Top 6 Ways To Create A Tropical Winter Escape

It's winter in the Midwest and it's cold outside.

You need to recapture those Tropical Vibes ASAP.
Here's our top 6 ideas for Midwest Tropical Escapism:

Escape at Home

Making your home a tropical getaway is essential to keeping a West Coast State of Mind all year long.  Fill your space with visual reminders of the beach and the sunshine as a constant reminder of where you want your soul to settle.  Here's a few ideas for decorating your space to create the vibes:

• Grab some awesome Tiki-themed Barware to make cocktail hour a little more tropical.
• Light some of our candles in a reclaimed wood holder to give that authentic beach low-light vibe.
• Handmade Bamboo home goods are always a great idea to give yourself a quick mental vacation.
• Maybe you should go Nautical? It'll make you forget that your local lake is currently frozen solid.
• Pickup some amazing handmade Tiki lighting to give off a little magic.

Find Your Beach

Your beach might be a riverbank or a lakeshore.

Your beach might be in California, but your body is here.  So, choose a new beach!  Your beach might be a riverbank or a lakeshore.  It might be a health club pool or an inflatable hot tub stuck in your storage shed.  It might even be a warm bath during a snowstorm. Water soothes our bodies like nothing else.  Find your beach and slide in.

Embrace Tiki Culture

There's magic behind the doors of a Tiki Bar.  It's not just the booze (although I'm sure that helps).  Tiki Culture is found in every state and every medium to large-size city in the US.  So fire up the Tiki Bar Map and find one near you. 

it's about a rich (and excellently fake!) version of paradise

Tiki isn't JUST about cocktails...it's about a rich (and excellently fake!) version of paradise that transports you far away from the average, boring (and often chilly) everyday, dropping you off in a land of swaying palm trees and aloha shirts.  So, get started exploring Midwest Tiki Culture:

1. Check out an excellent documentary on the history of Tiki in the US
2. Dive into a whole playlist of well produced videos to get you up and running with Tiki Cocktail creations

Escape into Music or Movies

West Coast culture isn't just sun and sand.  It's the film and music industries that have transformed California into the world of escapist entertainment.  So, if you're too cold to put on your swimsuit or had a few too many Mai Tais to get off the couch, check out some of our favorite West Coast and Tropical themed entertainment:

Westcoast Top 5 Tropical Movies

1. The Endless Summer - There's no better way to chase the sun and surf than this.
2. Blue Hawaii - Elvis in Hawaii?  Yes please.
3. IMAX: The Ultimate Wave - Tahiti -   IMAX 70mm film with Kelly Slater.  Beautiful visuals!
4. Beach Party - Frankie and Annette party with their crew. Ridiculous and really fun.
5. The Brady Bunch Hawaii Specials - 3 Episodes that I could watch over and over again.

Westcoast Top 5 Tropical Escape Albums

1. Martin Denny - Exotica | The Exotica (ie. "Tiki Music") album that named the genre and started it all.
2. Dick Dale and his Deltones - Surfer's Choice  | When we think surf music, we think Dick Dale.
3. The Tikyaki Orchestra - Aloha, Baby  |  From the intro with 'Captain Lush' to the very end this is a modern Exotica-styled classic
4. The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird | Nothing more than a single, but this is where punk rock and surf music collide in an amazing combination.
5. Robert Drasnin - Voodoo | The vinyl version of this album has one of the classic covers of Exotica. But Spotify will have to do...

Wear A Token Reminder

Whether it's around your neck, hanging from your ankle, or adorning your torso, wearing a reminder of tropical vibes is an essential move to keeping that West Coast State of Mind all year long.  Each time you look in the mirror your mind will remember that life is about more than just another day in the office. 

So, put on that Aloha shirt.  Don't hesitate to wear that flowered hair wrap even if there's snow on the ground.  It's there to remind you that a sunnier day is just around the corner.

Keep a West Coast State of Mind

Here at Westcoast Lifestyle Goods we try to keep a West Coast State of Mind all year round.  Living in the Midwest, where we go without sun for months at a time, it's a bit of a challenge.  But we're up for it!  We do all of the above as a way to lean back in our metaphorical beach chair to soak in the rays.  Afterall, what's life without a little sunshine?!

Afterall, what's life without a little sunshine?!