The Misfortune of a February Birthday
For as long as I can remember, I've dreamed of a sunny, 70-degree birthday. But, the chance of that happening in the Washington D.C. metro area in February is pretty rare. After all, we're notorious for having President's Day weekend blizzards around here. Making plans to celebrate was always a gamble; I still remember when the blizzard of 1983 postponed my roller skating party until April (ok, maybe it wasn’t that long, but it felt like it when you’re nearly 8 years old!)
As an adult, rather than wait for the weather I’d dreamed of to come to me, I started to plan getaways around my birthday. The first few times, I flew south to visit friends who lived in warmer climates; which was great until the year a friend and I flew Texas to visit another friend to only be welcomed with 40-degree weather. But, we had escaped ”Snowmageddon” of 2010 when the third blizzard that season dumped more snow on us just days before my birthday. Then there was 2015 when I convinced several friends to join me for Sunday brunch at a hot spot in D.C. for my big day. It was a momentous birthday, my 40th, and as one of those friends continues to remind me five years later, one of the coldest days of the year. But it didn't snow, I always answer; though I am reminded that I drove home in a crazy blinding snow squall the night before.
A Yoga Retreat had been on the "Bucket List" for a while...
I was going to give up that dream of chasing warm weather for my day when in 2016, the opportunity to spend the week of my birthday in warm sunny Belize fell
into my lap (well, not literally, but you know what I mean). It was mid-November and I was attending my semi-regular beer yoga class (yes, it's a thing) led by my long time yoga instructor at a local brewery. While we were enjoying our post practice pint, my yoga instructor told me about a yoga retreat that a fellow yoga instructor was leading in Belize a few months later. I'd been practicing yoga for about seven years pretty regularly at that point and had been thinking about combining my love for exploring new places with something else I'd also grown to love. Later that night, when I looked into the details of the retreat, I found that it was the week of my birthday- just the sign I needed. I reached out to the instructor leading the retreat and arranged to attend one of her classes a few weeks later at a local studio. After all, if I was going to practice with her for two two-hour sessions a day for a week, I wanted to see if I was ready both mentally and physically. We chatted after her class and few days later I sent her the money to secure my spot.
A different kind of adventure...
Although six of the seven other women attending the retreat were from my area, I did not meet most of them until a week before we left. Traveling solo had become my "jam" by then, so it was going to be different for me to be with a group. And I would be spending my birthday with near strangers. But I was escaping the cold, checking another country off my list (the 1st of 12 that year, 2016 was a big travel year) and attending my first yoga retreat.
We arrived at the rugged, organic Ak'Bol Yoga Retreat on Ambergris Cay after flying through Belize City and taking a tiny puddle jumper over the clear light blue waters of the Caribbean Sea to San Pedro. While I knew the retreat wasn't luxury, I'll admit it was a bit more basic than anything I had ever experienced before. I had requested a private, single room in their dorm style hostel. I had a single mattress on top of a wooden bunk, with a locker beneath for my suitcase. A bare lightbulb and full-length mirror rounded out the amenities. There was a large communal co-ed bathroom shared by everyone staying in the hostel. Basic for sure, but how much do you really need while on a yoga retreat!?
We practiced twice a day, once in the morning and once in the late afternoon on the grand palapa at the end of a 300-foot pier over the Caribbean Sea. It was the first time I'd practiced outside, and it set the bar very high! The gentle breeze from the sea was intoxicating and being able to glimpse the clear blue water between the slats of the pier while we flowed was incredible.
During our downtime, we often gathered at what I deemed "Central Perk," #Akbol's version of the famous coffee shop on the sitcom Friends. It was where we had our meals each day, where we hung out and socialized. The beach was right there and the view rugged and peaceful. The food was organic and tasty, though I did splurge for a beef and bacon cheeseburger later in the week; the drinks were tropical and welcome.
We ventured away from Ak'bol a few times during the week, often by foot. Early in the week, we discovered "Marbucks" run by expats from Canada where we indulged on fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. We ventured into San Pedro town by golf cart (which I somehow ended up driving!?) for an afternoon of wandering the shops. We spent an afternoon snorkeling with the nurse sharks and seeing amazing sea life at Hol Chan Marine Reserve. We wandered down the beach from Ak'bol to discover a local two-story bar over the water, where we'd return later in the week for my birthday to have drinks and so I, like so many others could leave my "mark" on the wooden railing.
To say it was a birthday to remember is an understatement. I started my actual day with two hours of yoga on our pier, followed by a massage and lounging on the beach with my fellow yogi's all of whom were warm and friendly. After a lovely dinner at "Central Perk" we wandered down the beach to have celebratory drinks at that two-story bar. The weather was warm, the air smelled of the sea and there wasn't a chance of a snowflake in sight! Finally, I found my dream climate on my birthday.
It wasn't luxury be any means; after all, I took a shower with a 3-inch long scorpion hanging out on the wall of my shower stall on my second to last night. Seriously, it became the fastest shower I've ever taken with one eye on that little guy the entire time. We were always sticky, and you just learned to give up on trying to do anything to your hair except slicking it back into a ponytail. But despite all of that, it was all about the experience, and the people with whom you share that experience. Looking back, I wouldn't change a thing. Except the scorpion. Yes, I'd leave out the close encounter with the scorpion next time!
Ak'Bol will always have a special place in my heart as it not only strengthened my yoga practice, but also introduced me to more friends through a common interest. The fellow yogi's I spent that week with were all wonderful people and all the yogi's I've met on subsequent retreats since then have been special, as well. I haven't made it back to Ak'bol as there are so many wonderful places to practice yoga in the world, but I may someday. It broke my heart that less than six months after our week there Ambergris Caye suffered a direct hit from Hurricane Earl, washing the yoga palapa we'd practiced under out to sea and destroying the two-story bar where I'd spent my birthday. The wooden railing that I signed my name on is forever floating out in the sea now. Ak'bol has since recovered and both the grand yoga palapa and bar down the beach have been rebuilt, although the I believe the bar is now only one-story.
While I haven't spent my actual birthday in sunny and warm paradise again since then; aside from a solo journey to an all-inclusive in Jamaica for a few days after my birthday last year, I know I will again very soon! It's been more about wine tasting in the last few years, which I'll combine with my love for warmer climates next February when I journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Chile for a food and wine tour. Join me to help me celebrate (I know, shameless plug!)
There have been two more yoga retreats since my time in Belize four years ago; and those have definitely been a bit more luxurious without sightings of scorpions hanging out on the shower walls! There will be more in my future, that I am sure! Yoga retreats, that is. NOT shower invading scorpions. You'll just have to follow this blog to see where I'll take my practice next!
So, Amanda, Araceli, Barbi, Karolyn, Kristy, Lauren, Sherri and our wonderful teacher, Kathy, thank you for spending my 41st birthday with me in beautiful Belize. Cheers to a week of wonderful memories.
"Traveling- it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller." -Ibn Battuta