No Pressure, Just Presence: What Our Second Trip Taught Me

 Myrtle Beach wasn’t about a checklist or doing the most. It was about stillness. Softness. Laughing with sand between our toes and not needing to be anywhere but right there.

It was our second trip together, and something about that number just feels… grown. Like, this wasn’t about impressing each other or curating perfect memories. It was about breathing a little easier in each other’s presence. About finding rest together.

This was also my first time in the ocean. I know—I’m grown and just now feeling saltwater wrap around my ankles. But baby, it was healing. The ocean was cold and pushed sand into every fold, like it wanted to remind me I’m allowed to feel everything. It was messy and real and freeing in a way I didn’t know I needed.

And maybe that’s what this trip really was: permission to relax. To let things be simple. And to let love be easy.

This trip slowed us all the way down, in the kind of way where your body finally exhales without asking for permission.

We walked to get local coffee like we’d been doing it forever. No big rush. No plan. Just us moving through mornings together like we had nowhere else to be but right here. We laid on the beach and let the sun hold us for hours. Walked the shoreline every night like a ritual. Just the sound of the water and our feet brushing through wet sand—quiet, but connected.

We collected seashells like kids, holding them up to each other like trophies. Slept deeper. Watched the sunrise like it was our first time seeing one. And maybe in a way, it was.

We weren’t glued to a screen. No TV. No scrolling. No distractions trying to pull us out of the moment. Just presence. Just energy. Just the sweetness of not performing love, but simply living in it.

This wasn’t a trip about luxury or “doing the most.” It was about choosing to see each other without all the noise. And when I look back on it? That simplicity bonded us tighter than anything extravagant ever could.

I’m learning that making time to simply be with your person, outside the noise, the to-do lists, the group chats, isn’t a luxury. It’s necessary. This trip reminded me that connection doesn’t always come from deep talks or big plans. Sometimes it’s in the shared quiet, the slow walks, the small routines that start to feel sacred.

If you’re reading this and life’s been feeling heavy or disconnected, maybe this is your sign to unplug with your person. It doesn’t have to be far or fancy. Just intentional. Just the two of you, choosing presence over performance.

Because sometimes the softest moments do the most powerful bonding.