Kate Ryan Ah, the beach. That sacred stretch of sand where the sun is blazing, the waves are crashing, and humanity is on full, glorious, slightly sunburned display. Every summer, without fail, the same cast of characters migrates to the shoreline like seagulls to a dropped hot dog. You know them. You love them. You’ve probably been one of … Read more
Turns out, the best summers of your life don’t happen in a bikini at 22. They happen when you stop caring whether they do. Let’s Talk About the Summer You Used to Have You know the one. You’d spend three weeks dreading the swimsuit, one week actually at the beach sucking in your stomach, and … Read more
There are few objects on this earth more deceptively simple than the beach chair. It has one job. One. You sit in it. You relax. You sip whatever cold thing you’ve poured into a cup with a little umbrella and pretend your life is a luxury resort commercial. And yet, across the centuries — and across the … Read more
Sand between your toes. Salt in your hair. A horizon so wide it makes your problems look embarrassingly small. Turns out, the ocean has been doing therapy longer than Freud — and it doesn’t even charge $200 an hour. Your Problems Are Not the Main Character Here One of the biggest breakthroughs you can have … Read more
Spoiler: It’s not just about the sunsets (but the sunsets don’t hurt). Let’s be honest — at some point in the last few years, you’ve stood in bumper-to-bumper traffic, inhaling the exhaust of seventeen identical sedans, and thought: What am I actually doing with my life? Maybe you were late for a meeting that could’ve been an … Read more
Let’s be honest. You’ve been going to the same overcrowded, overpriced, overrated beaches your whole life. Myrtle Beach? Cute. Miami? Gorgeous, if you enjoy sharing a towel-sized patch of sand with 40,000 strangers and paying $22 for a frozen cocktail. We love a classic, but it’s time to expand your horizons — and your sunscreen … Read more
Ah, the beach. The sun, the waves, the blissful sound of seagulls stealing your lunch. It’s paradise — right up until you get home and discover that sand has somehow infiltrated your camera bag, your sandwich, your soul. You shake out your towel and three pounds of the Sahara come flying out. You find sand in … Read more
Ah, the beach life. Palm trees swaying, salty air filling your lungs, and the sound of waves that somehow makes every single problem feel approximately 1,000% smaller. People dream about living near the ocean — they pin it, they post about it, they put it on vision boards. But those of us who actually do it? We … Read more
At 30 you were performing the beach. At 60 you’re actually living it. There is a photograph somewhere — possibly buried in a box, possibly on a hard drive from 2003, possibly burned because you made certain decisions about your hair that year — of you at the beach in your 30s. You look great. … Read more
You’ve shown up without sunscreen. You’ve eaten warm, sad crackers. You’ve learned. This list is the result. There is a version of you from ten years ago who packed a beach bag the night before with great confidence and absolutely zero wisdom. She brought one water bottle for a four-hour beach day. She forgot a … Read more