It has been a busy, stressful summer and back in June I realized I was going to need the beach. From my earliest memories, beaches have been a big part of life. I have spent time immersed in ocean water and taking in the multiple soothing rhythms of breezes on the skin, waves on the shore and sunlight on the sand, nearly every summer of my life. I grew up near the ocean and never lived more than a couple hour's drive from saltwater until I was in my twenties. When I lived away from it, I felt the lack. When I need to relax, to truly relax, I go to the ocean.

Don't get me wrong: I love rivers and mountains and deserts and forests. All are incredibly beautiful and soothing, but none massage my soul like an ocean beach. When I had to move from New York, proximity to the ocean was a non-negotiable on my checklist. Seattle fit. While technically the Pacific Ocean is a four-hour drive from the city, the Pacific stretches its finger deep into Washington State to touch Seattle. It is a saltwater port. We get salt air and seagulls, fresh caught crabs and oysters, the sun setting over a sparkling sea.

What we don't get are warm water beaches. While the east coast of the United States is blessed with a plethora of them from Massachusetts to Florida thanks to the Gulf Stream, America's west coast has none. San Diego comes closest, but even there the sea is only warm enough to pleasantly jump in unprotected around Labor Day. Coronado Island is one of my favorite places to beach out, but only the week after Labor Day. The most convenient, easiest to get to from Seattle is Waikiki. It's a six-hour direct flight from Seatac that doesn't feel as long when you've been on 11-hour flights multiple times. In this case, it was just enough time to finish the latest Jack Reacher paperback.

In the same way that Seattle ticked all my boxes for a place to live, Waikiki hits all the non-negotiables for a beach resort:

Beautiful warm blue sea to cavort in. Check

Fine sandy beach to rest on. Check

Nice hotel to stay in. Check

Good food in walking distance. Check

Bars in walking distance. Check

I can do literally everything I like to do at the beach here: Play in the water; lay on the sand and feel the sun and breeze; people watch (the fascinating, the beautiful, and the utterly befuddling); eat and drink and enjoy briefly meeting servers and bartenders with personality; getting to know a little about a foreign culture and cuisine; stepping outside of my regular routine and doing whatever I want, when I want. It combines my two favorite human settlements: city and beach town.

And I get to do it all with My Hotwife, My Empress, my most favoritest person in the world.

I think I will use the next few days to write a series of small posts reviewing highlights (and possibly lowlights?) of the trip. Maybe pretend to be a travel blogger.