It’s a feeling that came to define what it means to me to escape.
During the pandemic, I convinced my family to kayak on White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas.
Ive become quite enamored with the kayak as a way of exploration in a new or even familiar place.
The author on a kayak tour around Long Island Sound’s haunted lighthouse.Credit:Courtesy of Mariah Tyler
This feeling is what keeps me coming back.
We had booked theCorazon Cabo Resort & Spabased on their exclusive offerings through an adventure operator, Cabolectric.
We started to rethink our whole itinerary.
Author Mariah Tyler on a whitewater trip down the Animas River in Colorado, in 1999.Courtesy of Mariah Tyler
Soon after, we kayaked as close to the arch as law allows.
Paddling up to it and sitting in its presence felt nothing short of ethereal.
Troubles aside, I would go back and do it again in a heartbeat.
A long canoe on the Buffalo River from a 2002 trip to Arkansas.Courtesy of Mariah Tyler
In addition to reducing stress, paddling through the water on a kayak is remarkably empowering.
As someone who tends to worry often and question everything, kayaking enables me to be in full control.
From left: The author during a kayak tour in Cabo San Lucas; the clear kayak used on the tour.Courtesy of Mariah Tyler
The Cabo San Lucas arch seen from a kayak.Mariah Tyler/Travel + Leisure
Pausing on a sand bar during a kayak trip on the Pedernales River, in Texas.Courtesy of Mariah Tyler