Traveling with your Tribe, Jose Ignacio, Uruguay — PART 1

Beach Vibes, Jose Ignacio – Getting There

As I started to think about this inaugural blog post and what to share about our trip to Jose Ignacio, the crazed state I fell into over the holidays was the first thing that came to mind. What does this have to do with travel, one might ask? Good question! Reflecting on this thought, I realized how much of a reset Jose Ignacio and traveling with good friends down there was for me (and how much I needed it!). So I decided to take an editorial risk here and start from what things looked like on the ground in SF, before I headed south and enjoyed one of the BEST beach holidays yet.

Flash back to the morning after Thanksgiving. I woke up feeling simultaneously thrilled for the holiday season, which I love, and more overcommitted and underwater than ever. As my kids get older, each year our holiday activities and events multiply exponentially. It’s also a big season for Go Happy. My mom retired the week before Christmas as well, so I wanted to make space to honor and celebrate her. And we had to be packed by Christmas Day for our big “summer trip”, which required multiple beach wardrobe updates for me and the kids. I really wanted to balance everything (i.e., remain the least frazzled as possible) AND have plenty of time to put up lights, go to the Nutcracker and make gingerbread houses, of course! All great stuff, but ah!!

Time moved at hyper speed for the three short weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. How many more years until it falls around the 23rd again? I turned into a frenetic, Christmas carol singing, tree decorating, errand running machine by the end of it all. I had so many conflicting priorities and managed nothing well. I felt nuts. There was a very large, indeed, gaping, black hole between my vision for how I wanted to show up and how I ended up showing up. I felt frustrated with myself, wished I had managed everything better and vowed to do a better job next year!

Fortunately, I got to chase the holidays with my family and our very dear friends and their two kids on a trip to José Ignacio, — a sweet little fishing village turned chic beach town, in Uruguay. After enjoying Christmas Eve and a short, but sweet, Christmas morning, we excitedly boarded a 1pm flight Christmas Day from SFO to Buenos Aires. As soon as we sat down I laid out two Go Happy Travel Trays, fresh new sketch books (labeled for each kid so what’s mine is mine is very clear, of course!), cool coloring books, stickers, fun new markers, and colored pencils to keep the kids engaged through take off before we all zoned out on a movie . . . and finally exhaled.

First stop – an afternoon/evening layover in Buenos Aires. BA, as so many affectionately refer to it, is a beautiful, vibrant city. We enjoyed strolling around Recoleta (the trees in Recoleta are amazing!!), and the Recoleta Cemetery, the world-renowned resting place of Eva Peron. It contains 4691 above ground vaults with elaborately carved scroll-work and stately pillars. The atmosphere was serene and moving, yet surprisingly, alive. As my son and I casually strolled through the “streets” of grave sites, we both felt as if we were walking through a little walled city built by families for their departed to rest and play together, while they watch over us mortals, so no one feels alone. It’s definitely worth a visit. After wandering around the surrounding area for a few more hours, we ended the day at Fervor, an old-world steakhouse with tasty food, excellent wine, exceptional service and enough fresh, delicious options for vegetarians as well.

The next morning, we enjoyed a GREAT breakfast at our hotel (I love a great hotel breakfast…breakfast anywhere really!) then headed to the local airport and hit our first meltdown. This time, though, it was me melting down. Why I didn’t check our flight from BA to Punta before we left I’m not sure (I do know, actually, I was too scattered the days leading up to our trip to remember!).

Regardless, when we arrived at Ministro Pistarini to check-in for our 12pm flight, they couldn’t find our reservation because the airline had cancelled our original flight and bumped us to a 3pm flight. They were annoyed with me because I never got the email, while I was trying not to get annoyed with them because at least they had tried to notify me. Thinking, “ok no worries there are seats on the 1pm we can just move to that flight and pay a small change fee”, all seemed fine. But NOPE, said the woman behind the counter — you can’t switch today unless you pay $1500 each (for a 45-minute flight!).

Flashback to Meet the Parents when Ben Stiller was stuck at the gate unable to board his plane because he was in row 8 and they were boarding rows 9 and above with no one left at the gate. Arrgh! Sleep deprived and very annoyed, I lost my shit for a minute or two (why would they give up selling us seats at reasonable price when no no else is going to take them so last minute?!) then pulled myself together and decided to make the best of it, as I eventually do when plans go awry (timing here always depends on how jet lagged I am ha).

I calmed down, we checked-in for our 3pm flight, grabbed a taxi back into town and texted our friends we were flying to meet (locals who know the area well) to find a great place for lunch. Diego responded immediately, thank goodness, with Gardiner. We promptly made a u-turn and proceeded to enjoy a fantastic lunch outside on the restaurant’s back deck. Think beach club setting (right near the airport!), umbrellas, big wood tables, huge parrilla. The vibe was lovely, so relaxed, and the food was delicious. It was such a nice treat, the perfect way to enjoy our unexpected delay. And the yummy connectedness I was craving over the holidays.

Next stop - Punta del Este airport. From there, we would drive about 90 minutes to Jose Ignacio, our final destination. I had been looking forward to exploring José Ignacio for years. Multiple friends had mentioned it, all for different reasons, but it’s quite a trek to Uruguay from San Francisco. It finally came to fruition after chatting last summer with our friends, Diego and Kasia, who go there every year as Diego is from Argentina. We love them, and our kids totally click (two girls and two boys all ages 3-7), so we asked if they wanted to rent a place together over the holidays. Why not? I couldn’t imagine anything better than traveling with friends who like to play like me, know the culture so well and are the best hosts ever!

The first sights and sounds as we drove into José Ignacio did not disappoint. I felt very much at home driving through the peaceful, beautiful countryside. Ranches, rolling hills and trees dotted the landscape for miles. As we made our way towards the beach, gorgeous homes with simple, minimalist design were sprinkled throughout. Along the road that led to our rental, just outside of town, low dunes backed up to the Atlantic, reminiscent of the Cape or the Outer Banks. Once we arrived at the house, we raced up to the the second floor to see the awesome view of the beach to the south, and Jose Ignacio town on the horizon to the west. I was so excited we had finally made it. I knew, in an instant, it would be very easy to go happy there over the next 8 days.

Beach across the street from our house…we had it to ourselves most days, so lovely. We could walk to town (maybe 25mins) from here you can see it in the distance.

One of the local wild dogs who kept us company all week. Such a nice treat!

Stay tuned for Part 2 where I share my travel tips about José Ignacio.

Go Happy Travel Tray Tips

For younger kids, little toys, play dough and building stuff are great. For older kids, sketch pads, markers, colored pencils, cool coloring books, stickers, travel puzzles, card games are great.
Anything tactile that keeps them busy with their hands.
Put their names on everything to make them extra special.
For all ages, use the dry erase board on the tray to draw, wipe, repeat or play simple games like tic-tac-toe, pictionary (always a hit!) or hangman.

Pro tip: set up travel trays and new toys while you are still in the airport and/or on the tarmac, to get through boarding and take off without having to pull out a screen.

*If you want to next-level your awesome distraction techniques, take a sketchpad and markers with you EVERY time you go out to eat.

(Yes, I am the crazy mom who doesn’t leave home without sketchbooks and a big stash of markers and/or colored pencils in her bag!!)