Deviating the Norm travel

02/05/2026

Love the Salt Pier area of Bonaire. Incredible operation that now is thankfully paid labor instead of run by enslaved peoples. The drive south of the pier shows where they used to be housed and further south brings you to the southern lighthouse. I nice drive on narrow roads for a few hours road trip!

Diving under the pier was amazing and my first unguided dive (with buddies) ever!!

15/11/2024

SO MUCH shared in this post! From Mexican folk art, to sunset flamingos, this was my self-guided visit to Chichen Itza--and so much more on the Yucatan Peninsula!

🦩🛕🌅🎨

Chichen Itza, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, is estimated to have been built between 400 and 600 AD. It is the second most popular tourist destination in all of Mexico with over 2.6 million visitors per year! It’s not only an iconic destination for inte...

27/09/2024

I moved to New Jersey! New job, new life - proximity to family and access to NYC again.

🌴☀️➡️🌳🌆

I’m baaaack! I am back both in this being my first post in 2 months and in recently moving to the Northeastern corridor. I mentioned in my 10 year blog-iversary post that I may have some additional life changes coming. Indeed! I was offered a new university job and I am now a New Jersian! After

26/07/2024

Hello. My name is Dr. Erica J. Friedman. Rikka is my blog's pen name. And I have a big announcement to share on this 10th anniversary of deviating the norm! ❤️

Next Wednesday, July 31, 2024, marks exactly 10 years since my first ever post on this blog. On that day, I was one month out from departing US soil for a journey that took me around the world over 15 months, from Reykjavik to Tokyo , and back home again. It was my dream trip—that I fully reali

09/07/2024

An invitation to stay with friends in Playa Del Carmen led me BACK to Mexico 4 months after spending New Years there! For around $900, I saw famous Mayan ruins, went diving, swam in cenotes, ate amazing food, and so much more over 7 days.

This post kicks off what will be a few very brief stories about my trip back to Mexico for 7 days in late April-early May of this year. My friends, Ellen and Tori, invited me to join them for a few just across the water on the mainland in Playa Del Carmen a few months after we met in Cozumel . I

25/06/2024

That's a WRAP on my trip to Cozumel! Here are the highlights!✨

I’ve been writing about my trip to Cozumel for a few months now. At this point, it’s time to wrap things up by sharing all of the highlights in one big post! My hope is this post serves as a starting place from which traveler contemplating Cozumel or planning a trip to Cozumel can further solidi...

09/06/2024

Drag Race drag queens on a tiny island in Mexico??? YES PLEASE! 😃💋💃💅

Remember when I found out about Cozumel’s recently opened and only gay bar? On New Year’s Eve, the two women staying across from me at my lodging told me that Pose bar just opened 3 months earlier. I vowed right then that I would go check it out before leaving Cozumel. That’s exactly what I di...

29/05/2024

Peanut butter tequila? Mayan seasoned seafood? YES PLEASE, ALL OF THIS PLEASE! 🤤🤤🤤

Eating is a favorite pastime of mine. What better way is there to experience a new country than to eat my way through it? I believe you cannot know a people or a culture until you’ve tried their local cuisine—and not just from the tourist stops. The history behind their food or the nostalgia and...

14/05/2024

I didn't swim here - Let me tell you why....

(bat p**p. it was bat p**p!!!)🦇💩

Cenotes exist all over the Yucatan Peninsula. A cenote (pronounced “sen-NO-tay”) is a sinkhole that formed when limestone bedrock collapsed and exposed groundwater below. They are typically quite beautiful and popular tourist destinations in Mexico. Locals also love to go to them to cool down fr...

03/05/2024

Come on snorkel trip to the Tortuga Islands off the coast of the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica! Had an awesome time snorkeling the area then chilling at the beach and snacking on some favorites: fresh pineapple, watermelon, and coconut! 🍍🍉🥥

01/05/2024

I experienced the dive fully in the present but I really wish I had video/photo of the HUGE sea creature I saw! 😍

Diving in Cozumel Mexico was at the top of my list. The Great Mayan Reef (Mesoamerican Barrier Reef) occupies its surrounding waters and is the largest barrier reef in the western hemisphere. It’s the second largest barrier reef in the world! The visibility is so good, divers come from all over th...