I simply can’t overstate how happy I am at the beach. Any beach, really. Today’s bliss is brought to you by Cua Dai beach outside of Hoi An, Vietnam.

Here’s where we are:

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As soon as we arrived at our resort last night, I dashed into the darkness and waded in the East China Sea. I let the water splash over my Chacos for a few minutes before heading back to our room to unpack. What is it about the salty air, the pounding surf, the spongy wet sand that trumps all the frustrations and little annoyances in life?

This morning, Tony and I enjoyed an early breakfast outside, overlooking the ridiculously long pool and the crashing waves of the sea, followed by a walk up the beach. We sauntered for about an hour, trying to decide which sand we preferred: the hard wet sand where the cold water doused our feet and legs, the mushy aerated sand that gave way under each step, or the dry powdery sand that worked our toes and calves. Mmmm … can’t decide. I love every inch of the beach.

During our walk, we encountered these round basket-boats. We watched two fishermen drag their basket-boats down the beach and into the water, where they each stood precariously on a little platform inside the boat and used an oar to paddle. They bobbed on the waves for a bit, eventually anchoring and tossing their nets.

“We totally need one of those for our lake house,” Tony said. Then we had a good laugh picturing ourselves paddling around Lake Orion, Michigan, in our basket-boat. We figured we’d be too stupid to work the thing, so it would just spin around like the teacup ride at Disney.

It’s a little overcast, but the temperature is perfect.

The water here is colder than Thailand but warmer than New Jersey. Nice on your legs, but I’m not sure I’ll immerse my whole body. That’s why God made swimming pools. We stepped off the beach and right up to our hotel’s pool. They even have a little coconut-shell scoop for washing sand off your feet.