My Nomad Diary, Week 10: Reflecting on the importance of community

Moments from the week:

Working from a rainforest!

What I’m reading this week:

Yep, you guessed it, still on (admittedly not actively reading atm): The Vagabond’s Way: 366 Meditations on Wanderlust, Discovery, and the Art of Travel

Welcome to week ten, lots of movement this week.

I had a thought early this week, I’ve spent the last two weeks without people around me, or specifically, my kind of people. For the first week I was in an Airbnb focusing on deep work, and not making much time for people and then on my second week I went to a town that generally attracts a very different kind of person to me.

Longer term this would have made me very lonely but I just became very restless and my creativity all but disappeared.
The lesson I’ve learnt is: if you’re nomadding somewhere long-term, it’s so important to build a community; join a run club, go to language exchanges, find a hobby club, start a new hobby altogether, stay in a hostel for the weekend, find a way to make friends and build your own community. And, if you’re moving more quickly, I think it’s important to consider co-living/working places so that you’re with like-minded people and be able to do your best work.

Starting off the week on Monday, I had a few too many shandies on Sunday and I’m feeling a bit worse for wear! In short, I handled a few errands and then spent the rest of the day feeling sorry for myself 😅

Heading into Tuesday and I’m fighting fit again, starting off the morning with a mountain bike tour. Some friends and I headed off from the town centre, up into the hills for a 20K loop and about 1K of ascent, it was pretty brutal!
Finishing up the day, I packed my bags and had a lazy day, as I’m up early tomorrow to head to my next stop, Palenque! I’m spending two nights in Palenque, but only one full day, to see the ruins before continuing my journey east to Mérida, and my final stop in México 🥺

Happy Wednesday one-and-all. We’re moving on from San Cristobal and en route to Palenque. I’m on an 8-hour bus journey through the highlands of east México and I’ve got myself a front-row seat on the bus to soak up the views.

Except, we have about 20-metres of visibility due to incredibly thick fog (a real “pea-souper” for my readers back home – see gallery below) and now I understand why nobody sits on the front row – we’re right up the backside of a truck carrying dangerous goods, heavy rain, no visibility. This is where I meet my maker.
And just as I write this, some absolute weapon overtook us both on a blind corner.
Eye mask is going on, I don’t have the steel to watch this journey anymore.

I arrived to my Airbnb shortly afterwards, which was actually part of a hotel, and what a pad! Enough room to sleep 7 people, a jacuzzi, on the side of a river and a rainforest for a back garden – jackpot.

Thursday morning and I’m up bright and early to visit the ruins of Palenque, keep an eye on the postcards section of this website, photos will follow in the coming days. An absolutely stunning example of Mayan history, well worth a visit!
After walking around, I got chatting to a couple of locals, hopped on a Colectivo to the centre and had lunch in the market.
All of that, I never would have done without knowing Spanish and it really made me reflect on how much more fun and relaxed this part of the world is, now that I know I can navigate most situations.

After lunch in the market, I walked back through the villages for about an hour to get my steps in and then did some work (I’m a bit behind this week!) in my Airbnb’s office, ticking off “rainforest office” for the first time ✅

It’s an early start for Friday as I’m headed to my final stop in Mexico and Yuri, my Spanish teacher, is finally back from holiday 🎉 who commented on how happy she was to see how far my Spanish had come along in her three week absence, happy days! I packed my bags, headed to the bus station and so began my 9h (which became 10.5h) journey to Mérida- cannot wait to get there!

It’s the weekend and I’m up bright and early for my first day in Mérida. I’ve been quite nervous about coming here, I’ve hyped it up soooooo much in my head, so much so, that I’ve had to repeatedly remind myself to not hype this place up so much. I’ve convinced myself this is where I want my long-term base to be in LATAM.

Spoiler alert: It’s lived up to the hype. I freaking love this city and it is far above and beyond my favourite place in México. I’ve still got some places to scope out in Colombia and Peru as other options, but for now, Mérida comfortably sits in first place.

I did my usual bits; laundry, scoped out the area, wrote some content, ate a torta and then headed out to explore: I’m staying right next to this absolutely stunning park (see photos below) which is a great spot for walking and running. Made some new friends and went out for drinks and gorditas, perfect 😊

Last day of the week and nothing really on the agenda, apart from a whopper of a hangover, headed out around the city again, went deep into local territory for a bit and then retreated north to gringo-ville, went to a food market, did some shopping, updated my diary, had tacos with friends and then packed in a few hours of work, I’ve not done much this week!

Best week yet, I think! Roll on next week 😊