The Best Books to Pack for a Week Away in a Tropical Paradise

A whole week away in a tropical paradise . . . It sounds like a dream right about now, doesn’t it? Flying somewhere warm and sunny ~ a Valentine's week trip just for your own enjoyment and burnout-preventing fun or a romantic getaway for you and the one you love. It probably sounds especially dreamy if you live somewhere where the weather’s been cold and wet for the past few forevers like me.

Taking a trip like that has been a dream of mine ever since my little family traded our full-time traveling wheels for cabin life in Maine back in 2020, but for one reason or another, we’ve never done it. Until now. Right after I hit send on this email, I’m packing my bags and boarding a plane for a whole week in a tropical paradise to rest, recharge, and find out what it’s like to hang out alone with the hubs for a little while.

Where to? I don’t know yet. I asked for a surprise and he planned the whole thing. It’s our 20th anniversary on Wednesday, and all I know is I’m packing my swimsuit, some sunscreen, and a couple of books I wouldn’t mind getting covered in sand. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world right now. So I thought I’d bring you along for a minute, at least for the “choosing which books to take” part.

Here are the books I bought to take with me ⤵

Any reading I do next week has to be only for fun ~ nothing serious and no book snobbery allowed. Since falling in love with Emily Henry novels a couple of summers ago, I’ve listened to Book Lovers, Beach Read, and People We Meet on Vacation at least twice each on audio. At the same time, I also fell in love with the narrator of those titles Julie Whelan and her latest title Thank You for Listening, too. So I knew buying the physical copies of all these books would be the perfect thing to get me into vacation mode. What I didn’t expect was that I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from reading them before I actually left on my trip. Oops! So. . .

Here are the books I’m actually taking ⤵

Thankfully I stopped in time to save People We Meet on Vacation for the trip. So that one’s definitely going in my bag. But when I went back to the bookshop for a quick look in the summer/beach read section, I saw these Carley Fortune books and decided to give them a go too. Or maybe I should just take one? Is it worth taking all three? Are these good enough for the space they’ll take in my bag? Gosh, y’all I don’t know. If you’ve got advice and can email me real quick, please do!

Here’s the book I can’t decide whether to take or leave ⤵

It’s not a fun book, but I might need it with me. Last fall, my wise and wonderful retreat partner Sara very gently, very hesitantly recommended Codependent No More to me as a personal growth boost, and I’ve been slowly creeping my way through it ever since. It’s been the perfect teacher, therapist, and friend for me as I’ve navigated so many feelings since launching my oldest kiddo into college last August. So it might be something I throw in last minute, just in case.

Here’s the book I’m stoked about coming home to ⤵

Simple Abundance has been my daily companion for just over two years now. You might remember the story of how I found it . Actually, it found me. I wasn’t looking for it. On a low day, I took myself to my local bookshop for a pick-me-up (as one does), and Simple Abundance called to me from a little table in the corner. It’s quickly becoming the most influential book of the decade for me and I’ll miss it while I’m gone, but I know I don’t have room for it.

Chances are you don’t have a tropical vacation planned for this week and you might be a little mad at me for telling you about mine. (Sorry!) But if it’s cold, wet, and dark right now in your neck of the woods and you decide it might be nice to at least feel like you’re on a tropical island in your mind, hopefully a few of these books will get you there.

UPDATE

A quick hello from Bermuda 🏝️ . . .

In last week’s email, I mentioned I was on my way to the airport to hop on a plane for a whole week in a tropical paradise with the hubs. The location was a surprise, so I had no idea where we were going. All I knew was the packing list—a swimsuit, some sunscreen, and a book or two. It honestly felt like a dream, something way too good to be true, especially for regular folks like us.

I was so excited I could hardly stand myself, and the next day, after a few million hours in airports, a couple of canceled flights, and a quick vrbo/hotel pivot (as so often happens with international travel), we arrived in the beautiful, sunny, majestic paradise called 🏝️BERMUDA☀️.

It’s been a glorious week, better than I dreamed of, and while I’m still here for one more jaw-droppingly beautiful day, I had to take a few minutes to send you a quick hello and tell you what’s on my heart this Friday morning.

Here’s a little watery sunrise love 🌅. . .

Here’s how the reading went 🤓. . .

Because I almost never check a bag when I travel (and therefore evidently prefer to carry everything on my back like a pack mule), I could only bring two books along. . . People We Meet on Vacation and the first Carley Fortune book. But I’ve honestly been too busy relaxing and staring out at the water to finish either one of them. It’s a good problem to have, maybe even my favorite problem of all time.

Here’s what’s on my heart 💓. . .

If you know me at all, you know travel is something that’s changed my life in big ways and has kind of become our family’s “thing”. But after ending our camper days (7 years of full-time Airstreaming) and trying to launch our teenagers into their own life passions, we’ve been floundering on the travel front. Which is why we’ve been saving and planning (& hoping & praying) for this anniversary trip for so long now. And although it was only a week, it’s changed me. And I’m more convinced than ever before of this:

“Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” ~Miriam Beard

Which means yes, I’ve already started hoping for (& maybe even secretly planning) my next international adventure—and People We Meet on Vacation was the absolute perfect book to bring on this trip.

Wherever you are this morning, whatever’s on your to-do list, or whatever worries might be weighing on your heart, I hope this email brings a smile to your face and causes hope to rise in your heart about something — maybe even about that big dream you thought was impossible but might seem a little more possible today.

Because if something this amazing can happen for me, absolutely anything can happen for you, my dear. Anything.

Sending sun & big sandy hugs your way

P.S. Early Bird Registration is happening soon for the Well + Wander Retreat in Bar Harbor, Maine on May 10-13, 2024. I hope you’ll visit the Well + Wander website and come chat with us on Instagram where we share all kinds of wellness inspo and retreat info. And I hope you’ll plan on joining me at Acadia this May!