There is nothing quite like unexpected adventures. While one could argue that every day is an unexpected adventure, you know when a day or even just a moment, feels so different it stops you in your tracks. These are experiences you couldn’t intentionally script, even if you tried.

Today was the first time in a very, very long time that I fully embraced the spontaneity of the universe. Call it being mindful. Call it being grateful. Call it living in the moment. Whatever it was, I experienced all of it, thanks to a little tiki hut on wheels named Aolani the Airstream.

How I Drifted To Where I Am

For almost two decades I was so devoted to my career that I became a shell of myself. With my job defining pretty much every aspect of my life (an mostly unconscious decision on my part believing it was “the right thing,”) I became committed to all the wrong things.  I didn’t take a vacation without a computer or in the very least, no email on in iPhone, until this past April. That was the first time in 17 years.

When I wasn’t worrying about when I would be where I was not, I was consumed with “what’s next,” instead of “what’s now.”  I purchased Aolani almost three years ago now to recalibrate my focus on what truly matters in life. And it has taken almost equally as long for that mentality to finally become anchored in the sand.

For You & Your Unexpected Adventures Drifting Forward

I want to see you experience the same serendipitous spontaneity in your life and I know you can’t script it. But I can advise you on what worked for me today, and will hopefully work for most days moving forward. Enzo traveled with me to Cape May to pick up Aolani. On our way home, we chose the road less traveled.

In this case that was Route 47N to Port Norris, NJ to visit the Bayshore Center at Bivalve.

While I had been here before, this was Enzo’s first visit. I said hey, you wanna goto a museum and get some lunch? It was a very rainy day so he obliged my spontaneity which then led me to immediately say, oh s@#$, what if the cafe is closed or they are open and have nothing for him to eat. I know the story of a picky eater all too well. But at this point, we were in it to win it, lol.

How Can You Not Love a Cafe Named after Oyster Crackers?

We arrived to the Oyster Cracker Cafe in the rain and to Enzo’s declaration that we would NOT be eating oysters, but he’d go in with me anyway. What a pleasant surprise to find out that the cafe makes THE most a-mazing grilled cheese at the Shore. In-fact, there was nothing on the menu that wasn’t amazing.

As you probably guessed it, Enzo had the grilled cheese and I had Oyster Chowder accompanied by the best hand-cut Old Bay fries I have ever had in my life.  I felt like we had just found a pearl hidden in an oyster, apropos for where we were. No devices, just me and Enzo in a local joint that resembled what I imagined was similar to an old watering hole on a wharf. So small and so cozy cute. After both having our own slices of homemade lemon cake, we scuttled down to the museum where the staff was equally as welcoming and so knowledgable.

Then Our Adventure Took Another Unexpected Turn

This time we diverged even further and ended up in the small fishing town of Fortescue, New Jersey. It was drizzling and gray, but for the first time in my life, I wasn’t in a rush to go anywhere. Enzo and I went beach combing for shells and sea glass, skipped rocks and flipped a few Horseshoe Crabs over, lol. We proved to ourselves that we could find sunshine even on a gray and dreary day.

Cheers to you and all of your unexpected adventures adrift, whether with Aolani or in your own Airstream, car, bicycle, board or feet;)