I know what you’re thinking, ‘sleeping in while on holiday is a natural right’ – believe me, I don’t like the sound of the alarm clock either, but if I open my eyes and the first thing I do is to put on my swimsuit, my sensations are transformed as I smile.

Another pleasant thing is to get in the car when it’s still dark, calculating down to the second the time it takes to get to the beach I have chosen. Travelling accompanied by good music along deserted streets as the dawn approaches creates a sense of wonderful anticipation, and the driving relaxes me. Once arrived at the destination, the fresh air lights up my senses and the silence is broken only by the song of some late crickets and seagulls – more dedicated early risers than myself, that’s for sure.

While on the beach, I enjoy the spectacle of the calm sea that seems like a silk sheet of indefinable colour on which the sky is reflected with iridescent sparkles

The fresh sand tickles my feet until I reach the water, which feels like a pleasantly warm and gentle caress. The contrast with the fresh air is clear and like an invitation, the sea welcomes me and wraps me slowly in its open arms with its warmth. I dive slowly, feeling its warmth in every inch of my skin, my feet walk on the soft sand bottom until I can’t touch it anymore and I remain suspended floating in a surreal silence. I turn around and look at the beach that is all for me. At this point, I slip underwater and start swimming out to sea.

The regular strokes quickly take me far away and there, suspended in the water, without weight, without thoughts, I am only pure and liberated. The warm water, the cries of the seagulls, the panorama that gradually acquires colour and finally the sun that suddenly appears on the horizon, blinding and wonderful. Mirroring in the water the golden reflections as it rises rapidly and in a few minutes the light invades everything, the sea is coloured, every detail of the beach becomes visible even from afar and I realize that it is still all there for me like a wonderful gift. Swimming, I observe the rays of the sun that create a thousand reflections on the seabed where the seagrass sways slowly and schools of fish dart quickly in search of food. I calmly return to the shore, stopping often to take in the view, enjoying the warmth of the sun on my shoulders, the taste of salt on my lips, the spectacle full of life that the sea hides and I feel the incredible energy that surrounds me and regenerates me, I could swim for hours and sometimes I do.

• 

Getting out of the water is never easy, it’s like leaving the embrace of a loved one, so I stay a bit and slip underwater and then emerge, looking around while I get the smell of sweets that the kiosk not far away is baking. I get out of the water only when I realize that the beach is starting to fill up with people. I lie down to dry off a bit in the sun while the people around me mount umbrellas and sunbeds. Looking at them I wonder if they have ever tried, at least once, to have the beach all to themselves. Sitting at the kiosk, enjoying a coffee and taking a bite of a warm croissant, my senses are still so hyperactive that everything seems so wonderfully tasty. I feel infinitely lucky and fulfilled by the beauty and sensations that the sunrise has given me. I think back to the dawns with curious travellers, to their amazement, to their shared joy, to the sincere thanks they give me for convincing them to forget laziness for one day and, thanks to not having to think about anything, to let me go with them to the sea.