The Hamptons: Learning to dance in the rain.

I fell in love with Emily Giffin's awkwardly charming NYC love story, Something Borrowed in the years leading up to our big move. When I watched the movie, I fell in love with the Hamptons. We all know I am a travel junkie, and of course, the Hamptons is just one move beautiful travel spot to check off the list. But what I really fell in love with, yearned for, was the fun free-flowing group of friends that traveled to the popular beach spot together. I wanted to pack up a car (a real live car, friends!), see the views of the city through the back window and laugh uncontrollably all the way to the beach and back. I wanted that cute, comfortable, stunning, oh-my-gosh-I-will-never-own-a-home-like-this, rental to play games in, swim and make lasting memories.

I know this is going to be a shocking statement. Did you know that trips with a large group of people can be stressful? I know, you are dying to know how that can be true. It just so happens that everyone plans a trip through a different lens, with different expectations. And here is the real newsflash... we are all different. What?! "You don't drive that way?""You eat when?""You think that is actually fun?!" I believe your best of friends are the ones that you travel with... the ones that you travel with and don't end up killing each other. You learn to accept the strange things they do, say, and eat - because you realize they are putting up with just the same from you. I know, second shocking statement... you are not perfect. Flexibility starts with a big "F"... for FUN! Because the more flexible your learn to be, the more fun will ensue. A lesson I continue to learn from my husband.

And I'm really glad that I've been practicing the big "F", because I walked away from an amazing experience. I danced in the rain, in a swimsuit, in a parking lot. I jumped into the freezing cold ocean, danced with a polar bear, and played baseball and football...or some iteration of it. I stayed up way past my bedtime, ate lots of dessert and shared intimate secrets. Steering away from my pre-planned scheduled even allowed for a spontaneous trip to Brooklyn on the way home.

Years down the road, I won't remember the stress of planning a large group trip. I will remember those beach snapshots, secrets shared and how we had so much fun playing football, the cops came. I pray that everyone has the opportunity to experience the fun that flexibility can lead to... and if you receive a noise violation, you know you did something right.