My Nomad Diary, Week 13: 100 Days On The Road

Moments from the week:

Finally some alone time 🙏
Visiting Hobbitenango (read below for more)

My favourite places this week:

Highlights from the week:
Finally some alone time 🙏
Visiting Hobbitenango (read below for more)

I hit 100 days on the road this week!

It’s my final few days in Antigua this week and I’m spending my Monday on a walking tour. It’s my golden rule in any new city, find a free walking tour. GuruWalk is a great resource to book, or look on Google Maps – obviously, it’s not free and you’re expected to tip, a tenner is always a good number, but shouldn’t be any less.

And here we are, Tuesday and it’s New Year’s Eve in Antigua. How am I celebrating? By heading to Hobbitenango. That’s right, Guatemala has its very own take on the shire right here in Central America. I took an Uber up and we climbed around 700m in a 10-minute drive, it was pretty wild. Bought a ticket, walked around for an hour or two, took lots of selfies and then grabbed an Uber back to Cerro de la Cruz which is a huge crucifix overlooking the town of Antigua, from there you can descend through a landscaped forest back into the city and, conveniently, right back to my Airbnb.
I’m still on my “people detox” which I’m thoroughly enjoying, so I watched the impressive fireworks from my terrace and called it a year 🥂

Haaaaaaappy New Year! And guess what you lucky bastards? New year, same me. Wednesday is my last full day here in Antigua, I’ve enjoyed my time here but it’s very touristy, whilst I would recommend for a week as a holiday, I can’t say I’d recommend it long term as a digital nomad. You’ve been great Antigua, but you’re not making the list I’m afraid.
Lazy day today; brunch, coffee, a casual walk and packing my bags ready for my transfer tomorrow lunch time.

Thursday and it’s moving day but oh my god what an absolute shitshow of a day this turned out to be. My transfer forgot to pick me up, rescheduled to four hours later and was an hour late and then I arrived to my accommodation and they got my reservation wrong. Three back-to-back mistakes and they tried to convince me I’d done something wrong!? Oooffttt this little Karen (me) will be having strong words on the internet next week.
But, it’s all part of the adventure, I’m alive, I have a roof over my head and it could be a lot, lot worse. A beer to calm the nerves and then I’m calling it a day, it’s been a tough one 😅

Friday and the festive period is over… back to Spanish lessons and a few mini projects. I’m going to make the most of this quiet time and continue to explore a bit more before slowing down later on in January. I’m staying in a place called Lake Atitlan which is a massive high altitude lake in Guatemala, surrounded by little traditional towns, it’s incredibly picturesque. I started the morning at a café called Flor de Café which sits lakeside in Panajachel’s oldest hotel and afterwards I took the boat across from the village of Panajachel to San Juan La Laguna, famed for its local art and traditional weaving cooperatives. I went off on a little jolly with the intention of getting lost and found a tiny café in somebody’s attic overlooking the lake, a really unique and wholesome experience.
Later on today I really hit a wall… I’ve reflected on the past couple of weeks and I just don’t really like Guatemala all that much. I like the buzz of a medium-size city (circa 1mill I’ve found is the magic number) and the only option here is Guatemala City, which is notoriously dangerous. The touristy options such as Antigua or Panajachel are just not suited for solo nomads, in my humble opinion (feel free to message me if you are considering and have questions).
So, I’m having a big reset and I’m headed to a live-in Spanish school experience for a week: 20-hours of 1-1 lessons and a private studio for 7 nights. £220. Brucey Bargain. I’ll have my mornings free to work, write and figure out what I’m going to do next, but I am strongly considering skipping the next few stops and fast-forwarding to South America. Besides, I don’t have to follow a predetermined route.
A reminder, more to me than you, the purpose of this trip is to find a new base of operations in LATAM (Mérida currently in 1st place) and I already know it’s not in Central America, so maybe I’ll revisit for short isolated trips when I have a new base, as I can feel the burnout creeping in…. 😬

It’s Saturday and I’m feeling a bit more perky today. I’ve sorted next week at Spanish school and I’m so happy to be leaving this town. I had breakfast by the lake, got my 10,000 steps in and then just had a lazy day, avoiding people and re-charging. Perfect 😂

Final day of the week and it’s tiiiiime to gooooooo. I hopped in a mototaxi (tuk-tuk) for the first time and headed to the docks, boarded a lancha and made way for San Pedro. On the other side, hopped in another mototaxi (now my favourite form of transport) who took a wrong turn and took me for a 20-minute drive, that should’ve been one minute. All the fun of the fair though and we had a good old chinwag in Spanish, I’m getting pretty good now if I do say so myself! Not something I couldn’t have done six weeks ago… what will I be able to do in the next six weeks!? Let’s see…
Arrived at my Spanish school where I’m staying for the next week, I have 20-hours of private lessons and 7 days of accommodation in a 1-bed studio, all for £220… mad really, isn’t it? This little town is soooo much better, found a nice bakery for a croissant (KWASSON) and a coffee, followed by a middle-eastern restaurant for dinner… ah, this is much, much better.

See you next week 👋