As the year winds down, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what wealth actually means.
This is especially due in part to the fact that I’ve been mapping out some of my goals for 2026, and realized how many of mine from the year prior involved money in some form or fashion.
But what I’ve come to realize is that not all kinds show up in your bank account or the designer bag you saved up for. There’s the wealth that lives in your body when you’re not running on fumes or the kind that shows up in how you sleep, how you move through your day, how present you can be with the people you love. Real wealth is waking up and not immediately feeling behind.
And that’s the kind of wealthy that I’m looking to become in 2026.
A couple of weeks ago in Miami, I got a glimpse of what that could actually look like. I was there for Art Basel, which if you’ve never been to, is basically a week of parties, yes, but also watching people with big bank buy art that costs more than most people’s houses (another form of wealth). Collectors, celebrities, people flying in on private jets to spend six figures on a painting they’ll hang in a house they visit twice a year. It’s a lot. And while I love art, being surrounded by that level of excess made me think even more about what wealth actually means. Because you can have all the money in the world and still be running on empty.
And due to the fact that I’ve spent a lot of time in this city throughout the years, one thing I know to be true is that Miami will mirror whatever energy you bring to it. If you show up exhausted, you’ll feel even more worn out. Which is exactly why I needed to be intentional about where I stayed.
I checked into The Gale Miami Hotel & Residences knowing I’d be bouncing between Art Basel events and maybe sneaking in some party time. But I also knew I needed a home base that wouldn’t drain me. Somewhere I could actually recharge between all of it. And honestly, from the moment I walked in, I could tell they got it.
The design of the Gale, which is part hotel, part apartment building, is clean and modern without being cold. Nice hotels can feel like museums sometimes, and instead this one felt like home (again, likely because of the apartment building thing). The staff had 5-star hotel warmth without the over the top price tag, which made it feel like you were getting something way more than you’d actually paid for. And there’s a coffee shop right in the lobby, which also made things extremely convenient for late nights and early mornings.
Speaking of mornings… my mornings there became a routine pretty quickly. Just let me be clear: I’m not a yoga person. And if you’ve heard about The Gale, you’ve probably also heard that the hotel offers sunrise sessions on the rooftop. Which, I’m sure they’re beautiful if that’s your thing. But me? I need to actually sweat, not meditate. So every morning I hit the hotel’s gym, which is part of the 10th floor Gale Wellness Center. And listen, this gym was probably the nicest I’ve ever worked out in. They have Peloton bikes, free weights for days, machines I didn’t even recognize, and my ride or die machine — the Stairmaster (which surprisingly, if you travel quite frequently, know is pretty rare for a hotel gym). Everything is spread out so you’re not crowded, and the floor to ceiling windows give you views of downtown Miami. It didn’t feel like a hotel gym. It felt like someone’s private training facility that I just happened to have access to.
I’m someone who uses the gym to think, to process, to shake off whatever I’ve been carrying. And having access to a space that good, that thoughtfully designed, made me realize how much of wellness is just having the right environment. You can’t pour from an empty cup, sure. But you also can’t pour if you don’t have anywhere decent to refill.
One afternoon after my workout, I headed up to the 9th floor rooftop swim club that overlooks Biscayne Bay. I spent a few hours up there just floating around, not checking my phone every five minutes or thinking about what I needed to do next. Honestly, even though I was technically there for Art Basel, forgot how good it feels to just exist without an agenda.
Then there was Casa Gianna, the hotel’s Italian restaurant. The atmosphere feels genuinely warm, not that forced hospitality some places do. I had the shrimp cocktail, which was perfect because I needed the protein. The calzone was incredible. And the Spicy Rigatoni Alla Vodka with chicken? I’m still thinking about it. The food was fresh and filling without being heavy, and there weren’t any calorie counts on the menu making you second-guess your choices. It just made me feel good, the way food is supposed to.
The wellness center on the 10th floor is worth mentioning too. The entire floor is dedicated to wellness, which tells you everything about this hotel’s priorities. They have a traditional hammam (the largest co-ed hammam in downtown Miami), a sauna, steam room, and cold plunge. I didn’t book any treatments this trip, but just seeing how much space and thought went into creating a place for people to actually rest and restore made something click for me. The wellness center wasn’t an afterthought or some small corner they carved out to check a box. It was a full floor. That kind of commitment to rest felt radical, especially coming off Art Basel week where everything moves fast and loud.
I left Miami feeling different than when I arrived. Not from the Art Basel parties, but from actually letting myself rest. The gym every morning, that afternoon by the pool, the food at Casa Gianna – it all added up to something I didn’t realize I was missing.
For Black women especially, who are so often expected to hold everyone else up while our own foundations crack, the idea that rest doesn’t need to be earned is important for us all to remember in this season. We’re taught that resting means we’re lazy, that slowing down means we’re falling behind. But burnout costs us our health, our joy, our relationships, our peace, and that price is way too high.
What I found at The Gale was proof that restoration isn’t a luxury you save for later. That’s the wealth I’m chasing in 2026. Not more money, just more of this.