Mexico – It feels like home

I have been thinking a lot lately. As most of you know, I am living on a tiny island in Mexico now. Isla Holbox, a place where mosquitos ate me alive during the first two months and the only thing I wanted was to get away from. Now, after some months of living here – it feels like home.

Sandy roads, tropical rain, heat and deadly animals. Quietness and peace. Golf carts, bikes, raccoons and amazing people. People from Holbox are very friendly and the sense of community is very strong in the only village on the island. Tomorrow I will be traveling to Cancun with my parents who are visiting me. It is the first time in four months that I will leave the island. I will definitely write about my experience seeing cars and lots of people again! Getting mentally prepared for a reverse culture shock…

With stunning pictures on my personal Facebook page, people tend to think that everything is paradise here. It looks like it, but I am working a lot of hours having just one day off per week which seems to be a standard in Mexico, especially in tourism industry. As in every experience, there is always something to learn from. And just now I am learning to value time. And to notice how privileged some people are. During the last five years of traveling to different places I have seen people working even more than this, earning way less and still being happy with their families. It makes me wonder who those ´privileged´ folks actually are: Those who cannot be a second without WIFI and ask for access codes all the time, and who have a lot of free time even though they don´t see it that way because of their fully booked agendas – or those who spend quality time with their friends and family after working hard, enjoying the moment? The craziest thing is how magazines, books, apps and more preach about ´´living in the now´´ and how difficult it is for those in the countries where they sell those words. It is actually very simple: shut down your computer, Ipad, phone, agendas and schedules and just live! City life is not an excuse, although living on an island makes it way easier. What I appreciate most about living here until now, is that it has shown me how to be grateful for each day and how to live in the ´now´.

Street in town

Another thing that makes my head spin is the massive migration movement that is coming to Europe for some time now, only intensifying in the last couple of weeks. It feels like everything is changing in Europe while I am here in Mexico. Many times, I have been thinking about going back and to spend more time with family and friends, earning more money and having more free time. But when I see everything that is going on I feel that being here and working that much is not that bad after all. I am grateful and I feel very bad for all those who are suffering now and who had to leave their country of birth and their roots, because someone forced them to do so. I cannot even imagine what that would feel like. I pray for Europe’s future and the future for all those refugees. I pray that Europe is able to offer them a safe haven and that it will only lead to stronger ties between Europe´s countries.

So much to write about and so many inspiring places here, but there are now words. I got out of the writing flow for a while due to a lot of changes in my personal life, but I am back on track again.

And I think, feel and breathe – remembering Buddhist philosophy and the truth that you will die alone without anyone and anything, this is everything I need.

Everything I need

(c) Ahorita YA – 2015. All Rights Reserved.