Casa Holistica Sol - Our Bed and Breakfast in Mexico

You know that feeling you get when you go somewhere for the first time and it seems like you were meant to be there? Everything is right in the world. Everything is comfortable. That feeling is what we experienced when we ended up at Casa Holistica Sol, the Bed and Breakfast we stayed at while in Barra de Navidad.

Lucero, our hostess, was a joy. We made all of our arrangements with her online via email which worked great. She sent Jose, a man with a truck, to meet us at the Manzanillo airport and drive us the 20mins. back to Barra de Navidad for a good price. (Side note: the Manzanillo airport is closer to Barra de Navidad than it is to Manzanillo). Jose's little truck was big enough for two people in the front, while our luggage and another person rode in the back. We spent about 10mins convincing Jose that TOIL would be happy riding in the back with the luggage instead of driving the truck of a stranger to a location unknown, in a foreign country. I have to confess, TOIL did have a look of sheer panic for a moment or two. Once that was worked out, we had a nice drive to Barra with a stop on the way to get some fresh coconut juice.

Lucero greeted us with open arms, got us settled in our spacious and clean room and sent us to eat at what turned out to be our favorite restaurant, Mexico Lindo, home of the best Camarones a la diabla (shrimp of the devil), dare I say, in the world. They were so good AND SO FREAKING HOT that I made TOIL swear that for the rest of my life he had to make sure nothing that hot passed through my lips ever again unless it was Mexico Lindo Camarones a la diabla good. I sweat my way through one whole plate of them, which was a holy experience to say the least. I digress, back to Lucero and Casa Holistica Sol.

Without a doubt, if you plan to visit Barra, we highly recommend you stay with Lucero. Her prices are very reasonable. The house is clean and conveniently located on the opposite side of town from the tourist area. Each room has a private bathroom. Every morning we had a lovely Breakfast of fresh fruit with yogurt and granola, bread, coffee, and fresh squeezed juice paired with great conversation. Good for body and soul. Speaking of body and soul, one of the many perks about Lucero and Casa Holistica Sol is that Lucero is a licensed massage therapist and gives an AMAZING massage. The house is about a 5 - 7 min walk from town, 2 min walk from the canals, 3 min walk from the bus stops and a 3 min walk from the beach. There was hardly ever anyone at "our" beach. Pretty nice.

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Have you ever smelled something that took you back?

Back to a time of innocence when everything was happy and good in the
world? This is TOIL smelling goat cheese which he claims smells like
an action figure toy of his youth. I asked him if the cheese tasted
like the action figure of his youth. He said no.

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Try as I might, I am still here in my mind.

And I'm ok with it. We are back from our 10 days of bliss in Barra de Navidad, Jalisco Mexico. While I am quite functional in my daily life, my vacation is still fresh enough for me to easily remember what it felt like to sit in the sand, watching the sunset.

Our "honeymoon" was filled with great people, adventures and a heavy dose of relaxation. We experienced plenty of local sights AND spent a lot of time doing relatively nothing. This is a change of vacation attitude for me. Until this trip, I have prescribed to the "lets take advantage of ______ and, come on lets go do _____ because who knows if we will ever make it here again" travel perspective. Things have definitely changed.

Perhaps it was the travel voucher that assisted with our new vacation attitude. Perhaps it was the location. Maybe I am getting older and a teeny tiny bit wiser. Taking a "plan less, relax more" vacation was AMAZING and our preferred way to vacation from now on. Traveling on the cheap was a joy and quite possible in Mexico.

My big take away from this vacation was the realization that I need to allow for more processing and transition time in my life. AND that I function so much better with less stress in my life. Go figure.

When, if ever, have you gone on a vacation where each day was filled with unplanned adventure and lots of relaxing? Where did you go and how did you make it work?

In the days to come, I will share more stories and photos of our trip.

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