November & December 2016
After our long trek back to North America we were welcomed with open arms to what we’ve come to know as our Mexican home.
What happened…
Amanda writes: We returned to the Northern Mexican community of San Carlos to visit our friends that we have come to think of as family. This is our third year returning to Mexico for the holidays and it just felt so right when we arrived. Originally the plan was for us to come and take care of Rex and Lefty; the two dogs we’ve been lucky enough to care for for the last couple of years. Their parents Glenn and Jennifer were scheduled to be off on a vacation. However when we arrived we had an extra bonus of Jennifer still in town to spend a few days with us before she set off to join Glenn. Over the years we’ve spent the majority of our time with Rex and Lefty and Jennifer and Glenn are normally traveling. Therefore having the opportunity to spend more time with Jennifer and Glenn was a real bonus. I enjoyed getting to know these two very much and hanging out with them was awesome.
Our San Carlos family Glenn & Jennifer
Lefty (part of our four-legged family) is full of so much energy.
Rex (four-legged family) is slow and steady at 18 years.
After arriving in town we very quickly immersed ourselves back in the community with such ease. Our friends here are so welcoming and it was like we never left. One of the things we like about this community is how busy and active we are. We stayed in Mexico until the end of December and the time just flew by! We were playing pickle ball or tennis about three days a week and re-joined the seniors softball team for games twice a week. At the same time we were flying kites whenever the wind was up. We were so lucky to see most of our friends. Jo & Murray came out to ball and we even enjoyed a lovely dinner with them and Larry & Mary even came down a day early to make sure we could connect. All of it was awesome even though a lot of my pictures were blurry … you’ll just have to take my word for it.
More of our San Carlos family.
The annual boat parade in San Carlos for the holidays.
Our favourite boat at the parade this year.
Some of our amazing friends. Greg & Diana, Meryl & Dave, and Jim & Coleen.
The annual Christmas Day cocktails on the beach with Brent, Betty and Meryl.
Some birthday fun with Coleen & Diana.
For those of you that don’t recall I’ve been trying to learn to kite surf for two seasons now; this will be my third. Andrew was a natural at it and was up on the board the first season doing awesome jumps and loving it. While there have always been other factors involved, Andrew’s compulsion to kite surf has sometimes been a point of tension with us. So with that tension and my newfound appreciation for the San Carlos kite community I was determined to get it this year. Over the last two years we have travelled to 13 countries and I have seen other kite surf communities. What I’ve learned during this time is that San Carlos is amazing for kite surfing! The conditions are perfect; flat water, onshore winds, safe bay, amazing fellow kite surfers, sandy beach … and did I mention the amazing friends? My friend Jennifer recently took up the sport and I was determined to join her. So when we arrived and our friends offered to lend us gear it just seemed to work. My girlfriends Julie and Poulette parked their kites and walked me to the waters edge and gave me tips and were there for full support. They stood on the edge, took video and pictures and gave me advice each time I’d come back. Within just a couple of days I was up on the board again and was able to stay up. It was such a thrill and a relief all at the same time to finally get past the fear I’ve been battling for years. And as expected it removed some of the tension that my not embracing the sport was creating. Better late than never, right?
Amanda loving the kite surfing.
Kiting with flare.
What’s better than kiting on Christmas day?!
Finally nailed the kite surfing after 3 years!
One of the great parts about kite surfing is the friends.
So along with our busy schedules and newfound appreciation and love for kite surfing, Andrew and I had some time to reflect on Mexico. When we first set out on our journey 2.5 years ago, we had planned to always be moving forward and to different destinations. Essentially we had planned to move onward from one destination to the next, not return to where we had already visited. What we’ve learned about ourselves in the first two years is that we don’t mind essentially traveling in circles and returning to the places we love. In this case to a place we’ve learned to call home. And while the future is never certain, at this point we can see ourselves returning to Mexico every year if it works out. And so with our newfound outlook on our travel plans and the knowledge that it’s okay to return to some places, we decided to return all the way back to Canada to visit family!
The Christmas tree and gift from Jennifer for the season.
A beautiful girl on the beach celebrating her 15th birthday.
We hadn’t visited family in 1.5 years and figured since we’re already back in North America that it would be smart to take advantage of being on this continent. We started to make our plans with family members and friends and lined up a house sit to avoid any burden on family to host us and made arrangements to come home just after the Christmas holidays. As we started to make these plans near Christmas we were able to enjoy an amazing Christmas dinner with neighbours in San Carlos who we’ve become good friends with. It’s the first time in … I actually don’t know how many years where we’ve been invited to a traditional home cooked Christmas dinner. It was so nice to be invited to the table like family and it reaffirmed for me that we had made the right decision to visit family. We are so lucky to have such great friends and family wherever we go.
True Love!
Unconditional love.