South Carolina Beach Yoga Trip

The beach is my happy place.

Remember when I said that my next adventure was going to be a big one?

Most of my childhood summer vacations were to somewhere in nature. National Parks, local nature preserves and lakes- camping, hiking, hanging out. This was before cell phones were around or were smart. And I grew up within a day’s drive of the San Diego area. Every year from my tween to teens, my vote was to go to the ocean.

The ocean never ceases to be interesting to me. When I get close, I roll down my windows and start sniffing for the smell of sea water. And when my toes finally hit the sand, I am usually mesmerized and wade in and out of the tide for a half hour or more, frequently with arms open wide. Yes, I am embarrassing. No, I don’t care much. 😆

This trip was the first time I’ve really done much outside of hiking and working over the past year, and to feel more comfortable, most of it was spent outside in nature in the Charleston, SC area. Days and evenings spent chilling and doing yoga at the beach or hiking, the heat of the day spent napping (yes, this is a valid vacation activity), and so much delicious food. An ideal vacation. Below is a video that I made from my first day at the beach. I’m still learning a lot about video, my equipment, and editing, but if you have five minutes to watch it, I think it made for a relaxing walk and beach yoga video.

As you might have guessed, I take great joy in getting upside down. So of course I took the opportunity to do so almost immediately in front of the ocean! Taking pictures and video in public is always a little awkward. I’m convinced I’m going to end up on an influencers in the wild post one day for my shenanigans, but so be it. I have fun with it and it is my creative outlet. But it sure felt extra weird being in such a public place after a year of not going out much! And of course, someone walking by in a group yelled out, “Oh! What is she gonna do?” LOL! No idea if my pincha and handstands were exciting for them or not, but again, I had fun!

About a year ago I was introduced to the idea of using points for travel. Now I am terrible at this! I’ve seen even since booking this trip where I could have been more efficient with my points, but not having to pay for a hotel is a pretty awesome perk and makes taking a trip that much easier of a decision. Hilton Honors seems to be a great way to go. The suite that I booked had a kitchen, a dining area, living room, bedroom, and a decent sized closet. I took full advantage of the space and did a little furniture rearranging. Don’t worry, I put it back!

One morning I walked over to a little smoothie shop (the Homewood Suites in Mt. Pleasant had a bunch of great restaurants in walking distance!) and grabbed some breakfast. Unfortunately sitting outside on a cool morning with a frozen beverage is not the most enjoyable thing to do, lol. So I headed back to my room, got a coffee from the lobby, and “chilled” until it warmed up a bit. And of course had to take advantage of the pretty light coming through the window.

I have this tradition when I drive somewhere of stocking up on local beers. For me, the little tchotchkes with the town names have become items that I never want to get rid of, but never want to display either. (I have a pink flamingo stuffed animal that says Florida on it in a box in a closet somewhere. Really, where would one put that on display?) Now beers are something that allows me to relive a piece of that vacation mindset. So, I went to the local grocery store and grabbed a bunch. 😂 I mean, it isn’t even spending extra money if you were going to buy beer at home anyway. So I’d like to think of this as another travel hack. 😏 Having a fridge in my room, you can see that I made good use of it.

Frothy Beard’s Sip Sip pass New England IPA and Commonhouse Aleworks The Air is Salty are my hands down favorites out of these. My only problem is that now I want more of them!

I have more yoga and hiking adventures in Mt. Pleasant, Isle of Palms, Charleston, and Awendaw, SC to share. Check back soon!