Ahhhh, home to my little piece of heaven in Cabo. Perhaps I shouldn’t have left Alberta at a time when my Mum has just recently been moved into an extended care facility and my sisters are busy sorting out her belongings that have been with her in her home for the past 20 years. I was feeling a little guilty and then re-framed my thinking around it. I need this little escape to what used to be a place for John and I to come together for a little breather. Also, I paid for it pre-pandemic and had to get it used up. There, I just justified the shit out of that.
I arrived into the San Jose del Cabo international airport last Friday. I love that’s it’s a direct flight out of Calgary and I especially love that it was uneventful and pretty smooth. It’s also nice to travel to a familiar place and know exactly what to do when I get here. I learned last year that there’s a company that will do an airport pick-up with a 30 minute stop at the grocery store. It’s so damn handy, I did it again this time. Probably a good idea to make a grocery list but I just wing it and be sure to get the heavy stuff, like my box of beer. I arrived at the villa mid afternoon and got settled in. It took me a little while to settle in to the alone part of being here. One might think that 7 years into being widowed it would be easier, but it isn’t. I’m just grateful that I don’t get put in the same unit that John and I regularly shared. After unpacking and putting the groceries away I went for a walk to see what changes have happened in the area since last January. My favourite little bar across the plaza is gone. Such a bummer, it was fun and had the best and biggest margaritas to go when I was here last year. They also had great live music and a little older crowd. I only went once for the dancing last year and then thought I’d better be smart and not be in any crowds due to the fact that we still had to PCR test to come home to Canada last year at this time. Sure happy that’s changed, although I’m on my 7th day here and still haven’t gone out at night to a crowded club.
On my first full day in Cabo I spent the day at the quiet little pool at the villa. I was into a good book and just wanted to lounge in the sun. Oops, I fried myself and have had to be careful since. I’m now peeling like a snake..YUK. I love the normal routine I get into while I’m here. It usually consists of relaxing with a morning coffee before I go out and do a 45 minute walk/jog around the marina. I have noticed that the knees prefer the walk part, but I push myself a little because I like to get the ticker working a little harder. When I get back from that I finish my workout with handy resistance bands to get my weights portion of the workout in, and finish with some yoga stretches. They have yoga mats here and I managed to get a brand new one this trip. WooHoo!
Day 7 into my relaxation by the pool and some new faces showed up. There was a girl/middle aged woman sitting a few chairs down from me. She had a great big bump on her head and a black eye…first assumption would be that she’s running from domestic abuse. NOPE!! She’s actually a brave ass solo traveller that was just in a car accident while travelling in Columbia. Okay, this woman can be my friend! I chatted with her a little on the first day and made a plan to maybe go to dinner with her and another lady that was travelling on her own the same week. We met at the pool the following day and continued to chat and tell our stories. Her name is Christine, she’s from Toronto, single (with a boyfriend) and raised her son on her own since she was 24. That day she ended up having a nose bleed that she couldn’t stop so she got her ass to a hospital and was well taken care of. Thankfully it wasn’t anything crazy serious and she was good to go, but with caution. Like no spicy food or pounding booze, blah, blah, blah. I showed her my iced coffee walk to the beach and the master, major, awesome margarita to go, that we sit on the beach and watch people and boats with. She was hooked! We did that for the next three days with so much good conversation and laughs we didn’t want the time there to end. It always does though but thanks to technology we can easily stay in touch and that is the plan.
One of my favourite things about solo travel is the people I have met along the way. I now have a new friend that lives on a boat in the summer. I am going to go visit her and have some more laughs and see life as she lives it. Connection is everything and making new friends in our middle years is amazing and rare. I will blog from that boat.
Now…I am home and back to the reality of my Mum in extended care and the things I get to face surrounding that. Life, it’s an interesting ride.
