This is a fucking trip haha I had completely forgotten about these posts below and I'm so glad that I did!
In the first post of Hola Papaya I spoke about a 'weird specieman' Nicolas, who was my first little insight into a nomad's life. Now, all these years later I've come as far as to call myself a nomad! To think that in 2016 I was freshly graduated from London South Bank University with a writers degree, used to living in a cosmopolitan city and spending summers in Europe. Then now, January 2019 I have probably taken at least 100 flights in the last few years, up and down and all around the globe, haha. It's almost as if Nicolas, who I now know is from Goa - the hippy traveller's mecca in India - came to tell me about a life I was going to choose for myself for the following years. I sometimes feel like every living moment we have, every person we meet, every relationship we experience is preparing us for the next thing coming up, giving us a little heads up and providing with appropriate knowledge.
As I write this I am sitting on my balcony in Tulum, Mexico. A tiny Caribbean hippy town with a luxurious twist for high end tourism.
So why Mexico? Well, after graduating from uni in 2016 I decided to travel to India, Goa, where I spent two months and almost met up with Nicolas the wandering poet himself. This didn't happen tho, as not all roads are meant to cross again. My way took me to Nepal instead, of which I have so many stories to tell I gotta make a separate post about it. Lol, I can't wait.
Then after three months of the most breathtaking experiences (both trekking in the Himalayas as well as paragliding) I decided to return to London, to set up my very own stall at Camden Market. So it was there, in the middle of Camden, stuck in rain hiding under my rain cover, when I found myself wondering about my next travel location. Overwhelmed by the vastness of the world and the freedom to go anywhere, I was starting to get kind of anxious about making a plan for the following winter.
Right, fuck it I thought to myself, and made a deal with Cosmos or whatever that depending on where my next customer was from, that is where I'd go. It wasn't long after this lovely blonde English girl stopped by my shop and almost like got stuck there with me, going deep into telling me about her incredible hitch-hiking and awesome couch surfing experiences in Mexico. Great, I said to her, you've just helped me choose my next location. Thanks for that!
N just like that the decision was made, the intention set and plans created. I had always wanted to go and study film in Los Angeles, so I decided to book my first flight there, where I couch surfed on my own for the first time with this geeky Gutemalan guy Juan, who did everything he could to make sure we had a great time. =)
I had actually popped by Tenerife, Thailand and Bali as well prior to my flight to LA in March 2018, but once again these are stories for other times.
So first I landed in Puerto Vallerta, the pacific coast of Mexico. A town for gays and old people. =) Seriously there's like 1-2 clubs with slightly shit music, the fun gay clubs and a ton of restaurants fillllled with waves or retired people. So, I made my way to Sayulita pretty quickly, a dusty surf town about an hour away. I actually went there to do my very first workaway experience at a surf club, which I assumed was going to be a fun experience, but realising it included mainly data typing into 3 different systems (literally the exact same information) I said to myself it's ok, I deserve better and quit after the first day. Haha, well also because I imagined there would be a lot more surfing and so on. Anyway, it wasn't for me.
Instead I met sum cool people at a hostel and had a great time for about a week, when I ended up on a roadtrip back to Puerto Vallerta. This time I had come across some skydivers and went on wicked trek in the jungle with them. To them it was training, to me it was fun jumping up and down the giant rocks, that had once formed a river, imagining I was a dinosaur. We ended the intense two hour trek with a quick dip in a man made pond or cenote if you like and carried on to the sea to go swimming and finally ended the day with ice-cream in a jacuzzi. It's definitely one of the best days I had here in Mexico, for I absolutely love trekking, climbing, swimming etc. only thing is they were all full size fit men and I was the only gal, so yes I didn't walk for the next few days and I also fucked my neck which I couldn't move for about a week. All in all, it was still worth it. ='D
As a side note I was at a chemist somewhere near Guadalajarra asking for maximum strength painkillers for my neck, when a hero doctor behind me stepped in and made the woman prescribe me 800mg ibuprofein - the kind I was never able to buy again. Not without a prescription anyway! What a miracle, and timing!
Early May 2019 I came to meet my friend Ida in Cancun, the super south side of Mexico, by the Caribbean and not far off from Tulum - our final destination that soon became home for the both of us. =) Much happened inbetween now and then, but more about that next time. Why we stayed and what else happened.
Big love and hugs to everyone I came across over this short time period, you know who you are.
Thanks!
Stay tuned
N.
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