Only two hours from San Francisco, but seemingly worlds away, the charming little town of Carmel almost transports you to another country or another time with it’s signature fairytale cottage architecture and location just steps from the Pacific ocean. As I walked through town, exploring courtyard after courtyard plush with potted annuals and window boxes pregnant with greenery, the sidewalks buckled beneath my feet, tree roots slowly disrupting the bricks yet adding to the coziness of this small town. I breathed in the smell of pine and eucalyptus mixed with a wisp of sea breeze, and exhaled the stress of city life that I left behind for the weekend.