But there is something about that phrase, when applied to travel in particular, that makes it feel undesirable to me.

Frankly, that phrase doesn’t make me want to travel. It makes me wonder, what kind of discomfort am I in for? And why would I want to be uncomfortable on my vacation?

At the root of it, the phrase is telling us to try something new, do something different, and go somewhere we’ve never gone before. Now, that sounds exhilarating and wonderfully escapist – not uncomfortable.

When you are in a new place, you have to be more aware of your surroundings. Like a meditation practice, you have to be hyper present. Everything is new. You come alive. And you turn into a child again – if only for a short time – observing and relishing the most mundane details of life.

And inevitably, travel lets stress and discomfort experienced in daily life melt away into the background.

So I’d prefer using a different phrase when talking about the benefits of travel. How about “exploring the unknown,” “feeling like a kid again,” “coming alive”, “escaping”, or “feeling freedom”?

What about you? What phrase or perspective inspires you to travel?

That’s me swinging on a Tarzan swing in the Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica.

I’ll be posting a video from this series every Tuesday.

Subscribe to my blog to get notifications when I post by entering your email address above on the right where it says FOLLOW THIS BLOG. Or click the LIKE button to follow Travel with Kate on Facebook. Look for the FB Like Button in the right hand column of any page.

I’ll be posting a video from this series every Tuesday.

Subscribe to my blog to get notifications when I post by entering your email address above on the right where it says FOLLOW THIS BLOG. Or click the LIKE button to follow Travel with Kate on Facebook. Look for the FB Like Button in the right hand column of any page.

Here is the link for the Velib bike system just in case you want to buy a pass! http://en.velib.paris.fr/

I’ll be posting a video from this series every Tuesday.

Subscribe to my blog to get notifications when I post by entering your email address above on the right where it says FOLLOW THIS BLOG. Or click the LIKE button to follow Travel with Kate on Facebook. Look for the FB Like Button in the right hand column of any page.

I’ll be posting a video from this series every Tuesday.

Subscribe to my blog to get notifications when I post by entering your email address above on the right where it says FOLLOW THIS BLOG. Or click the LIKE button to follow Travel with Kate on Facebook. Look for the FB Like Button in the right hand column of any page.

I’ll be posting a video from this series every Tuesday.

Subscribe to my blog to get notifications when I post by entering your email address above on the right where it says FOLLOW THIS BLOG. Or click the LIKE button to follow Travel with Kate on Facebook. Look for the FB Like Button in the right hand column of any page.

I’ll be posting a video from this series every Tuesday.

Subscribe to my blog to get notifications when I post by entering your email address above on the right where it says FOLLOW THIS BLOG. Or click the LIKE button to follow Travel with Kate on Facebook. Look for the FB Like Button in the right hand column of any page.

Next week, I meet up with a Parisian to talk about making French friends.

These videos are serial. So stay tuned for next week when I post the video where we consume these delicious treats.

You are probably now wondering, “Ok, how can I stay at that place?”

It is called Villas Balam-Ha and you can find it on Facebook here. From what I could gather, the property owners are Argentinian. So a little Spanish will come in handy for booking.

Villas Balam-Ha is 2o minutes from Playa del Carmen, 15 from Tulum and five minutes from Akumal beach. It holds up to ten people and includes a pool, wi-fi, tv, and telephone. Be sure to check out all their photos because I didn’t take any of the villa itself.

You can also stay above the palapa, which is what I have pictures of in my video. The bedrooms are just upstairs from where we were eating. The walls themselves are made of screens.

It must be majestic to sleep in the jungle and spend your days swimming in the multiple private cenotes at Villas Balam-Ha.

I hope to go back soon.

Click here to view my previous video about cenotes on the Yucatan Peninsula.