Destination Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. What a crazy little place it is! We didn't sleep on our last night in New Orleans, what with the early flight and travellers budget why pay for a bed for the night? Instead we hung about on the hostel couches for as long as possible before getting to the airport to check in, may I add that they say to arrive three hours before your flight when flying internationally yet the check in gate wasn't even staffed until two hours before! The nerve. Whatever I was going to Mexico to lay on a beach, I shan't complain. We arrived in Cancun around 11am and breezed through customs, jumped on an ADO and arrive in Playa Del Carmen around an hour later. After checking into Hostel Che (awesome!) we dropped our luggage, got our bikini's on, hit up Walmart for sunscreen and finally hit the beach - conveniently located five minutes from the hostel. Boom.
I won't go over ever little detail of the trip, but I will say that I ate beans and rice everyday with a side of guacamole and it never got old. We also spent a lot of time on the beach watching the sunset from fabulous hand woven seats with giant Pina Coladas in hand, a band performing behind us and the waves crashing in front. It really is paradise. The nights were crazy no matter what day of the week; dancing, shots, and walking the beach as the sun rose hand in hand with a boy named Simone...
After not making it there due to insane tropical weather back in 2008, I finally saw the Mayan Ruins of Tulum, very impressive living quarters they had for themselves with a knockout view of the pure blue shores beneath and pet lizards EVERYWHERE. From the ruins we hit up Akumal to snorkel, lucky for us it was green turtles hatching season and we didn't have to go far to find ourselves swimming with a few of the big guys - no tour necessary we paid $5 for a snorkel/goggle kit and swam out ourselves - we were overwhelmed with excitement and awe to almost be able to touch them. The next day we went to Isla Mujeres (The Island of Women) and unfortunately our luck turned as it belted down rain, so much so that the streets were flooded and it became quite the mission to get from Playa to Cancun to the ferry to the Island. Nevertheless we made it, and managed a walk about the Island before it rained again and we decided to utilise Hostel Poc Na's bar setup for the evening. Needless to say we were more than happy to get back to Playa the next morning. Bringing us to our last day in Mexico, it rained for the most of it but that didn't stop up from doing a souvenir shop and hitting the clubs for one last hoorah. I may or may not have still been drunk when going to the airport in the morning.
I've got to say it felt good to get back to New York after partying harder than I had all year in Mexico, I was ready to get to our little apartment in the East Village and sleep for about a year, or you know at least one good nights rest. The apartment we scored on air bnb was fabulous! A real artists den, we both felt inspired in the space. I can't stress enough how damn good it felt to cook a meal in the kitchen too, as much as I love Mexican food I was dying for some broccolini. Our second stint in NY consisted of shopping, eating, drinking, pinball and exploring the East Village, an area that I fell in love with dare I say more so than I did Greenpoint Brooklyn. It was the perfect end to our three week road trip, and I know that Catia & I will be back again one day because there really is something about New York City.
After Catia flew back to London I made my way to Copiague, Long Island to reunite with family friends for the next five days - which was a lovely little rest from the past three weeks madness. Come Sunday I arrived in Cincinnati Ohio for a reunion with my very good friends Jamie & Mikal. It was beyond lovely to see them again and to know that everything is going well for them since settling there just over a year ago. Cincinnati was a fun city with a lot on offer, we got rugged up and wandered around town dropping into whatever place looked good as it lightly snowed (woo! Snow!), my only regret is that I didn't have more time. Jamie & Mikal threw a pre-giving Thanksgiving allowing me to meet all their new friends which was nice, I ate way too much food though which was worrying since it wasn't technically Thanksgiving yet. It was bitter sweet leaving Ohio for LA that Wednesday morning, as it's always the best feeling reuniting with old friends yet it never gets easier to leave them behind 'until next time' whenever that may be.
I arrived back in LA to the open arms of my beautiful ex-roomy Melissa, and we had a wicked brunch together before I got passed on to the next friend. I spent Thanksgiving with Amy - an absolute sweetheart - who took me to a local FriendsGiving in Echo Park. I met a lot of lovely welcoming people and we all wrote what we were thankful for before reading them around a fire and burning the notes, it was truly beautiful. All in all I spent my last weekend in good company managing to catch up with almost everyone I know and love in Los Angeles, and it was the perfect end to an amazing six week get away. I honestly feel blessed for having so many wonderful people in my life, friends new and old, and the ones I haven't made yet. Although it was sad to say goodbye again I took comfort in knowing that my family and friends in Melbourne were only a 15 hour flight away and I know that we'll have the best summer adventures together, whatever they might be.
Big love everyone, stay safe and enjoy the small things :)
&.the.bohemian.girl.xx.
