The Breakup Was Supposed to Break Me. Instead, It Sent Me to the Dominican Republic

It’s a Sunday afternoon. I’m sitting in a quiet Queens cafe, stirring my coffee across from the man I love when he says, calmly and rehearsed, “I’ve never truly loved you. And I don’t think I ever will.”

Ouch. Safe to say, blueberry pancakes will never taste the same again. 

What followed was every stage of heartbreak you can imagine. Remorse, regret, rumination. I was moving through the world carrying the weight of loving someone who, if I’m being honest, didn’t even like me most days. Crying on the subway became a routine and Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving became my lifeline. 

Just when I thought the world had shrunk to the size of my grief, life threw me a bone — a random, unexpected invitation to Club Med in the Dominican Republic. I didn’t know it yet, but this was the plot twist my heart so desperately needed.

A few days later, I was on a plane to the DR with five nights ahead at the all-inclusive Club Med Punta Cana and Club Med Michès. I’d never been