13th Month: Where to next?!

April 9th: Mamma Mia, here we go again!✈️

What a day! I went for one last run along the harbor in Auckland yesterday, and then it was really time to get ready. Ready to leave this beautiful country. No. I’m not really feeling ready. I feel soooo alive in New Zealand! Hiking, mountains, waterfalls, beaches, dolphins, everything! But, it’s time for a whole different adventure. Off to… Guess where I’m heading? You’ll read it later for sure! I called my parents for a bit as i still had time enough but the wifi connection was insanely poor so not much of a conversation… But, time to go to the airport! I had to wait an hour still before i could check-in, so I FaceTimed my host kids in Philly. Lovely to see them for a bit! I also got to say hi to the rest of the family as they were together for Easter and just went on a little trip to the Keys. I miss them so much! When i checked in my luggage and went through the security, I saw Froukje! We sat together for a bit till we knew our gates and then we said goodbye to each other. Such a great last few days with her and so spontaneous as we met after our flight from Christchurch! She’s going back to The Netherlands. And me. Not yet so… I figured out I had a short 40 min layover in Tahiti. So cool! I really wanted to go there after New Zealand, but I’m meeting some friends somewhere else… I was happy when I survived the first flight from Auckland to Tahiti. Did you know it is only a 4,5 hour flight from Auckland to Tahiti but the time difference is 22 hours because you cross the equator!! INSANE! Unfortunately we had to go through the security again which was very silly as we had to go back on the same plane.. pff..

April 9th: huh the same date again?

Yes! You are reading it right! I lived april 9th 2 days in a row! I went 19 hours back in time! In Tahiti it was 22 hours earlier which was absolutely bizar for a 4,5 hour flight only. But, my second stop was in LA. Here i had a very long 1,5 day layover because my flight changed so I had time to go to Venice Beach and Santa Monica. I arrived here at 10:15 AM local time. But, unfortunately it took forever to get my backpack and I couldn’t find the right bus.. but at 3::30 I finally made it to Santa Monica! Pfff! That really took forever to get there by bus and I also had to bring my backpack as I couldn’t find the lockers at the airport and the ones in town were closed due to Easter. I walked over the jetty and then ended up in a café where i wrote in my journal for a bit. Unfortunately the staff were very rude.. off, is it really like that in LA? Ugh, I don’t know why but i just never liked this city, only venice beach, santa monica and the Hollywood walk… But Oh well. I had to go to the airport anyways as I didn’t want to stay in a hostel in LA and the hotels were crazy expensive for Easter!

April 10th: survived my 3rd flight… But shit happened..

Yaassss!!! I am finally innnnnnnn MÉXICO!!!!🇲🇽 After an overnight flight i Finally arrived in Mexico! Only one more flight left to Cancún where my trip will start. But I’m sure ill survive that one too! I just got to Guadalajara, completely exhausted as I skipped the whole night again.. And like thst wasn’t enough, I had to wait in line for about an hour for Passport check and then again for the luggage. I flew with the same airline but apparently in México you have to move your luggage to the right place by yourself for the next flight and thst wasn’t really clear to me. And nobody speaks a word English and I can understand spanish and speak the basics but they just told me to go upstairs. Another very nice Mexican guy really helped me. He told me I needed to sign a form to clarify I’m not bringing any prohibited goods. Then he told me where the security was but I wasn't sure what to do as i still had my backpack which is normally checked luggage. But i went through the security and you can guess what happened already… ALL my shower stuff GONE again! Uhh, excuse me? Just tell me where i have to put my backpack to check it in? But nope, they didnt give a shit of course.. Luckily the airline didnt make a big deal of it and let me take my backpack on the plane and it just fit in the cabins. 

April 11th: Bienvenida a Cancún finalmente!🇲🇽😍

YEEEHOOOO! Finally made it!! Cancún here I am! At 5 PM i finally arrived in Cancun at 5 PM today! So glad I survived! Unfortunately I had to wait for the shuttle to my hostel for 1,5 hours.. in the end I had a private shuttle because apparently the others were staying in the hotel side of cancun at the beach. I am also sooooo glad i speak a little spanish, because no one here speaks a word English! Luckily my driver did and he told me about many nice places and gave me tips about the nearest ATM, grocery store etc! So nice! When I arrived at my hostel the owner gave me a very nice welcome. She showed me my room and all the common areas. And she kept saying I can always knock on the door if something is wrong! So sweet! I am sharing the room only with one other girl from Argentina! She seems very nice! I am only staying in Cancun one night for now as I am meeting my friend Francisca tomorrow in Tulum where she will arrive tomorrow as well with her boyfriend and his friends! I know Francisca from when i was very young and did Ballet and singing lessons with her. We didn’t see each other for 5 years and then met in New York and last year we went to London together which was amazing! We keep meeting in different countries and I llove it! Now it was her idea to join in Mexico!

April 12th: Beach Day & Made it to Tulúm!

Today I woke up very early even though I didn’t sleep much and I had a very bad Jetlag. So i went for a run. It was pretty hot already at 7 AM! I did a little workout at an outdoor fitness area and then i went back to take a shower. I had breakfast and then decided to walk to the Hotelera. This is the Hotel Area in Cancún where most of the tourists are staying as it’s near the beach. I wanted to walk to the beach but didn’t realize it was 5 km and I was walking on flip-flops.. Not the best idea.. But Playa Langosta was beaauuuuutiful! Had a few nice nips in the sea and relaxed a bit at the beach. After that i had to walk back as i had the bus to Tulúm later. On my way back I quickly walked to Plaza Americas which is a bigger mall in the city. I wanted to look for better flip flops, but as you can guess already- they didn’t have my size as Mexicans are way smaller than average in Europe.. I walked back to the hostel to get ready for the bus and then I walked to the ADO bus station. Exactly on the scheduled departure time (6:10 PM) we left and only made one stop on the way in Playa del Carmen. At 8:45 PM i finally arrived in Tulúm! I checked in at the hostel and Francisca and her boyfriend were still waiting for their rental car. Apparently a lot of things went wrong as they couldn’t use their renewed credit card as it had ti be functional for at least a year.. (weirdest rule I’ve ever heard btw!) So I won’t meet them tonight anymore as it’s getting way too late! I need to sleep!

April 13th: Tulum Ruins with Fran and the group!

Today I woke up early and I couldn’t sleep last night. It really sucks as I haven’t slept in 3 days and the jet lag makes it worse! I went for a run again and after that took a shower and then the staff of the hostel made breakfast for everyone as they do apparently every day! So nice!! They made a small breakfast burrito with egg and veggies and some fruit on the side. Yum! Today it was finally time to see my friend Francisca again after almost 1,5 year! I walked to the villa she is staying at with her boyfriend Wilko and 8 others. So lovely to meet them all and see her again finally! Today the plan was to go to the Tulum Ruins. With 3 cars we drove to the ruins. Wow. So beautiful! These are the ruins of the Mayas who lived here about 820 years ago. They used to live here with 6000 people in only 1 hectare! INSANE! We also saw soooo many gorgeous iguanas 🦎 Later we went to the beach at the national park but my feet really started to hurt. Apparently i got one huge blister  on the bottom of each foot since i walked 10 k yesterday on flip flops.. in the morning they didn’t hurt that much as i still went running, but now i could barely even walk.. The rest went out for dinner but I had too much pain at my feet and was way too exhausted. I needed to buy some groceries as well so I decided to go back. 

April 14th: Chichén-Itzá😍

Today I woke up with still a lot of pain of my blisters. The only way to help it a bit was by wearing shoes and keeping it covered so of course i did this. I went to a store to check if they had special bandages, but there were some people waiting in front of a closed door? Wut? It should be opened at 8, or even at 7 i heard from one of the locals. That’s crazy as it was 8:00 when I got here! At 8:25 AM they finally opened the store and you can guess already- i waited 20 mins for no reason as they didn’t have the bandages.. But i needed sunscreen and bodylotion anyways so I bought this. When i got back to the hoste, breakfast was ready already- granola with watermelon and cantaloupe and yogurt. Hmmmmm! Love it! Later when I was ready, I walked to the Villa of the others again as the plan was to leave at 10. Today we went to one of the 7 world wonders- Chichén-Itza. One of the Maya Ruins So cooollll! It was a pretty big area and Fran wanted to be alone with me today for a bit as she needed some time without the group and because she’s an amazing Photographer, she likes to stop at different places than the others. I love this as well! We took some very nice pics! Later we met the rest at the exit and drove to the it-kil Cenote. A cenote is a natural sink-hole you can swim at, mostly only in the state of Yucatán where we are now. This was very Pretty ! Unfortunately also very busy! I jumped of the 5 m high cliff right away and loved it! You couldn’t see much with a snorkel as it was insanely deep (48 m from the top of the cenote). After having fun in the water and swimming witht he fishies, we got changed and drove back to Tulúm. Here, they dropped me at my hostel and I cooked noodles with veggies and tuna for dinner. 

April 15th: 4 years ago it all started!🦋

Today I woke up a bit ‘later’. At 7:30 I got out of bed to go for a run. I still had the blisters on my foot but I couldn’t keep myself from trying to run. I ran towards the beach but it was pretty hot already and to run further on the beach, you had to pay entrance (literally everywhere…) so I turned around. I got a nice Mexican breakfast at my hostel. The group of Francisca wasn’t awake yet as they went out last night but Fran and I didn’t as we were so tired. We are early birds so we wanted to do something. Fran came to my hostel and together we went on a walk around the city. Today it is 4 years ago that my world completely changed and my first solo trip to Curaçao started! Pretty cool! Oh and in 2 days I’m already away from home for a year!! Crazyyy! We walked for about an hour and ended up in a quiet street. Very pretty resorts! Fran needed to go to a restroom so we ended up finding a restaurant. It looked soooo pretty that we checked the menu. We had an amazing pizza here! Yum! Later we walked allllll the way to the Hotel zone in Tulum. We made many wonderful pictures in a little store of a hotel as it’s interior was amazing! Bamboo, wood, rugs, so cozy! Later the rest of the group finally drove here around dinner time. I wanted to go back to the hostel and decided to walk 2 hours! Not the best idea as it was getting dark but I survived and it was on the Main Street!

April 16: Akumal Beach!😍🐢

Today was a ‘chill’ day. I slept a little longer finally, didn’t go running, and had a nice breakfast again. Today I went to Akumal Beach with Fran and Wilko and 3 others of the group. We went snorkeling here as we wanted to spot turtles but of course to see them you needed to book a tour and go further out the ocean. But, Wilko found one very close to the sure! Soooop cutee! They’re pretty small and hide between the seaweed! So you can barely see them! There were buoys about 30 meters from the sure, but of course no one really cared as it was low tide and you could still stand and see clearly after. Fran and I didn’t want to cross them first, but because everyone did it, we did it too and it was very pretty here! Later we went back and I made a salad for lunch and worked in my journal a bit. I got a bit sunburned in my face today unfortunately woops… Later I went for a walk with Fran which was very nice! We tried some ice cream which was very yummy as well! After that it was time to pack my stuff as I’m heading back to Cancun tomorrow as I wanna travel further to Mexico City so I have to fly from there!

April 17th: 1 year away from home!🥹❤️

365 days! Already one year ago I left home again! Crazy! Feels like yesterday that I flew to Sydney, thinking I’d be back in 2,5 months. But, as you probably know, that didn’t work out… And I am so happy and proud I made this decision! Sooooo many ups and downs, so many happy and sad tears, 6 beautiful countries, 4 continents, 159.000 km, and incredible new memories! I am so damn thankful for this year! Today I met with Fran and we wanted to take pictures but the weather didn’t agree with us. We waited till the rain was over (first rain I have in Mexico) and then made some nice pictures at the other villa. Then we walked to a Mexican restaurant to have lunch and our vegetarian burrito was very yummy! The juices were too sour unfortunately so we didn’t really like them. Then it was time to say goodbye to Fran. Omg! No! Crazy! I don’t know when I’ll see her again and where, but I am soooo thankful I saw her here! It was the main reason I flew to Mexico now as I was very far from there in New Zealand. But I love it here! I walked to the hostel to pick up my bags and walked to the bus station. Here I waited half an hour till the bus arrived and guess what. Phone was out of battery. Noooooooo. Right when I needed to show my e-ticket if course. But I saw my name on the list and showed my passport. No, they don’t accept that. WHAT?!!!! You see my name and my passport. Common… The company (ADO) wanted me to buy a new ticket. But then I would miss the second bus too.. so two new tickets. Hell no.. While I was discussing and crying about what to do, the bus obviously left without me. I cried. I couldn’t believe this… Some people around me asked if I was ok. Well actually, I wasn't… Now how can I get to Cancun in time without having to pay a ton for a taxi…? Fran called me. She said one of the other couples had to go to Cancun tonight and I could drive with them. YASSSSS! I felt sooo relieved. They dropped me at the airport and then I took s bus to the city. I made it! Yay!

April 18th: Isla Mujeres!😍

Today was a better day! Yay! I woke up at 7 and walked in the direction of the ferry to go to Isla Mujeres as I already bought a ticket online when I arrived in Mexico. It is valid for 6 months anyways so it didn’t matter when I would go. It was a beautiful day! Unfortunately my feet still hurt a lot with the blisters by for some reason I don’t feel it as bad when I run. I finally made it to the ferry terminal an hour later and within 20 mins I arrived at isla Mujeres. Wooooooowww! Paradise! I think I’ve never seen soooooo many different colors of blue in the ocean! Of course I’ve seen many blue and crystal clear waters, but this! Insane!! I booked a hop-on-hop-off bus to get around but I actually walked a lot as well as I really loved it here and I love walking of course. It’s definitely possible to see the island in 1/2 days. I spent some time at the beach and the water is soooo clear! At 4 I had to take the ferry back to Cancun and walk back to the hostel because tonight I have a flight and I will get picked up by the shuttle at 2 AM..🥶

April 19th: La Ciudad de México😍

Today was very early. No, not like normal at 6 or 7. Nope I had to wake up at 2 AM as I got picked up by a shuttle to go to the airport. I had a private shuttle apparently as no one else had a very early flight here. Lol! I had to wait to check in one more hour. Apparently they don’t include airport taxes everywhere so I still had to pay $30. Nice! Once I checked in my bag and went through the security everything went pretty quick as usually. I slept on the plane and at 8 AM I arrived in Mexico City. You can definitely recognize flying above that city as it’s always covered in a big sand smoky air. Crazy! When I got my luggage I struggled to find a way to the city but luckily an older Mexican man who passed by helped me with my metro ticket as the machine wasn’t working. What I love about metros here is that they have a separate entrance for women and children! So nice! I had to walk 6 mins to my hostel and OMG. This hostel is sooooo pretty! It had a great rooftop, bar and lots of activities AND a gym. As I had to wait to check in, I decided to go for a run. So nice here! There’s a great park a little further where I ran to and after that I worked out a bit at the gym. Finally a gym for 2 days!! I also called my sister as she FINALLY booked her flight to Madagascar! YAAASSSSS Sis! Finally! She’s gonna do volunteering work here at an ecological center. So Cooll! Later I walked through the historical center which was very pretty! I found new flip flops for only $1 at a market and I did groceries. Later I talked with some people at the hostel and finally went to sleep.

April 20th: Teotihuacan Pyramids🛕🌜🌞

Today I woke up early again. Sooo much better to be alone and leave whenever I want for a bit. Most people like to start the day slow and leave later but not me! I decided to go to the pyramids of Teotihuacan today which was a little further from the city. It is a very big area which used to be from the Mayas. I absolutely loved it here! I’m so happy I didn’t book a tour as they were pretty expensive and I love walking on my own! I just paid the bus and entrance now! It was a beautiful day today! The pyramid of the moon and sun were very pretty! And I finally got to climb on top of one smaller pyramid. They also had some muse as which were interesting. I learned a lot about the history of Teotihuacán today! I even wondered if people decided the time of the day by looking at the sun and the pyramids because they had one pyramid of the sun and one of the moon. Pretty cool. Imagine a life without time? Wouldn’t that be great sometimes? Sometimes I wish I lived in the past. No phone, no wifi, nothing, Just letters and maps! I really liked this place! Later I went back to the city and made a salad for dinner.