I remember hiking with my parents and my Labrador. I would get too tired, and beg my dad to put me on his shoulders. I remember running up and down hills and chasing flies.

As I grew into an older child, I can recall hiking with my grandfather who taught me the difference between madrone trees and manzanitas. He would pick up lizards and let them bite his nose. We would practice reciting wild flower names. He taught me to walk in a zig zag down steep hills.

Eventually, in middle and high school when my parents were divorced I only saw my dad on the weekends. Our little piece of zen/bonding time would be going on hikes where I would spill my guts about school drama, frustrations with home life at my mom's house, etc.

As I moved into late high school and college I learned to translate these special times with my father to times with friends where we could talk about anything side by side while concentrating on the incline.

Hiking is now my biggest sense of therapy.

Later, we took a flight to Cancun and rented an Airbnb in Playa del Carmen, a city that is right on the Caribbean Sea. Playa del Carmen has a lot to offer - beautiful white beaches, coral reef for snorkeling and cenotes – underground lakes. It is a beautiful part of Mexico but unfortunately it has become very touristy. The ancient Mayan pyramids attract visitors from all over the world making them overcrowded and the whole Yucatan peninsula expensive.

At the end of our vacation, we flew back to Mexico where we spent another two nights and learned how to make churros through an Airbnb Experience.

The whole trip was a memorable adventure for the whole family.