While you're happy to return to your city and your apartment and your cat, you really miss the island, and all the ways it made you feel.

There are few things that force you to relax more than physically being on a tropical island. Things move more slowly. You slow down your breathing, your movement, and eventually--if you're lucky--your thoughts. Palm trees sway in the gentle breeze, the sunsets make your heart ache with their splendor and just by being in the moment, you are transported.

 

You tuck flowers behind your ear.

 

You frolic on sandy beaches.

You might even make a new friend.

But then you have to come home. And, while you're happy to return to your city and your apartment and your cat, you really miss the island, and all the ways it made you feel.

So, if you're like me, you channel those feelings of longing into a barbecue. You invite your friends over, you grill chicken and pineapple, you mix mai tais, and you make this cold pea salad, featuring fresh mango, mac nuts (as they call them on Hawaii) and lime juice--the flavors of your vacation.

Then, you take a deep breath, sip your mai tai, and admire the fog-obscured San Francisco sunset.