The Blue Lagoon

I remember watching this film as a child in awe. I dreamt about swimming and twirling in turquoise waters like that, away from crowds, schools, timetables; eating coconuts, fruit, fish, seaweed; drinking water from the stream. I dreamt about sleeping in a straw hut and spending all day in the water and resting under the trees, playing with my best friend, maybe falling in love after a while when we grow up.

I woke up yesterday thinking about how I began this year resolved not to work for a while, I needed some simple life and it was high time I got it. I wanted to camp out somewhere in the middle of nowhere, carry my own drinking water, cook flatbread on my gas can, eat canned tuna and apples, surf everyday, read under a palm tree. And, maybe, finally find a partner among those like me, sea hippies of the world. And only 12 days later, I met Alex.

You wouldn’t believe how much like the Blue Lagoon our life is. Kuna Yala is paradise. Alex and I are true best friends. We’ve got time and nature all around us, coconuts, fish, mangoes, passion fruit. We get our own drinking water.

And you wouldn’t believe how many others live like this around us. Lots of them older of course, with a pension coming every month. But quite a few in their thirties and forties, in love or alone and happy, floating freely around the world, doing the odd jobs online or chartering once a month or every two months for groceries.

It’s a dream that is available to anyone willing to take the first step. So many of our closed doors are excuses we make, fear of the unknown. If you are tired of the life around you and you dream about freedom just get out there, leave all expenses, stress and commodities behind. Become part of nature, follow the cycles, live a simple life in your own way in the water, the mountains, the forest, the ice, a river bank, whatever feels natural to you and was already there in your childhood daydreaming. It might be hard the first couple of months (it usually isn’t, the long days in the sun and in the shade of a tree are overwhelmingly beautiful right from the start) but then you’ll learn all there is to learn, one step at a time, one day at a time, in paradise. And you’ll never want to go back.