The surprise discovery in Uruguay
Punta del Este Beach
I never wanted to go to Uruguay. Rather, my dream trip was to go to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil but my husband thought Montevideo, Uruguay sounded interesting based on a 2014 NY Times article. I reluctantly agreed only on the condition we could spend half the time in Rio.
We get to the airport and give the ticket agent our tickets when she asks for our Brazilian tourists visas. My husband who is very detail oriented, thorough, and fastidious and did all the organizing for the trip was stunned. “You have to be kidding me!," he exclaimed. "I bought the tickets and have been talking with ticket agents and tour guides and no one once mentioned that we have to have a visa to go to Rio!" The agent apologizes but states regulations are "we can’t let you on the plane without it" as she cancels our tickets and told us we could rebook it when we have our visas.As you can imagine, a flux of emotions went through me. I am about to cry; I am ready to strangle my husband; I'm uncertain of our options. How could he have missed this detail? My husband is an experienced traveler who understands the visa issue having traveled extensively on business to China and other third world countries. How much money have we lost and how much more will we have to spend to find another destination to replace Rio?And in the midst of all this, there is still another feeling arising - the thrill of an adventure.My husband suggests another location in addition to Montevideo, such as Panama or somewhere else in South America that doesn’t require a visa; yet, over the last month, I kept hearing about this beautiful resort area in Uruguay called Punta Del Este - first, from my young Argentinian hair dresser who said all the Euro trash go there to party and second, from a client of mine who had spent a lot of time there and said that the beaches were gorgeous...white sand, fabulous restaurants, and a relaxed crime free environment. My husband doesn’t tend to look to my young hair dresser as the source for planning last minute vacations. Also, my husband and I don’t do beach vacations, but given the unusual circumstances, when I mentioned Punta Del Este, my husband looks relieved that I have a plausible idea.We returned to the ticket agent and explored options. Given that it was pre-Christmas, there were only two tickets left to Uruguay for the following night for an additional $1,000 each. On an impulse, we took them and were headed to Miami that night. I finally started crying in Miami over the loss of going to Rio. My husband too was terribly disappointed at the loss of all his hard work, money, and planning. As we talked it through, with a couple of cocktails in South Beach, the world started to look better, especially when we found an amazing spa resort in Punta with an indoor hot tub, sauna, outdoor pool, near the beach, located in a charming neighborhood for only around $115 a night!Having traveled to other South American countries such as Columbia and Argentina, I was used to having armed guards and pick pockets everywhere. Punta was nothing like that! It was full of parakeets, white sandy beaches, charming restaurants by the water, art galleries, and a variety of neighborhoods including one called Beverly Hills with one acre plots and multimillion dollar homes. Punta was absolutely amazing - so sunny, quiet, easy going, and relaxing…I settled right in.
Carlos Páez Vilaró
My surprise was that although I still wanted to go to Rio, it seemed like Punta and Montevideo were a perfect respite for me and my husband. We walked the beaches, swam in the refreshing water, enjoyed the long days and ogled at the gorgeous
sunsets. My favorite memory was going to the Casapueblo which was designed by the famous Uruguayan artist
to follow the Uruguayan tradition: hearing a poem read in Spanish about the sunset while watching it happen.Given that I am a perfectionist in recovery, I am a bit of a pessimist as I become fearful if there isn’t a plan. My mind goes to the ten things that might go wrong; yet, this trip reinforced the idea that life can be lived and enjoyed without a plan. My life in New York City is so busy and focused on constantly planning and scheduling that it felt so refreshing to wing it and be open to possibilities. Somehow this whole trip felt more energizing than others because we didn’t know what was going to happen and had to improvise.The aha moment for me is that I realized I need more of this in my life. I have a lot of freedom and creativity in my work life as a coach, facilitator, and trainer, but I don’t leave much space for improvisation in my life as I am constantly doing. This trip, on the other hand, was simply about being. The learning for me as I head into 2015 is to leave space for dreaming, doing nothing, wandering, not having a goal every minute of every day…and continuously becoming more of an optimist. I have come back from this trip re-energized and looking forward to making time for just being. How is that for a new goal?