Mendoza, Argentina and a long, deep breath.

I've said throughout these travels that there's a feel to a place, an immediate, physical reaction I get, right after I step off the plane.

Here was no exception. I'm now living in Mendoza, Argentina, on the other side of the world from my beloved Bangkok. We're in the heart of wine country, brushing up against the Andes, and it feels...

Like stepping into a forest on a brisk Autumn day. Picture clear light is filtering through the thinning leaves. Hear the earliest fallers crunch under each step. The world silent except for your feet and an occasional bird, echoing off the hillsides. You hear a small stream in the distance. You inhale, and cool air rushes in your nose, damp soil with a hint of frost.

That is what it feels like to be here.

And for me, it feels so, so good.

Over the course of my spins around the globe (neatly enough, after this move, I've now made a complete counter-clockwise revolution), I've fallen in love with the energy and pulse of big cities. Medellín. Bangkok. Paris. I've spent my year largely in intense places pushing myself to do more, be more.

Then I landed here. And I was reminded how lovely it is to simply breathe.

Trees line every street here, some fifty-plus years old. Alongside them are canals, built to harness the twenty days of rainfall that come each year and funnel it to crops and the nearby hills, rolling with winery after winery.

But as I step out the door, more than anything, I just find stillness. My footsteps, the cold fingertips of air brushing the edges of my coat, and a city. Reserved, refined, and with heart cracking, right under the surface.

I'm so lucky to get to bring you with me.

Here's hoping a bit of this fresh air carries across the distance from here to there, and a little breath of ahhhh catches and sticks with you, regardless of what's ahead in your week.

Have a wonderful one.

-Steven

p.s. The best thing I saw this week was the sunset, egg-cracking over the Andes. But the best thing I can share is this fascinating look at a sculptor who puts all of their work underwater.