Finale.

I’ve said before that Fridays are so bittersweet on SwimVacation. We cram a lot into one day, with two swims, some sailing, return to port, a slideshow and goodnights that border on goodbyes. The thing I love most on Friday  is to see how confident everyone has become in the water, and how at home they have become on our boat. And then it's time to transition again - back to home, back to a life without blue water swims and Lulu’s delectables every day. But are they the same as they were when they got here?

Today was a mixed bag that really showed the breadth of our swimmers confidence and strength in the water. Our morning swim, while bright and sunny, was still a tossing that worked everyone harder than expected. But the afternoon swim….ahhh. Water like glass, crystal clear, a circumnavigation of a tiny, unexplored island and even a swim through. It was just the right swim to say goodbye to the Aegean, and we are so grateful for it after a week of challenging conditions. 

We say goodbye tomorrow to this place, this sea, this boat-home and each other. But I do expect our swimmers to hold some of the newly discovered parts of themselves in the light of life at home. The photos I’ve made of them this week reveal strength, flexibility, adventure and openness to the world and new people. I can see it clearly, and I hope my camera has reflected it back to them. These kinds of discoveries are for keeps.

I’m bedded down in my nest for the last time after over two weeks. I’m ready for my own bed, but I’ll miss this space which has been just mine, and has given me comfort and quiet to really process all we've done here in the last 14 days with a total 12 people with whom I share no blood but are my family.

What a lucky mermaid I am.

Efcharisto, Greece. You’ve held nothing back from us and we are better for it. Kendra, Miriam, Susan, Marianne & Lexi, Sean & Laura, Deb and Brother Donnie, thank you for embracing this thing we do, for trusting us and yourselves with an adventure like no other. Richie, Lulu and Simon, I’ll love you forever. Hopper, your big idea continues to inspire people into new corners of themselves, and makes my life better.

I leave pieces of myself wherever I go. And my heart is full  with the swims and swimmers I share sea time with.

Love,

Heather