I packed for our five day, four night beach trip to Shimoda, like it was a month away at the Jersey Shore. I packed like every guide in a fashion mag suggests. I even packed a coral scarfy thing that could double as sarong. Mostly, though, I wore my new high-wasted bikini every second, and a striped thin dress.

It is magical, this getting away. We need big horizons, especially us city people. We need concrete and buildings to move out of the way. These are the memories we need to build.

We invited my husband’s parents, the loves that they are, and my girl’s Godmother. I can’t decide if I want to write a tourist-specific article, or feed you some beach house recipes and describe all the drinks we drank, or just rattle-on about seaweed and shells.

The bottom line? Families, couples need the sea. We need walks down to the shore, with stones and big jumbles of seaweed. We need to take our kids’ fleshy kid hands, and climb over rocks to tide pools before walking back to wash our sandy feet under a spicket.

It was a pocket of riches, this time at the beach. And the magic of Shimoda? It is not flat, but a landscape, windows full of lush mountains as well as sea. It is lagoons and a canvas of stars.

I still have my tan and none of my burns have peeled.