Have you ever felt the winter chill complicate your love for the beach?In this episode of The Beach Speaks, I reflect on a cold December morning at the beach in North Florida, reminiscing about the tropical warmth of Costa Rica...

What do you say to a friend who is grieving a tragic loss? What do you do?Michelle Cleveland answers these questions and more in her book Steps in the Sand, How to Help a Grieving Friend.Drawing inspiration from her po...

Ever wonder why so many Florida beach lovers choose to stay put during hurricanes? In this episode, I reflect on the experience of enduring storms, sharing personal stories from the recent hurricanes Helene and Milton. We explore w...

In this episode, I share my eventful month, which included a fabulous trip to Italy, an unexpected bout with the flu, and the devastating and unprecedented impact of Hurricane Helene on our Florida Gulf Coast.It all started with explori...

In this episode, we explore the remarkable journey of Sindia M. Rivera-Jiménez, Ph.D., a native of Puerto Rico who was born and raised near the ocean. With a deep love for the beach, Sindia built a beautiful life in Puerto Rico, earning a degre...

This audio version of my podcast newsletter starts with a heartfelt story called "The Water" by Rachel LaPresti, touching on how the beach affects us all. I also dive into Waterlust, an innovative eco-apparel company with a fun facts newsletter...

Today, we delve into the powerful concept of "Blue Mind" and the profound impact of water on our well-being. My guest, Amanda Esposito of Northern Tides Studio, shares how she met Wallace J. Nichols, the author of Blue Mind, and how the ocean h...

In this episode, I speak with Mary Carroll Moore about her novel Last Bets, set on the Caribbean island of Bonaire. The novel features twists of fate, paranormal elements, high-stakes gambling—and a hurricane!  I like to describe it as "Qu...

Have you ever been at the beach on a full moon? One of my favorite things to do is sit on the beach and watch the moonrise over the ocean. It elevates my mood and stirs up a feeling of wonder and otherworldliness—watching that brig...

Jen Hardy is a true beach girl - so much so that after receiving a life-threatening health diagnosis, she instinctively knew that she - and her family - needed the healing power of the beach to get through it. So, Jen, her husband, and their se...

Today’s episode is a conversation I had recently with Jessie King Regunberg, author of the book SEARCHING FOR SEASHELLS: An ...

I recently had the opportunity to visit one of the beaches on my bucket list—Venice Beach. Venice is on the Gulf Coast of Florida and is often called the “shark tooth capital of the world” because of the plethora of prehistoric shark teeth you ...

In early October 2021, when the post-pandemic world was beginning to open up for travel, we had just discovered that Ernie only had a month's vacation before starting a new job; we decided to go on a 12-day adventure in Costa Rica!It was...

Capturing the essence of the beach with my phone is one thing, but in a painting - in real-time - it is a whole other thing.  I’m in awe of anyone who can paint in the moment - no photograph- just sitting in nature with a canvas, painting ...

I was a guest on an Instagram live with Amanda from Northern TIdes Studio and Wallace J. Nichols, author of Blue Mind - talking about water, the Blue Mind movement, and the healing properties of the ocean. Amanda asked how living at...

When I started thinking seriously about moving from land-locked Orlando to the beach, the first three questions people would ask were, “What beach?” “Where will you live?” and “What will you do?” I would say, “I haven’t decided what beach yet, ...

It’s February, so in the spirit of this Month of Love, I asked my soulmate, Ernie, to join me on the podcast because it’s a very special month for us.Although I’ve talked about how we met and our journey to living out our vision here at...

I love quotes, especially the ones that when I hear them, I think, " Oooh, I can relate to that - or that is so inspiring! I need to write that one down before I forget it! " I’ll rush to scribble it in a journal or notebook - it’s like I’m att...

Imagine, you’re about to do what might be the craziest thing you’ve ever done. And you’re thinking this could be crazy good or crazy stupid.Then the “what ifs” start to creep into your consciousness: “What if somethin...

Recently on The Beach Speaks, I posted an episode sharing my beach story as a guest on Rabiah Coon’s podcast More Than Work. Today, I’m bringing Rabiah back - this time as my guest - to hear her beach s...

Hey Beach lover, How is the beach speaking to you today?I’m sure you have noticed that I’ve been doing a lot of solo episodes: like, how I met my soulmate - on the beach,  watching fighter jets fly ove...

Many of you have asked me how I found the nerve to leave my job - to move to the beach - and not have a job to go to, and what beach? Where was I going to live? I would laugh and say, I’m sure whatever beach I go to, there will be a...

You know I love the beach, but I also love airplanes! This fact is especially poignant because aviation and learning to fly was one of the (many) surprising characteristics that attracted me to my husband, Ernie (You can hear more a...

If you are a regular listener to the podcast, you’ll know that I often talk about how I met my soulmate, quit my nine to five and moved to the beach - it almost always comes up in conversation when I meet someone new, and we get to talking abou...

Listening to your voicemails is like going on a beach walk, picking up the messages like seashells and adding them to my collection. The voices and stories are different  -  but what they all have in common is a shared connection to t...