I must admit, friends, there has been somewhat of a lack of motivation on my part yesterday and today. It could be the lockdown, it could be the joy of finding out we’re having a baby boy, or it could just be “one of those days.” In any case, I chose to skip yesterday’s post to celebrate us finding out that Griffin will be a big brother in September, and we’ve chosen to name him Roman Ray Foster! If you follow us on Twitter or Instagram, you’ll know this already, but we just wanted to share it with those of you that haven’t seen it yet. Today’s post will be slightly different in the sense that I’d like to write about EXACTLY what I want to be doing at this moment. All of my ‘bucket list’ posts are places that I would love to see, but not all of them are things I want to do right this second. I’d like to plan them out and make sure we’re ready for it. For today though, this is what I wish I was doing to decompress from this lockdown. There are so many people that have had it more difficult that we have, and we are so unbelievably blessed to have had good health through this whole situation, but the recent week has become a little draining on our mental state. We’re still staying positive, but this is where I want to be to chill out and let go for a while 🙂 Here’s what we want to do on a vacation to Natadola Beach in Fiji!
You’re gonna love this……
Are you ready?
Just. Do. Nothing.
Yes, I did realize that that sounds like a cop-out, but I’m saying it anyways! One of the things that’s been difficult about this lockdown is the amount of time we’ve been searching for something to do, without letting ourselves just do nothing for a while. All of the parents will shout “AMEN” when they hear this, but having a toddler that does nothing but go makes it difficult to stop and do nothing at any point in the day, but especially when both mommy and daddy get to be home to play with him all day long! When I first wrote, “Just. Do. Nothing.,” I thought to myself, how does that even make sense right now? We have all day to do that, right? However, I can confidently say that we’re both more mentally drained right now that we’ve ever been.
To be 100% honest with you, when this lockdown first started, I was looking forward to the extra time at home with Rebecca and Griffin. I’d been telling Rebecca lately that I wish I could be home more and that my goal in building our business (and now this blog) was to ultimately free up our location requirements that are attached to our income, that way I can be with them wherever we want and still be able to work. The first few days were magnificent! Obviously, we were devastated at what was happening in the world, and we will never take that lightly, but I was able to be home with that all day long with nowhere else to be, even if it was a governmental mandate. I got to play with Griffin as much as I wanted, which I’m sure was a nice change of pace for momma, and her and I were able to go on walks together and spend much needed time together. However, there came a point, and everyone will know what I mean, when it felt like every day started to blend together: Go to be early because there was nothing to do, wake up late because there was nowhere to be, eat breakfast, play with Griffin, lunch time, nap time, play some more, dinner, and off to bed again.
Let me continue to make this clear….we’re so grateful that we’ve maintained our health so far, and we’ll continue to do what we need to do to make sure that stays the same for us and for those around us. That being said, we know we aren’t the only ones who have struggled with mental health during this situation. Here are a couple reasons why we want to go to the beach and do nothing for a little while:
- Mental health status
- We’re firm believers in “change is as good as a rest,” so even though we aren’t doing a ton right now, I think doing “not much” somewhere else that’s not home would feel fantastic, and…
- We’ve had so many vacation plans ruined over the last two years, we’re just ready for one to work out, even if it means flying somewhere with no agenda! We’ve had plans to go live in Europe for 3 months foiled, a trip to Disney that was interrupted by life, and another trip we were going to do to Disney this fall, which, for obvious reason, won’t be happening.
We just need a win when it comes to the travel department of our lives! Don’t get me wrong, we love being together, we love living in Indiana, and we’re genuinely happy people, but we just want to do life together in a different place sometimes, and that’s where Fiji comes in 🙂
Natadola Beach is widely regarded as the most beautiful beach in Fiji, so if we’re gonna fly all the way around the world, it might as well be the best! Here’s my ideal beach day:
We wake up, not too late, but not so early that we don’t feel refreshed (maybe 8:30 a.m.). We go grab breakfast, preferably one that includes some orange juice that may or may not be spiked….go out to the beach and toss the football around with Griffin. He can’t play catch quite yet, but he sure loves throwing the ball and going and getting it by himself! Then, we take that perfect Instagram photo, you know, the one where we’re looking out at the water with just our legs visible in the picture to let you know we’re really there? I like to be out in the water with my chair, enough that is brushes up underneath me, but doesn’t take me completely under. After beach time, we go to lunch and take a nap. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, we all need a nap on vacation! After nap time, I’m think some sort of attraction like zip lining in Nadi or taking a Fijan day cruise. I know it’s not “nothing,” but it’s more relaxing and less brain power than taking in a museum (I still love them, I just want to take my ‘nothing’ vacation first!). Afterwards, we go to dinner at one of the local restaurants. I want to go somewhere in Nadi that’s full of authentic Fijan cuisine and not geared for tourists (I’m seeing a restaurant called “Tu’s Place” that’s popping up frequently). After dinner, it’s back to the beach for an hour or two to take in the beautiful sunset. THAT…is my perfect day at Natadola Beach 🙂
Thank you for reading! Love you all!
Blessings,
Madison
fosterfamtravels.com 