Guess who’s back…! I wrote, what I believed to be, my final diary in May 2025, after religiously writing a weekly diary for 31 weeks, documenting the trials and tribulations of rebuilding my life from the ground up as a nomad. Part of it was I felt like I was invading my own privacy a little bit (I’m a typical over-sharer) and the second part was I’d kind of finished the journey: The digital nomad visa application was on its way, I was about to be reunited with my dog and I’d sorted a lot of her paperwork. I just didn’t really feel like writing anymore.
What actually followed was a very intense and difficult three months: visa applications are not for the weak! I covered the process I went from selling my house to arriving in Ecuador in this blog, here.
So, fast-forward almost a year and I thought… I’m going to get back into journaling again, but this time, I’ll do a monthly entry—you know, go easy on myself.
Where I’m at
So, I’m still in Cuenca, Ecuador (read my trip report about Cuenca, here). I arrived in Cuenca in August and I’ve been here ever since. I’ve travelled to lots of cities throughout Ecuador but I haven’t once left the country, it’s a fascinating country, I highly recommend it.
Well, I’m actually in the Galápagos Islands as I’m writing this, it’s 7pm and I’m sat at a nice café outside, it’s 24 degrees and I’m slurping a hot chocolate whilst I write this and schedule some social posts for a client.
And I know, working at 7pm sounds miserable but it’s one of the things I love most about this lifestyle; I took the afternoon off and I’m working this evening instead: work is now shaped around my life not the other way around, and that’s all I wanted really. I love to work, but I want to live a life worth living at the same time.
What I’ve been doing
I’m very much living a normal life at the moment, I’m pretty settled in Cuenca, I have my routines, I have my favourite places, I’ve set myself up with a home office, I’ve got everything I need.
Work has picked up a bit this month, it was pretty quiet last month and I’ve just brought on a new client and I think I might have another one in the works. You never really know how this stuff is going to go, the first few years of running a business is very much feast or famine and you just have to have the stomach to keep going.
Outside of work I’ve been getting back into running again, I’m still struggling to get back to where I was before my operation, but I think that might be the altitude more than anything, I have a big race at the end of July and I’ll see how that goes; that’ll be my make-or-break race and whether I decide to carry on training for long distance runs.
I also went to a dinner party (spiffing darling) completely packed with strangers, which is something I would normally make an excuse to avoid, but it was really unique and nice to meet new people; although my brain was fried after 3 hours of non-stop Spanish (bonus: free lesson).
Exploring-wise, I had a little trip this month and did a 3-day hike called the Quilotoa Loop. It’s a village-to-village hike not too far from Quito, which ends at the dormant Quilotoa volcano complete with a huge crater lake and some amazing views. If you ever find yourself in Ecuador, I would highly recommend it.
In addition, my mum and her partner visited me last month and my dad and his partner visited me this month, so I’ve had a busy few weeks of entertaining family. Never thought I’d convince either of them to venture out to Latin America but seemed like they had a good time!
What’s on my mind
Something that’s hit me quite hard this month is that I’m pretty much decided that I’m ready to move on from Cuenca and I’m quite conflicted by it. I really love it as a city, I really do. But I still need to explore, I need to see more of the world, I’m not ready to stop yet.
Sure, it’s a nice problem to have, but it’s also quite unsettling; I’ve got to get into the groove of putting my life back on the road again after becoming quite settled in Cuenca. So I’m spending quite a bit of my time at the moment trying to plan and budget for what the next year looks like; I’m looking at leaving Cuenca around November and I have an initial plan that takes me all the way to the bottom of South America and likely back up to Mexico again, god I miss the food there.
With that in mind, Cuenca is still on my list of favourite long-term cities, it’s somewhere I’d definitely raise a family (jury is still out on that one) but for now, I still have a few places I want to tick off in South America, more on that soon!
Something I’m looking forward to
In recent years I’ve discovered that the main source of my happiness is setting myself a challenge in the near future. It gives me structure in my life and gives me something to look forward to, plus, it gives me a sense of achievement when I, hopefully, complete said challenge. In June I’m going to do my first big summit and will be climbing Cotopaxi to a height of 5,897 metres, wish me luck! I’ll be covering that in more detail in my upcoming blogs.
One challenge, one small joy
But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows dearest reader, and as such I’ll use this section to talk about something I’m battling with and something I’m enjoying; I want to show both sides of the coin.
Something I’ve really struggled with lately is boredom, big boring boredom. I’ve seen so much of Cuenca, so many times over, I don’t think I have anything left to see. As a result, I’ve slipped back into normal routine life: work, exercise, eat, sleep, repeat. Perfectly normal, I know, but it’s genuinely not what I want right now: I want excitement, I want to see and experience new things, I want to meet new people. And I’m paying the price now as I’ve committed to staying in Cuenca for a year and I am absolutely itching to get back on the road. It’s fine though, I’ve filled up my calendar with lots of mini trips across Ecuador for the next six months until I get back on the road at the end of the year.
I’ve learnt lessons from both ends of the spectrum now; moving every week is a recipe for burnout and moving once a year is a recipe for boredom. Now I need to find a happy medium, which is probably 1-2 months in a city at a time—something I’m looking forward to putting to the test at the end of the year.
And my small joy from this month? It’s this very moment right now. I’m sat at the intersection of a little street in the Galápagos Islands, drinking a glass of wine, people watching and writing this post. It’s a very simple moment on paper, but it’s bringing me so much joy and it’s a true “this is why I do it” moment, this is why I work hard for this life; to experience ordinary moments in extraordinary places.
Looking ahead
So for next month, I’m going to be in the Galápagos Islands a few more weeks until the middle of May and then just a quite couple of weeks back in Cuenca with the pooch. Anything could happen, so hopefully I’ll have another action-packed blog for you next month! See you soon 🫶
Want to read my previous diary entries, they’re all here.
