Greetings from bucolic Rochester, NY, on the shores of Lake (ahem) Ontario! I’m running a conference here through Wednesday for one of my favorite clients. The conference has had 100% of my attention these past couple of weeks, so I haven’t gotten much writing done. Therefore, I’m using this issue to highlight a few things you may or may not have missed: a piece from my Beach Stories archive, my new Society Picks tab, where I curate my top finds for your next escape, and the Substacks keeping my inbox interesting.
The Saltwater Cure
In March of 2023, a conference I planned and ran lost an attendee. She perished when the Airbnb where she was staying burned to the ground. After the stress and work of running a multi-day international conference, and the added weight of navigating the circumstances around the death of an attendee, I needed to get away. I sought the healing properties of the sea.
When we were younger, people who got sick would go bathe in the sea — it was said to cure a multitude of maladies, even the common cold. When I wrap up an intense conference, or an intense year of conferences, I always schedule a trip to the sea, to let the ocean wash over and restore me.
For me, a beach trip isn’t always about going on an adventure. Sometimes, it’s a space to decompress. A natural antidote to a high-pressure line of work.
That March, my refuge was Puerto Rico. I write about the trip, and other beach escapes, in the Beach Stories tab on my Substack.
Have you ever needed a trip just to recover from a stressful event? Tell me about it in the comments.
Escape to the Isle of Enchantment
Last March, I needed to decompress after a pretty stressful couple of weeks at work and decided to head to Puerto Rico. I had an award ticket with United Airlines and got upgraded to business class. ¡Wepa!
Society Picks
Speaking of things that make decompressing easier: I’ve added a product edit to The Hammock Society. It’s called Society Picks. This is where I curate my travel essentials. The 10/10 recommend items I personally pack for every beach getaway, so you won’t have to dig through my posts to find them.
Here are the first three entries.
Hands-Free Luxury
A friend thinks I started the crossbody phone case trend because she’d never seen anyone carrying one before she saw me. Shhh, don’t tell her, but I actually saw it on a celebrity first. Bandolier crossbody phone cases elevate even the t-shirt and shorts I wear to the beach.
The Coolest Sun-Protective Hats
For years, I watched people wear hats into the ocean and wondered why. Then I started noticing premature wrinkles on my face in my 30s, and I understood. Now I wear the Bluestone Sunshields Shorty Lux on the sand and the Softest Visor in the water. Late to the idea, but I’m never going back.
A Flip-Free Hammock to Put the World on Pause
When my great-nephew was ten, he suggested I rename The Hammock Society The Fallen Society, because of my penchant for falling out of hammocks. After a net hammock flung me like a rag doll, I thought I was done with hammocks for good. But on a trip to Costa Rica, I tried the St. Lucia Hammock by Yellow Leaf, and hammocks have since been redeemed in my eyes. The St. Lucia is soft, handwoven, and, most importantly, is designed not to flip or fling you.
What I’m Reading Around Substack
Since reviving the newsletter this year, I’ve spent time diving into the Substack ecosystem. I originally hoped to find Hammock Society-adjacent reads, but I’ve realized The Hammock Society occupies a niche all its own. While I haven’t found another publication quite like it yet, I have found plenty of great Substacks on all kinds of topics. Here are four I read to the end, and recommend:
Mimi’s Substack
Mimi writes about style, beauty, home, and life, mixing recommendations and personal reflections. Her voice feels like a lifestyle blog that has room for both pretty things and the complicated parts of daily life.
The post that hooked me: “The HERO: an ode to the sandwich generation” — Being the primary caregiver of my nonagenarian mother, I immediately related to Mimi.
Nom
Nom writes about beauty and lifestyle, with a personal, everyday approach to the small things that make life feel a little better. Her Substack describes the move from her blog to a space for beauty and lifestyle writing.
The post that hooked me: “The Serum I Didn’t Know I Was Waiting For” — I bought it immediately.
Extracurricular
Tembe Denton-Hurst’s Extracurricular is a books and culture newsletter. She brings an author and critic’s eye to what she’s reading and the ideas, people, and culture around it.
The post that hooked me: “Final File_32: August in review” — I love Tembe’s taste. I already bought the IKEA lamp she mentions in this post and have a bag from another post sitting in my cart.
The World of Too Much
Tyra Banks’s The World of Too Much is a new, personality-led newsletter about fashion, beauty, business, food, creativity, and reinvention. She imagines it as a world readers can explore, with essays, stories, memories, and lessons.
A post to check out: “I Put My Sexy in a Museum” — I subscribed because it’s Tyra! I also love her self-deprecating humor. She’s a businesswoman, and I think I can learn a thing or two from her. For example, all her headlines are written in CAPS. Other Substacks I subscribe to can get lost in my inbox. Hers doesn’t. She may be onto something.
Do you read, write, or recommend any Substacks? Drop the links below. Bonus points if they’re Hammock Society-adjacent.