June 4, 2025 • 15 mins
What do burning lady bits, Instagram expectations, and a slightly delusional travel itinerary have in common? Apparently… me.
In this episode, I share the story of floating in a natural salt pool in Mexico—something that sounded like the perfect slow-travel dream but ended up being one of those “why am I doing this?” moments. We’ll talk about:
• The gap between travel expectations and reality
• Why some experiences are better in theory than in practice
• Performing for social media vs. actually being present
• Letting yourself be disappointed (and still grateful)
This is a salty, slightly uncomfortable postcard about letting go of the perfect aesthetic and embracing the awkward, itchy, real stuff instead.
This is Postcards I Never Sent. Thanks for floating through this one with me.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Just floating in salt pools, nature's own spa day
somewhere in Mexico.
Getting in is cool, in theory.
In reality, the water was slimy,the wind was aggressive, and the
salt dried onto my butt likeexfoliating sandpaper.
I basically left crustier than abag of kettle chips.
10 out of 10 for the photos, 3out of 10 for the actual
(00:22):
experience.
Did I float?
Technically, yes.
Did I relax?
Emotionally, no.
Hey, I'm Krista, and this isPostcards I Never Send.
I'm currently somewhere in a vanbetween Alaska and Argentina,
emotionally and geographically.
This podcast is part traveldiary, part spiraling, mostly
human AF.
(00:44):
This is where I say all thethings I never put into
captions, the conversations Iwas too scared to have, and the
thoughts I scribbled intonotebooks that never made it to
the mailbox.
It's not about pretending I havethe answers.
It's about sharing the mess, themagic, and everything in
between.
I'm just trying to make sense ofit all, and maybe help you feel
(01:04):
a little more seen in theprocess.
So whether you're on your ownjourney, or just eavesdropping
mine, I'm really glad you'rehere.
Okay, so picture this.
You're scrolling Instagram, andyou see those white-rimmed,
uniquely shaped turquoise saltpools set in the middle of
nowhere with nothing but whitesand and peace and quiet.
(01:25):
Some influencers floating in onewith their arms spread like
she's levitating.
I saw that and thought, yes,that.
That is what I need.
I remember Will and I comingacross this place on Instagram
when we were scrolling lookingfor cool places to go in Mexico
and we were super stoked aboutcoming and we were excited to
(01:46):
feel like we were floating inthe Dead Sea.
We had pretty high expectations.
But there's a certain kind oftravel experience that lives in
the gap between how it looked onInstagram and how it felt in
real life.
We planned that shoot the daybefore.
I even had a vision in my head.
Float, drone shot, serene face.
Nailed it.
(02:07):
Until we actually got in.
We even stopped by that day toget some ideas.
I dipped my hand in the waterand it came out feeling slimy
and just downright disgusting.
I thought, wow, this mightactually be hell.
but I told myself it has to justbe the surface.
The next day came, the wind wasstill wild and it was our last
(02:28):
day in the area so it was now ornever.
So we made our way back to thesalt pools.
What I had originally envisionedwas peaceful floating, warm sun,
a little meditative moment whereI'd connect with Mother Earth
and let all my tension meltaway.
That I would emerge like someenlightened salty goddess with
dewy skin and a whole newoutlook on life.
(02:50):
Cut to reality, I'm standingthere in my swimsuit, it's windy
as hell, my hair is slapping mein the face, it's chilly, and
all I can think of is this slimytroll I will emerge as after
this is all over.
But at this point, we're here,and I'm determined to get these
Pinterest board-worthy photos.
So I step in the water, the saltis sharper than a razor blade,
(03:12):
and I lowered myself in, slowly.
And inside my head, I'm justlike, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew.
Oh crap, it's not that deep.
How am I going to float in thiswithout cutting up myself from
this razor sharp salt?
I kept lowering in until I wasable to lay back and float with
(03:32):
that last shred of hope thatthis was going to be some sort
of magical experience.
But what I got was slightly moreexfoliating.
The water was warm, to mysurprise.
Warmer than the cold air thatwas creating ripples in the
water.
I was trying to hold my posewhile trying not to float into a
(03:52):
jagged salt block.
Will was flying the drone and Iwas silently losing my mind,
wondering why I ever thoughtthis was a great idea.
Why I ever thought that floatingin this weird slime pit would be
sacred.
Will comes up so he can floatbeside me for some really epic
drone shots and accidentallysplashes nasty water in my
(04:13):
mouth.
The water tasted so potent andhorrendous I don't think I ever
had a flavor that gnarly entermy mouth.
Now I'm in panic mode,dramatically spitting this water
out of my mouth, wondering whatkind of crap I may have just
ingested.
I have no way to get this tasteout of my mouth other than just
spitting and spitting.
The taste lingered in my mouthfor quite some time after.
(04:36):
Now it was time to startrecording video and getting
photos.
I tried to act chill about it.
Like, yeah, I'm just vibing,soaking in the natural minerals,
letting the earth heal me orwhatever.
But slimy salt water was gettingin my ears.
Will kept accidentally splashingthe water in my mouth.
I kept floating into a saltblock in the water, which cut me
up a little bit.
(04:56):
The cut started burning, and itwasn't long until my lady bit
started to burn too.
Which was very concerning.
Don't ask me why or how, it justdid.
Don't get me wrong, the floatingfelt really cool.
Like being in the Dead Sea,which I'd never been, but that's
how I'd imagine it would feel.
At some point I had a minimeltdown to Will saying, I need
(05:19):
to get the hell out of hereASAP, my vajayji's burning, and
I don't like it.
This feels gross.
I hate this.
The taste is so gnarly.
The water keeps getting in mymouth and the taste is lingering
in my mouth and it won't goaway.
I need some water.
I need something to drink.
This sucks.
Why did we do this?
This better be worth the photos.
(05:41):
I just had to get out.
This is not what I wanted and Iwas so completely over it.
We didn't stay in that muchlonger since I really started to
worry about my health and whatmight actually be in this water.
It's one of those things wherewhen you arrive you just kind of
think what could go wrong it'sjust salty water right but it's
also one of those things whereyou probably should have
(06:02):
researched before going in welooked it up later and it turns
out the water should be justfine so we we ended up being
okay but finally it was time toget out and I was stoked to get
out but I knew it was gonna benot fun I wanted to come out
feeling restored.
I remember dipping my hand in,thinking and hoping, maybe it's
(06:25):
just the surface.
But no, that sliminess was afull-body experience, and drying
off in the cold wind was notfun.
We put plastic bags on our seatsin the van so we didn't get the
salty mess all over the materialand we hit the road to the
nearest shower.
One thing to know about me isthat some textures and feelings
(06:46):
can really bother me.
I've always been sensitive totexture and it's in a this
fabric is going to ruin my daykind of way.
I don't like dry ocean hams.
I don't like gritty couches.
My parents had a couch when Iwas a kid and I don't even know
what kind of material it was butI I avoided sitting on that
couch like the plague justbecause I hated the way it felt.
(07:09):
If I feel a texture I don'tlike, I cringe and tense up and
immediately have to rub my handsall over something else.
So sitting in slimy, saltywater?
That was a lot.
Especially the feeling it lefton my skin after I got out.
But the worst part wasn't beingin the salt pools.
It wasn't even getting out.
No, it was the 15-minute driveto the shower that felt like a
(07:32):
lifetime of feeling miserableand the itchiness that followed.
The itch doesn't start rightaway.
It sneaks up on you about 10minutes later.
A slow burn behind your knees,on your shoulders, your chest,
your butt cheeks, everywhere.
By this point, I was itchy andmildly irritated.
And by mildly irritated, I meanpretty spicy.
(07:55):
Probably spicier than the tacoswe had the other day.
The water in my hair was stilldripping down my neck and chest,
and as it dried, it crystallizedall over my body.
And let me tell you, these tinysalt crystals are literal
shards.
I found that out the hard waywhen I rubbed my chest, and it
felt like I just rubbedfiberglass all over myself.
(08:16):
Now my skin was burning amongsteverything else.
I was filled with deep regret,trying my best not to move or
touch my skin.
I was sitting straight up, didnot move, holding as still as
like a statue basically, holdingthe seatbelt so it wasn't
touching me, and I did not move.
I told Will I'm never doing thatagain.
(08:37):
That was stupid.
These photos better be worth it.
That sucked.
The water was probably so toxic,and then my head was just filled
with all kinds of thoughts likewhy was my vajayjay burning?
How toxic is this shit?
Are there all kinds ofchemicals?
Am I going to have a rash?
Am I going to die?
Of course, my headspace can geta little bit dramatic at times.
(08:58):
Meanwhile, Will is alsouncomfortable in the front seat,
also itchy, but also incrediblyhappy simply because he was able
to float.
But he isn't sensitive totexture, he didn't get water
splashed in his mouth severaltimes, and his man parts weren't
burning.
This was the one and only time Iwas aiming for the aesthetic
(09:19):
shot and he was going solely forthe experience.
Usually he is aiming for theshot and I'm there for the
experience.
At some point, maybe when I wasspitting water out of my mouth
and yelling about my burninglady bits, I realized I wasn't
even in the moment.
I was performing it.
I wasn't floating to connectwith the earth or have a sacred
(09:40):
experience.
I was floating because I thoughtthat's what I was supposed to
do.
Because it would look cool.
Because the photo would slap.
Because Instagram told me thiswas the vibe.
And I mean, it was a vibe, justnot the kind I was really
looking for.
Will was in the moment.
I definitely was not.
I felt like I'd been throughsomething, like I'd done a
(10:03):
battle with nature and emergedcrusty, confused, and slightly
humbled.
Finally, we made it to theshowers.
Will handed me my shower bag,and I scrambled to the shower
room and got straight in theshower.
Since I was trying to be morenatural by doing a no shampoo
hair care, this meant gettingthe saline out of my hair was
incredibly difficult.
(10:24):
To top it all off, the warmwater of the shower lasted only
10 minutes before going icecold.
I swear the sliminess stayed inmy hair for a good two weeks.
I was pretty hangry by thispoint, so we went to find some
churros and a torta to sharebefore I could finally ground
myself again and could laugh atthe unexpected, mildly
uncomfortable experience we justhad.
(10:45):
After all, floating effortlesslyin a salt pool is a pretty cool
feeling, even if you're gettingmouthfuls of water and certain
parts of you are burning.
The funny thing is, even thoughI was filled with deep regrets
throughout the experience untilI was able to shower and the
whole thing was uncomfortableand kind of absurd, I don't
regret it one bit now.
(11:06):
Because it was real, and therewas something so human about it.
Trying so hard to have a perfectmoment and realizing that nature
doesn't give a shit about yourexpectations and just
surrendering to what it is.
It was gritty and ridiculous andthe opposite of curated.
It reminded me of why I do this,why I chose this unpredictable,
(11:28):
sometimes gross, alwaysmemorable way of living.
I think there's something sacredabout experiences that don't go
the way you want them to.
They pull you out of the curatedversions of life and force you
to sit in the messy, weird, kindof gross reality of being there.
And that's where a lot ofself-discovery lives, in the
moments you expected peace butfound irritation.
(11:51):
in the days you wanted ahighlight reel and got a blooper
instead.
And honestly, I feel like Ilearned more from that weird,
itchy experience than I'dlearned from some of my most
epic travel moments I've had.
So in case you ever findyourself chasing the perfect
salt pool vibe or just chasinganything that looks better
online than it feels in reallife, here's a few things I'll
(12:12):
be taking with me besidessalting my hair for the next two
weeks.
First, lower the aestheticpressure.
Not everything has to beprofound.
You don't have to have anepiphany at every location.
Some days are just okay.
Some moments are kind of gross,but that doesn't make them any
less valid.
Second, don't ignore your body'sno.
(12:35):
Whether it's your skin, yourgut, or your intuition
whispering, maybe don't dunkyour face in this mysterious
body of water.
Listen, seriously, it might beokay, but also you don't want to
mess around and find out.
that could have been a very realand crappy experience for me.
Third, travel isn't therapy.
(12:55):
It's beautiful, it's healing,but it won't do the work for
you.
I think I went into thatexperience hoping for some
relaxing spiritual reset, andwhat I got instead was a full
body exfoliation and a minorexistential crisis.
Fourth, ask yourself why you'redoing the thing.
Are you doing it for the memory,the photo, the story?
(13:18):
No shame in your answer, butsometimes knowing your why saves
you from a lot of salt andunfortunate places.
And remember, that even ifyou're doing it for the photo or
the story, or whatever, makesure to live and be there in the
moment.
And lastly, disappointment isn'tfailure.
You're allowed to not love anexperience and still be glad you
(13:39):
had it.
Not everything has to be amazingto be meaningful.
So yeah, the moment didn't slap,but the memory definitely did.
And if you're wondering, thephoto was definitely worth it.
If I could send a postcard tothat version of me in my damp
towel, brushing shards of saltoff my legs and being mildly
irritated and filled with deepregret, I would say, traveling
(14:02):
isn't always going to be pretty.
Sometimes it looks like sittingin the wind, being wildly
uncomfortable, and realizingyou're still glad you came.
It's not always going to be whatyou pictured, and honestly,
that's where most of the goodstories live.
This isn't the moment you post,but it is the moment you
remember.
You'll laugh about this.
(14:22):
You'll itch, but you'll laugh.
And one day it'll remind youthat not everything beautiful
has to feel good.
Sometimes it just has to bereal.
I've learned to stop chasingperfect moments.
Perfect usually means curated,and that's not what I'm here
for.
I'm here for the salty, slimy,chaotic, kind of gross, but
(14:43):
definitely funny memories thatstick.
Literally and figuratively.
Not every adventure is profound.
Some are just slightly absurd,and that's the magic of it.
This is what Postcards I NeverSent is all about.
The in-between moments.
The ones that don't getfiltered, but stay with you
anyway.
Thanks for floating through thatone with me.
(15:06):
If this made you laugh or madeyou itch just thinking about it,
send this episode to a friendwho's ever had their
expectations hilariously crushedby reality.
And if you ever find yourself ina salt pool somewhere on this
big, beautiful planet, bring atowel and a way to immediately
rinse off.
and maybe some snacks.
Thanks for listening to mysalt-encrusted spiral.
(15:27):
If you enjoyed this, leave areview.
It helps more messy humans findthis show, and honestly, I'd
love to know if I'm not the onlyone spiraling in salty places.
Until next time, may your saltstay on fries, not your butt
cheeks.
This has been Postcards I NeverSent.
Just floating in salt pools, nature's own spa day
somewhere in Mexico.
Getting in is cool, in theory.
In reality, the water was slimy,the wind was aggressive, and the
salt dried onto my butt likeexfoliating sandpaper.
I basically left crustier than abag of kettle chips.
10 out of 10 for the photos, 3out of 10 for the actual
(00:22):
experience.
Did I float?
Technically, yes.
Did I relax?
Emotionally, no.
Hey, I'm Krista, and this isPostcards I Never Send.
I'm currently somewhere in a vanbetween Alaska and Argentina,
emotionally and geographically.
This podcast is part traveldiary, part spiraling, mostly
human AF.
(00:44):
This is where I say all thethings I never put into
captions, the conversations Iwas too scared to have, and the
thoughts I scribbled intonotebooks that never made it to
the mailbox.
It's not about pretending I havethe answers.
It's about sharing the mess, themagic, and everything in
between.
I'm just trying to make sense ofit all, and maybe help you feel
(01:04):
a little more seen in theprocess.
So whether you're on your ownjourney, or just eavesdropping
mine, I'm really glad you'rehere.
Okay, so picture this.
You're scrolling Instagram, andyou see those white-rimmed,
uniquely shaped turquoise saltpools set in the middle of
nowhere with nothing but whitesand and peace and quiet.
(01:25):
Some influencers floating in onewith their arms spread like
she's levitating.
I saw that and thought, yes,that.
That is what I need.
I remember Will and I comingacross this place on Instagram
when we were scrolling lookingfor cool places to go in Mexico
and we were super stoked aboutcoming and we were excited to
(01:46):
feel like we were floating inthe Dead Sea.
We had pretty high expectations.
But there's a certain kind oftravel experience that lives in
the gap between how it looked onInstagram and how it felt in
real life.
We planned that shoot the daybefore.
I even had a vision in my head.
Float, drone shot, serene face.
Nailed it.
(02:07):
Until we actually got in.
We even stopped by that day toget some ideas.
I dipped my hand in the waterand it came out feeling slimy
and just downright disgusting.
I thought, wow, this mightactually be hell.
but I told myself it has to justbe the surface.
The next day came, the wind wasstill wild and it was our last
(02:28):
day in the area so it was now ornever.
So we made our way back to thesalt pools.
What I had originally envisionedwas peaceful floating, warm sun,
a little meditative moment whereI'd connect with Mother Earth
and let all my tension meltaway.
That I would emerge like someenlightened salty goddess with
dewy skin and a whole newoutlook on life.
(02:50):
Cut to reality, I'm standingthere in my swimsuit, it's windy
as hell, my hair is slapping mein the face, it's chilly, and
all I can think of is this slimytroll I will emerge as after
this is all over.
But at this point, we're here,and I'm determined to get these
Pinterest board-worthy photos.
So I step in the water, the saltis sharper than a razor blade,
(03:12):
and I lowered myself in, slowly.
And inside my head, I'm justlike, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew.
Oh crap, it's not that deep.
How am I going to float in thiswithout cutting up myself from
this razor sharp salt?
I kept lowering in until I wasable to lay back and float with
(03:32):
that last shred of hope thatthis was going to be some sort
of magical experience.
But what I got was slightly moreexfoliating.
The water was warm, to mysurprise.
Warmer than the cold air thatwas creating ripples in the
water.
I was trying to hold my posewhile trying not to float into a
(03:52):
jagged salt block.
Will was flying the drone and Iwas silently losing my mind,
wondering why I ever thoughtthis was a great idea.
Why I ever thought that floatingin this weird slime pit would be
sacred.
Will comes up so he can floatbeside me for some really epic
drone shots and accidentallysplashes nasty water in my
(04:13):
mouth.
The water tasted so potent andhorrendous I don't think I ever
had a flavor that gnarly entermy mouth.
Now I'm in panic mode,dramatically spitting this water
out of my mouth, wondering whatkind of crap I may have just
ingested.
I have no way to get this tasteout of my mouth other than just
spitting and spitting.
The taste lingered in my mouthfor quite some time after.
(04:36):
Now it was time to startrecording video and getting
photos.
I tried to act chill about it.
Like, yeah, I'm just vibing,soaking in the natural minerals,
letting the earth heal me orwhatever.
But slimy salt water was gettingin my ears.
Will kept accidentally splashingthe water in my mouth.
I kept floating into a saltblock in the water, which cut me
up a little bit.
(04:56):
The cut started burning, and itwasn't long until my lady bit
started to burn too.
Which was very concerning.
Don't ask me why or how, it justdid.
Don't get me wrong, the floatingfelt really cool.
Like being in the Dead Sea,which I'd never been, but that's
how I'd imagine it would feel.
At some point I had a minimeltdown to Will saying, I need
(05:19):
to get the hell out of hereASAP, my vajayji's burning, and
I don't like it.
This feels gross.
I hate this.
The taste is so gnarly.
The water keeps getting in mymouth and the taste is lingering
in my mouth and it won't goaway.
I need some water.
I need something to drink.
This sucks.
Why did we do this?
This better be worth the photos.
(05:41):
I just had to get out.
This is not what I wanted and Iwas so completely over it.
We didn't stay in that muchlonger since I really started to
worry about my health and whatmight actually be in this water.
It's one of those things wherewhen you arrive you just kind of
think what could go wrong it'sjust salty water right but it's
also one of those things whereyou probably should have
(06:02):
researched before going in welooked it up later and it turns
out the water should be justfine so we we ended up being
okay but finally it was time toget out and I was stoked to get
out but I knew it was gonna benot fun I wanted to come out
feeling restored.
I remember dipping my hand in,thinking and hoping, maybe it's
(06:25):
just the surface.
But no, that sliminess was afull-body experience, and drying
off in the cold wind was notfun.
We put plastic bags on our seatsin the van so we didn't get the
salty mess all over the materialand we hit the road to the
nearest shower.
One thing to know about me isthat some textures and feelings
(06:46):
can really bother me.
I've always been sensitive totexture and it's in a this
fabric is going to ruin my daykind of way.
I don't like dry ocean hams.
I don't like gritty couches.
My parents had a couch when Iwas a kid and I don't even know
what kind of material it was butI I avoided sitting on that
couch like the plague justbecause I hated the way it felt.
(07:09):
If I feel a texture I don'tlike, I cringe and tense up and
immediately have to rub my handsall over something else.
So sitting in slimy, saltywater?
That was a lot.
Especially the feeling it lefton my skin after I got out.
But the worst part wasn't beingin the salt pools.
It wasn't even getting out.
No, it was the 15-minute driveto the shower that felt like a
(07:32):
lifetime of feeling miserableand the itchiness that followed.
The itch doesn't start rightaway.
It sneaks up on you about 10minutes later.
A slow burn behind your knees,on your shoulders, your chest,
your butt cheeks, everywhere.
By this point, I was itchy andmildly irritated.
And by mildly irritated, I meanpretty spicy.
(07:55):
Probably spicier than the tacoswe had the other day.
The water in my hair was stilldripping down my neck and chest,
and as it dried, it crystallizedall over my body.
And let me tell you, these tinysalt crystals are literal
shards.
I found that out the hard waywhen I rubbed my chest, and it
felt like I just rubbedfiberglass all over myself.
(08:16):
Now my skin was burning amongsteverything else.
I was filled with deep regret,trying my best not to move or
touch my skin.
I was sitting straight up, didnot move, holding as still as
like a statue basically, holdingthe seatbelt so it wasn't
touching me, and I did not move.
I told Will I'm never doing thatagain.
(08:37):
That was stupid.
These photos better be worth it.
That sucked.
The water was probably so toxic,and then my head was just filled
with all kinds of thoughts likewhy was my vajayjay burning?
How toxic is this shit?
Are there all kinds ofchemicals?
Am I going to have a rash?
Am I going to die?
Of course, my headspace can geta little bit dramatic at times.
(08:58):
Meanwhile, Will is alsouncomfortable in the front seat,
also itchy, but also incrediblyhappy simply because he was able
to float.
But he isn't sensitive totexture, he didn't get water
splashed in his mouth severaltimes, and his man parts weren't
burning.
This was the one and only time Iwas aiming for the aesthetic
(09:19):
shot and he was going solely forthe experience.
Usually he is aiming for theshot and I'm there for the
experience.
At some point, maybe when I wasspitting water out of my mouth
and yelling about my burninglady bits, I realized I wasn't
even in the moment.
I was performing it.
I wasn't floating to connectwith the earth or have a sacred
(09:40):
experience.
I was floating because I thoughtthat's what I was supposed to
do.
Because it would look cool.
Because the photo would slap.
Because Instagram told me thiswas the vibe.
And I mean, it was a vibe, justnot the kind I was really
looking for.
Will was in the moment.
I definitely was not.
I felt like I'd been throughsomething, like I'd done a
(10:03):
battle with nature and emergedcrusty, confused, and slightly
humbled.
Finally, we made it to theshowers.
Will handed me my shower bag,and I scrambled to the shower
room and got straight in theshower.
Since I was trying to be morenatural by doing a no shampoo
hair care, this meant gettingthe saline out of my hair was
incredibly difficult.
(10:24):
To top it all off, the warmwater of the shower lasted only
10 minutes before going icecold.
I swear the sliminess stayed inmy hair for a good two weeks.
I was pretty hangry by thispoint, so we went to find some
churros and a torta to sharebefore I could finally ground
myself again and could laugh atthe unexpected, mildly
uncomfortable experience we justhad.
(10:45):
After all, floating effortlesslyin a salt pool is a pretty cool
feeling, even if you're gettingmouthfuls of water and certain
parts of you are burning.
The funny thing is, even thoughI was filled with deep regrets
throughout the experience untilI was able to shower and the
whole thing was uncomfortableand kind of absurd, I don't
regret it one bit now.
(11:06):
Because it was real, and therewas something so human about it.
Trying so hard to have a perfectmoment and realizing that nature
doesn't give a shit about yourexpectations and just
surrendering to what it is.
It was gritty and ridiculous andthe opposite of curated.
It reminded me of why I do this,why I chose this unpredictable,
(11:28):
sometimes gross, alwaysmemorable way of living.
I think there's something sacredabout experiences that don't go
the way you want them to.
They pull you out of the curatedversions of life and force you
to sit in the messy, weird, kindof gross reality of being there.
And that's where a lot ofself-discovery lives, in the
moments you expected peace butfound irritation.
(11:51):
in the days you wanted ahighlight reel and got a blooper
instead.
And honestly, I feel like Ilearned more from that weird,
itchy experience than I'dlearned from some of my most
epic travel moments I've had.
So in case you ever findyourself chasing the perfect
salt pool vibe or just chasinganything that looks better
online than it feels in reallife, here's a few things I'll
(12:12):
be taking with me besidessalting my hair for the next two
weeks.
First, lower the aestheticpressure.
Not everything has to beprofound.
You don't have to have anepiphany at every location.
Some days are just okay.
Some moments are kind of gross,but that doesn't make them any
less valid.
Second, don't ignore your body'sno.
(12:35):
Whether it's your skin, yourgut, or your intuition
whispering, maybe don't dunkyour face in this mysterious
body of water.
Listen, seriously, it might beokay, but also you don't want to
mess around and find out.
that could have been a very realand crappy experience for me.
Third, travel isn't therapy.
(12:55):
It's beautiful, it's healing,but it won't do the work for
you.
I think I went into thatexperience hoping for some
relaxing spiritual reset, andwhat I got instead was a full
body exfoliation and a minorexistential crisis.
Fourth, ask yourself why you'redoing the thing.
Are you doing it for the memory,the photo, the story?
(13:18):
No shame in your answer, butsometimes knowing your why saves
you from a lot of salt andunfortunate places.
And remember, that even ifyou're doing it for the photo or
the story, or whatever, makesure to live and be there in the
moment.
And lastly, disappointment isn'tfailure.
You're allowed to not love anexperience and still be glad you
(13:39):
had it.
Not everything has to be amazingto be meaningful.
So yeah, the moment didn't slap,but the memory definitely did.
And if you're wondering, thephoto was definitely worth it.
If I could send a postcard tothat version of me in my damp
towel, brushing shards of saltoff my legs and being mildly
irritated and filled with deepregret, I would say, traveling
(14:02):
isn't always going to be pretty.
Sometimes it looks like sittingin the wind, being wildly
uncomfortable, and realizingyou're still glad you came.
It's not always going to be whatyou pictured, and honestly,
that's where most of the goodstories live.
This isn't the moment you post,but it is the moment you
remember.
You'll laugh about this.
(14:22):
You'll itch, but you'll laugh.
And one day it'll remind youthat not everything beautiful
has to feel good.
Sometimes it just has to bereal.
I've learned to stop chasingperfect moments.
Perfect usually means curated,and that's not what I'm here
for.
I'm here for the salty, slimy,chaotic, kind of gross, but
(14:43):
definitely funny memories thatstick.
Literally and figuratively.
Not every adventure is profound.
Some are just slightly absurd,and that's the magic of it.
This is what Postcards I NeverSent is all about.
The in-between moments.
The ones that don't getfiltered, but stay with you
anyway.
Thanks for floating through thatone with me.
(15:06):
If this made you laugh or madeyou itch just thinking about it,
send this episode to a friendwho's ever had their
expectations hilariously crushedby reality.
And if you ever find yourself ina salt pool somewhere on this
big, beautiful planet, bring atowel and a way to immediately
rinse off.
and maybe some snacks.
Thanks for listening to mysalt-encrusted spiral.
(15:27):
If you enjoyed this, leave areview.
It helps more messy humans findthis show, and honestly, I'd
love to know if I'm not the onlyone spiraling in salty places.
Until next time, may your saltstay on fries, not your butt
cheeks.
This has been Postcards I NeverSent.
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