), then Tulum is for you.
Tulum is a very unique place. Nothing I can really compare it to, it truly is one of a kind. RuthAnne and I stayed at a place called Una Vida Tulum, which is off from the beach and more in the main town of Tulum. Una Vida was started by 3 people from Columbia who wanted to go there and create a beautiful, artistic oasis. The place is so perfectly put together with every detail thoroughly thought out, anywhere from the décor on a side table, to lit candles at night that light up the path to each of the villas. You feel like you are in a completely different world.
Everyone is also SO nice and so passionate about Tulum. You don’t feel like you are “tourists”, and instead you feel like new friends with everyone you meet. Recommendations come genuinely with no ulterior motives. Places aren’t trying to get all of your money but instead want to give you a unique, special experience.
Each morning we woke up early and had morning coffee while chilling on our private patio. I took the time to write in my journal or also read. It’s a nice time to just decompress and start the day, as well as enjoy the morning light, sounds and smells. We then did morning yoga at different studios in the town. Each yoga class was very different, one was in a beautiful glass studio by the ocean (Sanara), one was in a spiritual building in the middle of nowhere and was taught in half Spanish and half English (Holistika), and the third was right on the beach in the sand (Azulik – although this was supposed to be in their yoga dome, but unfortunately it was under construction – sad).
We had the most incredible FOOD! It was almost as if each restaurant had been cherry picked from a group of the best restaurants in the word and then placed in Tulum side-by-side. They each were so unique, with very detailed and creative décor. A lot of the time, the restaurants were just outside with chandeliers hanging from tree branches and you could look up and see the stars.
All of the food was so fresh! Oh my gosh, the avocados though – they were divine. You could taste the freshness, it was next level. I probably won’t be able to enjoy them the same now (kidding – avocados are life). The following are the restaurants we went to, with each of them being key recommendations for anyone travelling to Tulum!
Be Tulum - Right by the beach and very rustic beautiful decor. Amazing ceviche!
Mur Mur – we sat on swings at the bar for dinner.
Rosa Negra – probably the best dinner food-wise, if we had to rank. It’s Latin American inspired.
KinToh – best dinner for experience!! Mind = blown. If you don’t know this place yet through Instagram, I suggest looking it up. It’s part of the hotel, Azulik. Also – make sure you check out the yoga dome while you’re looking through the photos – breath taking.
Hartwood – It took us 3 tries to get into this restaurant! It was worth it though. It appeared that the chef designs a new menu every day.
Since we were in the main stretch of town, we also took some bicycles from Una Vida and toured around the shops as well as rode into the beach stretch. It was amazing! Although I think I lost half of my body weight through sweat. I literally have never sweat that much before – I thought I was going to turn into a puddle. Despite the heat, it was a very cool experience to bike through the town! RuthAnne and I also did some very successful bargaining. I think through my broken Spanish I kept asking for extremely low prices by accident (for example, I kept saying 30 pesos instead of 300). At the end of it, I knocked off about 1/3 of the price! Woot!
So basically, the beauty and the amazingness of Tulum is only partly captured in photos. The photos hardly do it justice, especially incredible places like Kin Toh. It is a perfect getaway! I highly recommend.
Escaping my new reality
The trip was better than I expected for being able to escape my mind. There were times where I had completely forgotten and was living joyfully in the moment. Sometimes the moments felt like they lasted upwards of an hour or more. I was blissfully feeling like myself again. Then came the confusion – “oh right….. of course, I have breast cancer and chemo is starting next week”.
The highs were high but the lows were low. When your bliss is interrupted with the reminder of cancer, it hits hard. You feel the disappointment run through your body, almost like an electric shock. I attempted to pick myself up with the thought of “well at least I’m in Tulum right now with breast cancer vs. at home in the cold with breast cancer…..” I tried. RuthAnne did a great job at keeping me distracted though and we were always doing something, never sitting for too long having time to get too deep into our looming thoughts.
I felt guilty indulging in all of the good food and especially the cocktails. I was counting the drinks like I was counting calories. Then I started thinking “Is this going to be the rest of my life?”, either I’m counting them and feeling guilty about them, or I’m just not participating in the fun of it at all. Which one is better? I made sure to have no more than 3 cocktails a day. I think one of the days I had 4, but we’ll just keep that a secret. They were just so gosh darn delicious – give a girl a break.
It was nice to be able to let my hair go free with the natural craziness of the curls/waves. The last night we went out to dinner, it hadn’t occurred to me that it would be the last time I’d have my hair like that for a long while – probably multiple years. It only occurred to me when I was on the plane ride home and the thought hit me like a wall of bricks. I started to cry – I’ll really miss those waves. I know the hair is going to come back, and that it’s just temporary, but it’s just the concept of it being completely involuntary and something that cancer is taking from me. My identity. Can they fix this whole hair loss thing already?? We’re making driverless cars yet we can fix hair loss during chemo. Figure that one out!
It was hard to decide whether this trip has made it now more difficult to dive into chemo – getting a taste of the good life, the life I’m supposed to be living right now – or if it will help me be prepared, making me calmer and having something nice to look back on. All I know, is that either way, I am definitely not ready for chemo.
Despite everything, I don’t think I could have picked a more perfect destination and a more perfect partner in crime to experience it with. I am so thankful for the opportunity to forget for a while and enjoy the beautifulness of life, both to be immersed in it for a while, but also as a reminder of how good life is and what is waiting for me on the other side of all of this. While I don’t think anyone can be “ready” for chemo, I think that you can certainly be in better spirits going into it.
Thank you, Tulum!!
Ah to be a travel blogger in a different life! must be nice.
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