My 2020: Just a normal day in the Caribbean
I've been living here for the past month and I'll be doing the same until February 26, when I leave this continent - hopefully for a couple of years - to go to Europe and begin a new life but, in the meantime, I'm trying to make the most out of what could possibly be my last days of really good weather in a long long time.
It's like when life gives you lemons and you decide to prepare mojitos. In my case, life has given me exactly four weeks from now to enjoy the hot weather, the beautiful beach, the exotic hostel life, the careless vibes, the chill attitude from everyone around me, the cheap lifestyle my spartan ways allow me to live but most importantly, life has given me a chance to have closure, to leave my home country the way I want to, the way I needed to for so long, exactly as I've been planning to do it for several months now.
But first of all, I want to show you what a normal life in the Caribbean means for me, but what you have to understand is that there is no normal day in the Caribbean, especially for me that my schedule and routine changes so much.
I know, I know, I've been writing for several weeks that I crave routine, so perhaps the way I should be living right now is striving for it, but truth to be told, I can't and I don't want to. One of the magical things about Playa del Carmen is that no day will be the same, and you have to embrace that fact if you want to have a good time, otherwise you'll be miserable - like I've been some days over the past 5 weeks, I won't lie.
So, instead of showing you what a normal day looks for me, I'll show you how an ideal day goes by in my current lifestyle. This kind of days happen perhaps 3 times a week and this is exactly how I enjoy them. The schedule varies every day, and what happens during that schedule is never the same, but you'll get the overall feeling of my non-special days in the Mayan Riviera.
By non-special days I mean that these are not days when I visit a Cenote, or explore a nearby beach, or sleep in a nearby town, or or or. Means that there are no weird plans off schedule, only the day by day stuff I enjoy doing in what is my hometown for now.
Waking up very early, around 7-8 am
Playa del Carmen is a party and touristic destination. This means that the music goes on until 5 am every morning and the streets are crowded from 10 am to 7 am on the next day. But in between those hours, the streets are completely deserted and the only people you get a glimpse of, is runners. Runners that make the 5th avenue their own every morning.
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So I get on my running mood, stretch a bit, get my muscles warm and I start running, no destination, just running. I usually take my cellphone with me, both for Actifit gains and also to listen to some music. This is probably the only time of the day where I listen to music. Doing this type of cardio is incredibly hard for me because I see no point in running aimlessly without a purpose. I find it so much easier to establish a goal and then set my mind on it, putting on top of my mind what I want to achieve and how I want to achieve it, and still, running for the sake of running holds no interest, challenge or drive for me. So, no matter where I start running and the street I do it, I always end up in the ball court.
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This is the kind of cardio I love. I can't run for more than 20 minutes. I get bored. I don't see the point. I even get tired even though my body can go over 3-4 hours doing heavy excercise on any given day.
But this one, the competitive cardio where you play against other men and you prove yourself, where you get to show who's the boss, where the alpha male gets sorted out from the pack by going over your opponents... man, I could play this all day. I've actually done this before but not with basketball - the most time I've played basketball is 4 hours - but with flag football. In flag football there's something called lightning tournament , where you play around 6 games in one Saturday and then, if you are good enough, you play 3 on Sunday. You can win a championship and be the best in just one weekend. Now that's a challenge. And those are exactly the kind of sports I love. That's my kind of cardio. Now you get why I don't like running and I get tired in 20 minutes but when it comes to competitive sports I can go all day long.
One thing I love about Playa del Carmen is that everything is close by. Anything and everything you might need is just walking distance from wherever you are. If you read my posts on a regular basis (or follow my instagram @ericfna), you might have seen that the kind of excercise I like doing when it comes to shaping my body and getting fit is the outdoor gym, some people call it the bars or the irons. Well, it turns out that the best outdoor gym in Playa is less than 50 meters away from the basketball courts so, every time I finish playing ball I hit the bars and put my body to the test, always trying to surpass my own limits - within reason - and trying to get my body to be ready for peak performance. Of course I haven't achieved this, but the key here is being constant and doing this on a daily - or almost daily - basis, to never falter, to not get discouraged, to keep the goal in mind. I don't get bored fighting the irons, this is different than cardio, at least for me. In here I have defined goals and the music helps to be honest.
This is what the amazing outdoor gym looks like
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After that, my morning get's a lot calmer. I return to my hostel running, trying to cool down as I get there, lowering my heart rate and when I get there, I stretch a bit and bum. The real deal starts. Time for breakfast and then getting my ass to work on Steem, curate some with ocd and ocdb, check out the crypto news of the day and trying to write a post when I have time - granted, I haven't written a lot lately, but that's just because I've been very busy with the Steem projects I'm part of.
My breakfast is not very Spartan, in fact some people could consider it a lot. I have a couple of eggs with tomato to get some protein after the workout, a bit of rice for the carbs, some beans for the grains, coffee and two slices of bread (I know I shouldn't eat bread but I'm weak, leave me alone.
Then for the next 4 or 5 hours it's all about computer time, sitting down, having a pair of cigarettes, drinking plenty of water and when people are too obnoxious, pretending I'm listening to music on my headphones.
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The upside you ask for? Well, look at the background, that's my office and I enjoy this little oasis in the fifth avenue every day, that's why I'm able to get so much stuff done every day (when I don't go out on day trips or meet cute girls that I follow around the Mayan Riviera).
Do you see the pills in the left picture? Those are the pills I've mentioned before in some of my previous posts, the same pills that help me keep my cholesterol, lypids, triglycerids and sugar levels on hold, allowing me to have as much energy as I should have if I didn't have a health condition from which I'm slowly but steadily recovering.
I try to get as much as I can done before 3-4 pm, which is when the hostel starts to get noisy and crowded, because around 5 pm I know I won't be able to get anything done, so these hours between 10 am and 3-4 pm are worth my weight in gold, and even though I'm losing weight lately, you could still buy a small country with that kind of money.
Then, I start cooking. I usually cook cheap, healthy stuff - oh yeah, that is actually possible in Mexico, but I mean cheap for my standards, healthy food is usually expensive for the average minimun wage worker in Mexico, but that's a topic I won't bulge into today. I don't care what I eat, and I don't mind I repeat dishes more than twice a week, as long as the food is balanced and gives me everything I need to stay healthy.
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Now I'm not the best cook, I've never been and I never will, but I know how to handle myself in a kitchen and I do have a few tricks under my sleeve. I can cook some dishes quite good, these are just two examples from two different things I cooked yesterday and the day before. I never cook with salt and I try to use as less oil as I can without compromising the food's taste.
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After catching that meal, I gotta wash the dishes. In hostels that's how it works, you wash what you use, there's no cleaning lady to do your chores for you. I know, pity.
A bit of a walk to help digestion and then I'm back to the beach or the hostel, depending on my mood. That's where the fun starts. If there are cool people staying at the hostel I get a beer and hang out with them, with the potential night out no matter what day of the week is, after all, for tourists it's always saturday, right?
If there's not cool people to hang out with - which is quite frequent if you ask me - I head back to my room and try to get some more PC work done.
But, when there's actually an interesting plan to go out to at night, it can get pretty wild and I'll definitely wake up with a bit of a hangover and I'll definitely won't be able to have my same routine again... that's the only downside I see about going out at night with hostel guests.
Either way, ending my normal day in bed or in a club or bar, after getting all my responsibilities done, it really feels good. I wish that I could do this every day and get my craved routine going, but it's not possible, at least not more than 3-4 days a week at most.
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I hope you liked mu somewhat boring, and at the same entertaining day. I know it was a long post, it took me quite a while to write it, hopefully it was written in a way that made you read til the end :)
Routine is nice
But Going With The Flow is better :D
And I do like your office ;p
I'm trying to do both! Going with the flow but with a somewhat established routine to provide some mental health :P
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I just noticed the format in Mobile version looks like crap, for the best experience reading this post use a PC, it looks kickass (according to me :D) from a PC.
Smile 😄. But most of the time I use mobile phone ( application) the web interface looks more presentable a little bit.💕👍 Well said. I like your contest initiative innovative ideas
Indeed a lot of people use mobile, perhaps even more than those who use PC to browse Steem. I guess I'll have to focus in making the format to be eye friendly for mobile users!
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Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 5/15 - need recharge?)
Definitely doesn't look drab or boring to me. You seem to having a great time there my friend and at least there is some structure according to the hours that you keep. I think that It's a great post.
Blessings!
I'm having one of the best times of my life! And Im trying to enjoy it as much as I can! Trying to keep some structure to provide some sanity to the mind :)
Saludos @anomadsoul. Comparado con mi dia normal, es bastante agitado, por supuesto mi edad y mis intereses no son iguales. No dejes de escribir, siempre hay algo nteresante en ellos; no es nuevo que te leo. Si sacaras a pasear esa computadora aquí en Venezuela ya no la tendrías. Ayer a mi hijo le sacaron el teléfono del bolsillo montándose en el bus. Abren carteras sin sentir y si no a punta de pistola te quitan tus pertenencias. Sé que no es bonito lo que manifiesto pero es la triste realidad pero bueno como dices tú, tampoco caeré mucho en ese hoyo negro. Me parece bien que te cuides la salud, eres muy joven todavía.
Claro, eso es lo que más me gusta de este challenge de mi día normal, que los días de cada uno de nosotros son diferentes y no por eso dejan de ser interesantes. Acá en México la inseguridad también es muy alta, pero me imagino que no se compara con Venezuela. La mejor de las suerte por allá Antonia!
When a person knows what he wants, he looks for the means to achieve it and all his steps are directed towards it. He is a person who goes straight to the point, even if he seems to be erratic. Blessed be your wit and fighting spirit.
Greetings, @anomadsoul!
That's such a good phrase, I might steal it. Thanks for the kind words Zeleira!
Vaya que tienes pilas para hacer tantas cosas, tu día es simplemente WOW, yo pensaba que tenía super batería pero me quede corta.
Saludos @anomadsoul, geniales fotos con movimiento.
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Pues ni creas, esto no es todos los dias, si acaso 3 o 4 por semana, si no me muero! jajaja :D
That's a great day to provide with us. Thanks for giving those information.
I'm glad you liked my day :)
I find it a very colourful destination in every respect.
Keep on enjoying it!
Mexico in general is very colorful and cheerful! I love the places here!
Hello, @anomadsoul
Running is a competition with yourself I'm an amateur runner. When I run I feel invincible. I can run 10 and 21 kilometers. I'm not a fast runner, but, I've always said I'm half crazy, not completely crazy: If I had the chance to run again, I would run half a marathon: 21k. I stopped a year or so ago, just when I started improving my times. I feel the asphalt calling me. At some point, I'll come back. I'll have to start from scratch, but little by little I'll gain strength again.
After that training, you should eat carbons... it won't affect you. What you shouldn't do is do it after... I learned that from my nutritionist.
Yes, for a tourist every day is a Saturday. Take this opportunity and enjoy it as much as you can. We'll see tomorrow.
Greetings...
Wow, normal day's pretty busy, Eric. And I thought mine was busier, yet I see it's full of things that make you happy and that's what's important. One enjoys reading you because you always have interesting things to tell and expose, I like your points of view, life shouldn't be so complicated and if it is, why should we become complicated too, right? Thanks for sharing your normal day, it's always good to read other people's days and that's precisely what you wanted to achieve with your contest, I'm very happy to have been there, I enjoyed doing my post. Success in your new direction, I'm sure you will bring us many new adventures to tell. I hug you from Venezuela, dear @anomadsoul. PD: I love your photos with movement, fascinating!!.
Truthly It was so log post.But Excellent 💯♥️
Aww, so many familiar places again :) And I finally know why we never got to meet up on the basketball court. You said you come there early in the morning but my time was usually between 2 and 4 in the afternoon. Yes, it was hot as fuck but that was when the courts were always empty and I could practise my shooting skills in private, peace and quiet :D Just my iguana fellows were watching me :) As for running, I either run laps at the stadium or run on the beach, from the 38th, pass by Mamita, the ferry ports and further south all the way down to the last hotel (I think it was Sandos) and back. I didn´t like running on the Fifth very much, the downtown part was crowded and the outer part (from C.T.M. further north) was occupied by stray dogs sometimes, I had some of them chasing me a few times, not very comfortable :D Oh man, enjoy this place as long as you are a Playense :) Thanks for bringing all those sweet memories :)
Good 👍😇👍
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Playa is such a vibrant town. I was only there for a few days but loved the beach and party vibe.
Looks like you're living the healthy lifestyle! Good luck with the plans to emigrate to Europe 👍
If it were me, I'd be going the opposite way and looking to move to the Carribbean lol
Yeah man, too much party. I've been able to stay away from the party most of the days, which is good haha.
Well, that's the way European passport holders think, cause they have no issues whatsoever in most of the topics a mexican passport is just above shit :P
ha ha, nice one! No partying for me at the moment. I'm deep into a health regime which doesn't allow for alcohol, sugar or caffeine.
You're right about that... at least until now, for me anyway. With this Brexit BS a UK passport is about to make a travelers life difficult, around Europe anyway.
But all in all, we do have it easy. My wish to live in the tropics is more to do with quality of life, and cost of living.
What a beautiful place you have and lovely companions when you find enjoyment at night. Actually I really love the sight of the shore in the morning. Strolling and picking up unique stones. The ambiance of the salty-windy air that touches my face makes it more exciting while walking along the shore. What an enchanting place and a normal day you have! Love it! Thanks for sharing.
I am amazed by seeing your cooking skill.. :)
I'm not that good of a cook, I just know how to make a few good recipes, but thanks!
Well, to be honest atleast you know how to cook some good dishes and rice as well. I am still learning how to cook so you are better than me. :)
What do you mean what about the upside the whole thing looked like a pretty nice life to me XP
Yay for recovering :D
Oh damn, I mean yeah, it's pretty great I can't deny it, but even in the upside you can find upsides, right?
time without entering the platform, it is nice to see a well-developed publication, with a lot of transparency in its subject and very good photos, I found it comforting to read it.
Great piece about how you spend your days, and I must say I like your view from the "office" a lot more then my view at the office. Enjoy it while you still can before coming to Europe, must say there are lots of places here on the continent where it's also sunny and chill living..bit that's a lot more to the south from where I live.
Once again great writing.
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Honestly speaking this sort of vacation does really makes the best out of us.
Well my kitchen becomes way more messy than that ;) I win there lmao
Enjoy the rest of the days ;)
Yes, that definitely sounds like the Caribbean lifetime. Specially about the nightlife and beautiful weather. Enjoy it while you can.
I also live in the Caribbean and I must say that this reminded more of the things I can do. Although not the heavy drinking. That definitely throws the routine off-balance.
Hermosa playa del Carmen. Aqui en mi cuidad tenemos muchas playaa bellas vivo rodeada de costas en Sucre y cerca de la isla de Margarita. Venezuela. Tienes actividades interesantes y claro no olvidas tu pc para estar activo en Steemit y mas, Mientras compartes te diviertes. La comida se ve deliosa. Saludos amigo @anomadsoul
You've been busy! It seems very nice to me :)
Wow @anomadsoul I congratulate you on that super nice routine that is part of your current lifestyle.
I don't envy you your daily routine, because everyone has what is rightfully theirs; for what you sow you will reap and you are reaping the fruit of your effort, constancy and dedication.
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y did u flag me with ocdb + anomad acc? thought we have no problems..
I'm following ocdb downvotes, ocdb is following some other accounts downvotes. It's not personal, just a trail.
plz whitelist/fix on both accounts on me as else ur gangbanging which is not cool. dont follow curangel with ur personal/ocdb on me as this ends in too big clash for no reason.