This beach wasn't the best part of the day. The best part was the octopus.

Yes. Octopus.

However, the day started with spinning. It began with a two-hour stomach-turning drive in a van up to Tap Lamu Port, North of Phuket. When we arrived, we were offered a quick “breakfast” of little chocolate or coconut cake sugar things (think mini-twinkies), and water in plastic cups with plastic peel off-lids. Then, before you knew it, onto a speedboat for the next hour and a half, crossing 60 nautical miles of ocean to the Similan Islands. Along the way, there was a a briefing in broken English and fluent German, and a handout of all our snorkeling gear.

As we pulled into turquoise water - and after my fourth trip to the head - the thing I looked forward to most was getting off the boat. I noticed the turquoise water, the navy specks from below. But mostly, I noticed the level horizon.

I jumped, splashed down, and immediately felt more stable. Good. I strapped on the flippers, bit down on the snorkel mouthpiece, and pulled on the dive mask.

I looked down.

Nothing could have prepared me for that moment. Below me, an entire world was moving, schools of fish spinning, chasing, every possible color and shape. White coral. Blue coral. Black Coral. Spotted purple-grey coral. Abalone shells the size of your torso. It was stunning. I’ve been snorkeling once, out in Hawai’i. That was awesome. It was nothing like this.

I paddled around for a few minutes, and then, as I watched, one of the pieces of coral started to move. Then it turned into an octopus. A few feet away, a second octopus unveiled itself, instantly turning white. They both pushed off across the bottom, fish scattering, looking for a better spot.

You know those nature videos, where they show an octopus landing on something, and then, like magic, camouflaging itself beyond recognition in the blink of an eye? That’s a real thing. I watched it with my own eyes.

Both octopuses landed on a totally different-looking coral, and within half a second, I had to really look to find them. If I hadn’t seen them land, I’d never have been able to find them again. It was honestly, the coolest thing I’ve ever ever seen.

The octopuses were followed by sea turtles, a really long thin pencil-like fish, and even more sorts of coral and fishes and amazing creatures. At some point in the day, I figured out how to dive with the snorkel, and was able to swim along the bottom, right by the reefs, colored fish swimming around me. Some fish I made friends with, gave a wai as we went our separate ways. On the last snorkel, a blue-and-yellow-and-white-and-black one swam by my side, escorting me back to the boat.

**

I went with one of those all-day-expeditions that take care of everything, recommended by one of my language learning friend’s daughters. It was a great call. I’m not good at vacations. The last proper one I took was in 2003, over a decade ago. But being here, cranking on BuddyUp and Footprints and writing and learning Thai made think, hey, maybe there’s something to this “recharge” thing I keep talking about. Maybe it’s worth a try.

It is.

After the fantabulous snorkeling, me and the guys just lay on that beach in the picture above. Laying there, listening to the waves, my mind happily took a break - all the surging thoughts fell away, and there was just silence in my head. And there, with just wind and waves and tiny hermit crabs scuttling, some really powerful, quiet thoughts on life and meaning and purpose had the space to bubble up, to finally be heard.

The truth that some things, maybe even the best things, can’t be grasped. You have to make a space. Let them come to you.