A Nice moment, did this really happen?

Have you ever had experiences in your life that when you look back on them, months or years later, they don't seem real? In the moment, everything is so perfect and amazing, and as much as you try to take it all in and preserve the memory, you know that it will pass by all too quickly. You cling onto the sights, smells and feelings so tight because you feel like it might be the happiest you will ever be and don't want to let it pass.

Walking into Vieux-Nice, back in time.

I am having a serious case of travelers' withdraw. I haven't been on an airplane in over 3 months! My legs are starting to become restless as I feel the need to venture to some unfamiliar destination.Moments like these call for endless Google mapping, travel documentaries, photo reminiscing and reading old travel journals.

As I try to find my "writer's voice" I bounce between vegan recipes, photography, travel, fitness and an array of other material. I feel like I am slowly zeroing in on just "travel" as all other points can fit quite nicely as sub-topics.

This post for instance, a travel post, also includes fitness, some photography and definitely some life lesson banter :)

Gorgeous streets of Vieux-Nice.

This is the excerpt from my journal that I love reading. Every time I do, it brings me right back to the day it happened. Regardless of how I may be feeling, as soon as I read the passage a sudden calmness takes over my body. I am taken right back to the sea, how I felt in that moment, and left with a craving to do it all over again.

Couldn't you soak in that water forever?

"As soon as I saw the water I immediately wanted to jump in. When we got to Nice we poked around in the streets and shops and did a mini-photo shoot in the beautiful cobblestone streets. We meanders through the maze of Vieux-Nice until finally arrive at, the beach! Everything about this coastline was pure bliss, from the perfect view of the stunning turquoise waters of the Mediterranean Sea, to the old beautiful building built right into the coast line. The Chateau towered over the city in the distance, and a waterfall up on the mountains was in perfect view. It was far away, but I swear I could hear the water rushing down. I never wanted to leave that sight.
I went swimming  for hours that day. The water was beautiful! I swam far, far out into the sea, sometimes trying to swim as far as I could before getting tired, or a bit weary of how far out I was. When I was satisfied with my location I would just let my body go and float. I embraced each wave as it rocked me back and forth and sent me on my way. My ears filled with water, so all I could hear was the sea beneath me, all I could see was the sky up above, and all I could feel was the hot sun shining on me and the cool salty water embracing my body. I have never felt more happy, more blissful, more perfectly content in that exact moment. My bliss.

I tried to use that feeling and free my mind for a moment. But, knowing that was near impossible for me, I used my state to think as clearly as I possibly could.
It all seemed so plain out there. I had a lot of learning and work to do on a completely personal level. One thing stood out above all else, I needed to be alone... I need to work on me, and I absolutely needed to start being happy. I felt like life is too short to not live every moment feeling how I did out in that sea. "

Mediterranean Sea, my bliss.

Road to the Mediterranean Coast, Antibes. (Photo by: Frankie Mo)

"Once we got back to Antibes and our campsite, I put on my running gear and took off for the coast. I ran and ran until I couldn't anymore. It could have been 10k or 20k, the adrenaline from my surroundings made my run full of life and powerful. I  stopped, took off my sneakers, socks, shorts and tank top and ran into the sea again. This swim topped the whole day off. There I was, all alone besides a few couples cozy up on the beach. Over to the left, in the far distance, there was a castle nestled in the cliffs, to my other side, a view of Nice extending to the horizon . The sun was setting, the sky became bright pinks and purples and I was just floating there, taking it all in, with a serene smile across my face."

The beach I swam in during my run, looking back toward Nice. (Photo by: Frankie Mo)