Bora Bora.

Welcome to the best trip of our entire lives! Turns out, Bora Bora is everything everyone says it is and more. They treated us like kings and queens from the moment we stepped off the plane with leis and fresh towels and mango juice straight from the island and all the other fancy things I suspect Kings are treated with. Seriously, I’m pretty sure I said “I’ve never been happier” at least 400 times a day. And I legitimately shed tears when the shuttle boat took us across the ocean and back to the airport. And Ryan and I still refer to 224 as our first home. And what a perfect first home it was. 

The sun woke us up every morning, and we would open the doors to our porch and watch the sun rise over the water. I could’ve laid there forever, but Ryan somehow convinced me to get out of bed, either by offering to call our “taxi”–aka a the Four Seasons’ magical golf cart service that picks you up directly from your hut and drops you off wherever you want on the resort– or by reminding me that the sun was shining. Speaking of that golf cart service, I can’t tell you how many times I made Ryan wait for it to come pick us up against his will, because, I mean, when else in my life can I be picked up and dropped off at my every request? So, we’d have it drive us to the gym in the morning and to breakfast and back to our room whenever we got a chance. I don’t know why I don’t have more pictures of the food, because oh my, it was so delicious! The tastiest fish in the world, and wait for it…gluten-free bread! And the best fresh squeezed juices and the chef made me the world’s best gluten-free pancakes for breakfast every morning. (I don’t know how to put emojis in here, but all the hand praising emojis in the world for that sweet, sweet soul).

Ryan got us on a private tour around the island with this man, Morona, and his family. It was actually kind of hilarious, because it was Ryan and I, this man, his son, the son’s girlfriend and her parents, and the mother of his son. Basically it was the Ryan and I intruding on “meet the parents.” But it worked out perfectly. For us at least, haha. He took us out in the middle of the ocean where you could stand and cover yourselves in the Tahitian sand, which apparently has magical skin healing powers. It reminded me of the Dead Sea, one because it was so salty you basically just floated and two because of the super soft spa sand. Then he took us in the middle of the black tip sharks and stingrays. He ripped open a fish, held it in his hand, and jumped in to feed them. Naturally, we all jumped in after him. Morona fed the sharks like they were puppies receiving a treat after fetching the paper, and the sting rays swam right up on our arms and chest waiting for us to pet them. It was unreal. “Fish are friends, not food” took on a whole new meaning.

Over the five days we spent there, we saw the most colorful, beautiful fish I’ve ever seen in my whole life, got Polynesian massages, I went scuba diving for the first time in my life, Ryan kayaked me around the motu, we spent countless hours laying in the sun, and we jumped off of our deck straight into the ocean. It was a dream come true. No where in the world is as beautiful or peaceful or serene. I really felt like the whole world was ours. I could go on and on and on about how incredible it was, but there are really no words that will do it justice. The words “perfect” and “unreal” and “beautiful” are used at least 50 times each in my journal. You should all just go yourselves. And I’m pretty sure we all will, because I’m convinced this is actually where Heaven is. 

Also, one day we will find a GoPro charger (left ours in the hotel room there…oops), and Ryan will make a video of the trip–sharks and stingrays and all the pretty fish included. But who knows when that will be, because it’s already almost been three months, so I wouldn’t hold your breath.