A long time ago, before meeting her husband, Marc, before mothering a tribe of 5, even before she started a career, Nicole had a dream. This was not a “dream” as in, “I dream of one day …” No, it was a dream that happened one night, while she slept peacefully in her bed in Johannesburg, South Africa. In the dream, she stood on a beach covered in trees that reminded her of a cross between a weeping willow and a fir tree. It was obviously not a real tree. Also, beaches don’t actually have trees on them other than palm trees, right? Also in the dream, a nameless, faceless man stood next to her, his arm slung casually over her shoulder. Nicole knew instinctively that he was her husband.

Fast forward 20-something years. Nicole has married a Durban-born Mauritian in Johannesburg. She has moved with him and their three daughters to his hometown, Durban, and then up to the beautiful, little coastal town of Salt Rock. Here they lived happily for ten years and added another daughter and a son to their tribe. They found their way to living simply and rid themselves of 70% of their belongings. Putting the rest into a storage container, they traveled the North Coast of South Africa, documenting their lives on Marc’s vlog and YouTube channel, My Kiff Life.

Fast forward some more, and in a seriously crazy turn of events, Nicole found herself standing on a beach, covered in trees that reminded her of a cross between a weeping willow and a fir tree. Next to her, her husband stood, arm slung casually over her shoulder. The beach is on a rock called Mauritius, in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The trees are called Filao trees. They are real and are more prolific than palm trees are on Mauritian beaches. This is now their home. And in some weird way, an actual dream come true. Nicole spends her time pinching herself, homeschooling four of her five children, reading, writing, and crocheting. That is, when she is not on the beach of course.

You can follow her on Instagram and on her blog, Exhale Life.