The first thing I did when we arrived at Caye Caulker, was to ceremoniously delete my alarm.

It’s not often that I travel for the sole purpose of stopping. I’m usually too busy doing to ever truly relax. Until recently, most of my travel has been a mix of work and play. As enjoyable as it all was, there wasn’t a lot of proper downtime.

The work aspect saw us doing research, chasing interesting photos, seeking unique sights and experiences, eating strange foods and writing about all of it. The play side of it was all of the same — I loved it all.

But sometimes it was the brief windows of pause that were the most rewarding. A week in a colourful coffee town in the Colombian Andes, a break from constant travel on a volcanic island in Nicaragua, and a few days of solitude on the edge of the Sahara Desert.

More recently, it was Isla Holbox off the Yucatan coast of Mexico. Now it’s a tiny Caribbean island in Belize.

Through all of my travels, these moments are rare. It takes me a day or two to turn down my brain and stop the urge to chase experiences and photo opportunities.

And when that wave of calm finally washes over me, I can relax. I can spend some much-needed time doing next to nothing, and be completely at peace with it.

The madness and chaos of life can wait.

Now is the time for rest. No plans, no schedules, and no morning alarms.