When I discovered that the travel site Trippando along with Travel – Moments in Time was hosting a contest on the topic of ‘beaches’, I couldn’t resist. Not simply because I love to write about travel and have walked many a beach in my life, but because the grand prize is a stay at Elba Island’s fabulous Acacie resort. Another beach I hope to explore!

Walk of Life

I grew up on the vast sandy stretches of the Hamptons, the South Fork of Long Island, New York. These beaches became my home. Often I would stare at the sea and dream of the infinity that lay beyond. Perhaps within this infinity lay my future, and I tried to catch a glimpse. And always, I would walk.

The years passed and my walk continued. Year after year upon the same calming shores. With the sands at my feet and the whispers of the ocean my solace, I knew this was my place. And yet.

It was not until I left those shores for others much less familiar and comforting that life began to reveal itself. Perhaps the whispers had provoked my fate, knowing better than I that my walk was longer than the sands of only one beach. And so I continued, barefoot and curious, upon the shores of Brazil’s remote Fernando de Naronha, Bali’s kaleidoscopic sands, Thailand’s multifarious banks, Australia’s rugged paradise, Mexico’s tropical landscape, into Italy’s dramatic coastline.

Fernando de Naronha, Brazil

Monterosso al Mare, Italy

My walk led me from one beach to another. Each more intriguing and revealing than the last. The whispers continued, and I embraced their varied tones.

Tulum, Mexico

I returned to my beach. The one I once called home. And again. But this time I was not alone. A set of footsteps, slightly larger than my own, found their way alongside mine. My walk of life continued, in the same place it had started. The whispers now, were our own.

Westhampton Beach

Since then my walk has led me to the enchanting shores of Corsica and the Greek Isles. As life evolves the walk continues, to beaches yet to be discovered.