This weekend in Mexico gave me some much-needed Vitamin D and really got me excited for the summer months ahead. While it’s been an oddly warm winter in Chicago, it’s still nowhere near bathing suit season. So in anticipation, I pulled together some of my favorite suits and summer gear to get you thinking ahead! My newest trunks that I was excited to sport in Mexico were Voyage’s World Map Signature Trunks. This bathing suit is pretty great, and if you know my love for travel you know why — they feature a pretty rad map of the globe on them. Their length is about 8″ which hits right above the knee. Sometimes I tend to like my trunks on the shorter-side, and these are about as long as I’m going these days. 
My go-to swim trunks have been Pangea Swim. Love their eclectic and worldly print patterns of the suits and the fact that they’re made here in the US (Los Angeles!). With a 6′ inseam, the cut is a little more tapered than most suits, but they fit my legs perfectly. Here I’m wearing the Iznick Garden suit, with inspiration taken from Turkish tiles from the Ottoman Empire They feature an elastic waistband, fine mesh liner, and a back pocket zipper. Check them out as I have a couple of pairs and dig them. I always get stopped and asked about the trunks when I’m wearing them – seriously! 
This beautiful beach is Akumal Beach, located just a few miles north of Tulum, Mexico. Akumal is such a little gem in the Yucatan. The vibes are laid back and the beach is stunning. It’s in a cove of calmer water, so the waves are smaller and there’s not as many algae or seaweed that gets dragged in from the ocean. I stayed at an amazing all-inclusive resort, Secrets Resort, and was blown away by the whole experience. Everything at the resort was top-notch from the amazing food from 6 different restaurants on-site to the awesome staff. You can read a little more on that in my last post!
In a nutshell, it was one of the easiest trips to plan and coordinate. I had two pretty great resources to make that happen. For the logistics and planning we used Apple Vacations, they’re the largest vacation company and the best for last-minute deals and all-inclusive stays. Since Akumal is about an hour and a half from Cancun, I was a little worried about the transportation to and from the airport, but we used Amstar and were totally taken care of for our airport transportation. It was seamless! Using both Apple Vacations and Amstar made this trip a true vacation ~ it took all the hassle and anxieties out of vacation planning!
Here are some of my favorites in swimwear for Spring 2017:
As for what you might be wearing with your swimsuit.. below are my picks for shoes and shades. I’m not huge on open-toed shoes, even in the summer.. at the pool! My buddy Joe has some sound opinions about that~ so you can take it up with him! TOMS classic slip-ons are my go-to for traveling because they’re durable but so light. I love the versatility of Sperry’s One-Eye Boat Shoe. They’re not as ‘basic’ as their standard boat shoe, actually a little dressier. For a quick upgrade from the pool to a sit-down dinner, I like to pair them with some slacks and a linen button-down for a “breezy summer night” look. And the 90s are back with Birkenstocks and Teva both making a cameo on the list. Below are some of the shoes I’ll be wearing this summer:
And lastly, the shades. I know that reflective lenses with a blue or red tint are trendy at the moment, but when it comes to eyewear I’m pretty standard and conservative. I tend to gravitate towards black or tortoise – and polarized lenses are a must. Here are some new styles that I’m pretty excited about:
Stay Risky,
– John
Photos by Olivia Rink
