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2 September 2022 By Nicola Cairncross 2 Comments

Every Day’s A School Day (As Steve Used To Say)

agios-nikolaos-harbour

Agios Nikolaos Harbour | 0930 hrs | Yes, the horizon’s squint but I’ve tried several times to fix it so…

I had just settled on my AirBnB sofa, with a glass of Cote Du Rhone (bit early for red, but I can’t be arsed to drive down the Valley) to watch Jeff Berwick & Lucy doing their latest walk’n’talk, when I suddenly got struck by The Muse AND Guilt at the same time.  Painful.

Yes, lovely readers (and Chris D. from the other side of the world), just at that very moment I felt the urge to write a blog post.  Chris was very nice to me on a webinar about my three latest blog posts, so I do feel encouraged. So I got up, brought my glass over to the little table in the corner and here I am.

The last three posts were monsters, creatively speaking, involving many words and pictures and I’m working up to my next one, all about what happened in Mexico and that’a a tale of disaster, adventure and delicious prawn tacos, so I’ll probably write that over the weekend.

I wasn’t going to write today, having wrassled myself into exhaustion with various new car documentation then government and utility websites regarding my new flat, into which I move on Wednesday.  Amazing views, but I’ll save that till I’ve got pictures.

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At one point, I thought I might have to give up and go to the pub in the village here, I was so incensed and discombobulated.  When I confirmed my tenancy, I was offered the chance to set up my power with Scottish Power, who presumably are the current suppliers.  They made me so hopping mad by offering me 100% green energy (with a suitable picture of a wind farm) at an inordinately outrageous price, that I nearly lost the plot.  No option to choose cheaper not-so-green energy then?

Don’t you know who I am?  Scottish Power particularly should know…

(In case you don’t, having missed that blog post or maybe I didn’t finish that blog post series) I’m the 22nd great-granddaughter of Robert The Bruce, the first King Of Scotland (left).

This means I’m also the granddaughter of all the Stuart Kings and, through Robert’s mother Margaret, granddaughter of Christian I, the first king of Denmark, Sweden and Finland (right).  Now he was a looker!

Not that the Vikings are offering gas & electricity deals, more running headlong into the arms of the WEF at the moment.

I clicked SKIP in my fury, before realising that not ONE other energy company was going to offer me an account.  Come to that, when I realised my error, going sheepishly back to the Scottish Power website, even they didn’t want to offer me a quote online.

Anyway, I’ll tell you the outcome of that one in another post, if you can bear the excitement.   Today I wanted to make a start on what I’ve learned on each leg of my journey.  My late partner Steve had several pithy sayings, one of which was ‘Every Day’s A School Day’ which somehow made one feel better about cocking up somehow. So here goes mine for Greece…

GREECE

I’m pretty much greek myself now, I’ve been there so many times.  It really does feel like home now and I know so many people in Stoupa and the surrounding areas that it holds few terrors for me.

Bar the usual insects, of which I only encountered a few this trip.  A large buzzy thing drove me out of the bedroom at the second accommodation, Stavros Apartments (highly recommended if you want something basic, clean, affordable, traditional and very near the beach). Lovely people too and Alexandra chased said buzzy thing out for me.

This was my view from my bedroom when I opened my shutters in the morning btw.

However, at my first place, I did run into an old adversary, a complete lack of both internet and mobile signal, so no data. While I was able to piggyback onto a local hotel (naughty) this stopped me in my tracks with regards to blogging so I just gave up on that, thinking that you have all seen all my photos and videos of Stoupa before.  Suffice it to say it was as beautiful as ever.

So what did I learn while in Greece?

  1. That I’m not so scared of the dark as I was, for sure.
  2. That I’m feeling my age – my feet swelled up and even on the biggest settings of my Birkenstocks, I had to go barefoot for nearly two weeks until much water drinking brought them down again.
  3. That you should ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS break in new Birkenstocks before wearing them, the blisters added to my misery.
  4. That people do remember you and if you were friends before, you are still friends.  One barrelled up to me on my second night and with no chat preamble offered to lend me a car for a couple of months while they were in the UK.  All I had to do was drive them to Kalamata Airport on their departure day.
  5. That even people who are on the opposite side of opinion to you when it comes to Covid, are able to shelve their misgivings and we could spend time together without mentioning it.  More to come on that topic another day.
  6. That when you discover people who you never really knew before are 100% on the same page as you, on lots of different things, it opens up new friendships which can also shortcut a lot of the ‘getting to know you & your values’ time we usually spend with new people.
  7. That I always want to form my own opinions about people, rather than relying on what other people say, as you never know both sides of a story if it’s third-hand.

So that’s me for tonight, I feel good for having done that and made a start on the ‘what I learned’ part of the process.

I was going to share another couple of gratuitous pictures of my favourite place in the world – having lunch at the very upmarket Stoupa Restaurant.

But the internet has stopped loading pictures from my Instagram so you’ll just have to go there to have a look!  I’m back to Jeff, who looks at world events in a humorous way, so he never brings me down while keeping me up to date on World events.

Talk soon & I welcome your comments, questions and shares!

Nicola

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Filed Under: Travels

29 August 2022 By Nicola Cairncross 2 Comments

The Wanderer Returns | Part 3 | Mexico via Panama City

Check out Part 1 – Greece & Dominican Republic
Check out Part 2 – El Salvador
Check out Part 4 – Puerto Escondido, Mexico

So…what did I do next?

I’m afraid, dear reader, that I took the wimp’s way out and decamped to a special deal in a local 5* hotel.  It had a great view of the Bitcoin Volcano too, the one that President Bukele is going to use for cheap energy for Bitcoin Mining.

I’m just too old and apparently not cut out for roughing it in hostels (even upmarket ones with lovely people) anymore.

While there, I had a real good think (while it rained and rained all afternoon and evening again) and decided to cut my losses, go to Mexico as originally planned and wait out the rainy season, coming back in November for the Lightning / Bitcoin Conference.

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I was going to head straight for Puerto Escondido, down on the coast in Oaxaca State, which my son said was the best place he’d visited in his several weeks in Mexico (although that was by no means an exhaustive trip, he said he could have spent months traveling around Mexico alone).

This involved a layover in both Panama City and then Mexico City so I booked a bog standard 5* in Panama City as I wouldn’t have time to enjoy anything else, then for Mexico City, I booked a hotel as close to the centre as I had some time the next day to enjoy a bit of a wander. It looked very arty but still up market. I was using an app called Priceline to book flights and hotels with a bit of Booking.com mixed in.

I arrived in Panama City to find that they had booked my check-in luggage right through to Mexico. This was a bit of a disaster as all of my clothes and toiletries were in that suitcase, with only a packet of wet wipes and the bare minimum of contact lens-related stuff in my handbag. The carry-on bag I never check has all my computer & podcasting equipment in it, as I hate the thought of that getting thrown around!

Putting a VERY brave and cheerful face on now, I asked the lady at check in at the hotel if they had any emergency supplies or if there was a chemist open that late (it was about 9.30 pm by then) and luckily she did. A toothbrush kit, tiny deodorant and the usual shampoo, conditioner and shower gel supplies saw me through to the next day.

I made a small list of vital essentials to pack into my carry-on bag/handbag for emergencies in the future. Once burned, as they say.

Arriving in Mexico City, I got in an official airport taxi (more expensive but it’s got to be safer surely?) and he hurtled me through Mexican rush hour traffic to very near my destination. He threw me out at the end of a small square and pointed at my hotel.

Casa De La Luz.

While my suitcases had wheels they were not up to the potholed street I was confronted with, the pavement being full of people and small vendors selling street food. I spotted a bank at the end of the street and breathed a sigh of relief, as I had no Mexican pesos, which I would need in the future.

As soon as the doormen spotted me, obviously heading their way, they came and greeted me and whisked my luggage into the hotel, while I checked in.

Well, while I was greeted by a polite, perfect English-speaking young lady with a cold drink in hand. She could barely get any sense out of me, because my jaw had hit the floor at the sight of the lobby and I was having trouble winding it back up again.

Sitting in Reception

The front doors were huge, as was the doorman/security

The restoration of the house was amazing, with as much of the old stonework uncovered again as possible.

My bedroom looked out onto this lightwell with stunning semi-circular windows and glass with many patterns – you can see that in the video below.

This hotel was AMAZING! Jaw dropping. Beautiful. Comfortable. Luxurious. Historic. Words fail me so I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

When Jesus and I got to my room (yes, you read that right, the bellhop was called Jesus, pronounced HayZoos) via a very modern lift I was glad to see, the stairs looking very daunting, I was even more blown away. We are talking a top end boutique hotel but in a really ancient building which turned out to be the original house of Hernán (also known as Hernando) Cortés.

Here’s a short video walk around my bedroom!

The walk-in shower was the biggest I have seen yet, and I thought the one in the Dominican Republic was spacious.

Hernán Cortés was a Spanish conquistador, or conqueror, who is best remembered for conquering the Aztec Empire in 1521 and claiming Mexico for Spain. He also helped colonize Cuba and became a governor of New Spain, a vast area that included large parts of North, Central and South America, as well as several Pacific island archipelagos. “Like many explorers we know about today, Hernán (also known as Hernando) Cortés’s role in the Age of Exploration was influential but controversial,” said Erika Cosme “He was a smart, ambitious man who wanted to appropriate new land for the Spanish crown, convert Native inhabitants to Catholicism and plunder the lands for gold and riches.”

There was a restaurant and bar in the hotel, I was glad to note, and I was offered a complementary cocktail.  I was glad about that as when I’d mentioned going to the corner to get some cash, one of the doormen cum security guards said he’d come with me. My ideas of having a wander tomorrow were fading fast.

So after freshening up, taking & uploading many photos of my room, the stairs, the bathroom etc., I headed up to the bar with my complementary drinks card (in a cute little envelope – it’s the small things that make the difference!) and there I was blown away again.

It was raining again (obviously a bit of rainy season in Mexico City too) but there were covered walkways to the bar and when I got in there, not only was I blown away all over again, but I went on to have my most fun evening since leaving Greece.

Semi-open air, the staff were all very lively and did a great job of looking like they loved their jobs. Quiet at first, the place filled up gradually and it was obviously a ‘destination’ venue, with young couples and families celebrating special events.

I ordered a margarita which was one of the most lovely I’ve seen, before becoming aware that this was NOT my complementary cocktail.

Darn it, I’ll just have to try that now. This involved some theatre with the lighting of the rosemary twig and the wafting of the smoke towards me so I could inhale the aroma while drinking my cocktail, which looked like beetroot juice and champagne.

I’m a sucker for this stuff!

There was also  lady who was hand-rolling taco shells to order. When my complementary taco arrived, my waiter insisted in pulling a trolley over and then grinding & mixing my ‘special sauce’ to my very own taste!

However, it made me very sad that all the servers had to wear tight-fitting black masks the whole time.  I wondered if it was just this hotel and asked the waiter.  He said everyone in hospitality had to wear them still, which is madness as they are proven to do no good, in fact to harm the wearer and even the corrupt CDC have dropped all mandates on wearing them, globally.

For dinner, I had an octopus ceviche taco (below) for a starter which was fresh and delicious with lime and heat, followed by some spice-rubbed short ribs and a side salad.

Wine was a Mexican red, which was initially unusual and ultimately delicious. I loved it that all the wines were Mexican and I’ll certainly seek that out back home.

Then I rolled off to bed, happy and positive, looking forward to sleeping in that amazing bed, in that amazing room.

All was well, in my world.

For now…

I’ll fill you in on the rest of my adventure tomorrow!

(If you enjoy my blog, please feel free to share it by forwarding it on to a friend. That’s the main method by which I grow my audience nowadays, with social media shadow-banning being rife nowadays)

Till tomorrow!
Nicola

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Filed Under: Travels

28 August 2022 By Nicola Cairncross Leave a Comment

The Wanderer Returns | Part 2 | El Salvador

This second part of the trip was a bit of an all-around disaster to be honest, and I have only myself to blame.

(If you missed Part 1 of this blog post series, check it out here)

I totally ignored the main reason I’d originally decided to go to Mexico first, then to El Salvador for the Lightning Bitcoin Conference in November.  My reasoning was that, as El Salvador was where I really wanted to be, why not go there first, and then go onto Mexico (in time for the whale migration in January).

I somehow totally managed to forget that the main reason I’d planned it the other way around, was because of August to October being the RAINY SEASON in El Salvador.  Which I duly arrived smack bang right in the middle of!

What was I thinking? How had I forgotten something so important?

Perhaps it was the unexpected and last-minute trip to the Dominican Republic that had scrambled my thought processes.

Perhaps it was the excitement of being around all those Bitcoiners at Tone’s Financial Summit?

Whatever happened to my (admittedly sketchy) plans and thought processes, I chucked it all up in the air and booked a flight from DR to El Salvador, via Panama City at the end of the Summit.  I even met a lovely professor on the plane, who lived there and approved of my choice of first location.  I told him all about Bitcoin and we swapped email addresses.

I was further lulled into a false sense of security as I arrived in El Salvador, as the sun was shining and my friendly taxi driver practised his English on me.  Did I want a coconut drink? Lots of vendors by the side of the road smiling at the airport taxis as they sped past.

A lush, green countryside could be seen, dotted with fairly poor communities made of corrugated iron painted bright but fading colors.  People stood under the shade of bridges over the road, presumably to wait for a local ‘chicken bus’ as they are called.  It reminded me of some parts of the Caribbean I’ve visited.

The sun was still shining as we drove into the centre of San Salvador, the capital city, and then into the San Benito residential area, which I’d been assured by my guides was the best part of the city to stay.  I was a bit disconcerted to find a residential suburb, not the bustling inner city area I’d been expecting.  Lots of trees, nice houses behind high walls, but no shops, restaurants and definitely nobody walking around.

Why was I even contemplating staying in a city, you might ask?  I am not massively keen on cities mostly (for more than a night or two anyway).  Except for London, where I lived in my twenties and thirties, for fifteen years, so it feels much friendlier to me than most people experience.

Because I was working with a local Guide, Diego and on our two hour Zoom call, he’d recommended staying in San Benito initially, as I was really looking for somewhere to live, potentially for the next few years.  I knew there was a beach resort called El Zonte about half an hour from the city, but I also knew it was very rustic there indeed.  The city seemed like a better option initially, with regards to choices in places to stay, events to go to, Bitcoin people to meet.

Why was I looking for somewhere else to live, away from the UK?

I couldn’t go back to Greece as the ’90 days in every 180’ rules had kicked in post-Brexit.  I tried but failed to get residency while out there, there being only one option left, the Digital Nomad Visa, which had to be applied for from the UK.

However, there are strong signs that Europe is falling into a deeper and deeper authoritarian rule, with the so=called Leaders looking like they are going to impose more mask mandates and lockdowns, possibly even forced experimental injection rules on it’s member countries.

I know a huge financial cataclysm is coming, as part of the Dollar collapsing as the World Reserve Currency (as set out by many eminent macroeconomic experts and explained so brilliantly in Mike Malone’s “Hidden Secrets Of Money” videos on YouTube).  I know that the World Economic Forum are now trying, after having trained and placed ‘Global Young Leaders’ in most western Governments, to finally implement their ‘Great Reset’ also known as the ‘4th Industrial Revolution”. This is no theory, it’s laid out on their own website and we hear it talked about openly by everyone from Prince Charles and Boris Johnson, various unelected Euro politicians, to Justin Trudeau, the increasingly erratic Biden, Jacinda Ahern and the rapidly becoming monster Premiers in Australia.    

That means lots of things most ordinary people don’t want, such as more control of the ‘useless eaters’ as they call us, via AI and face recognition surveillance and a Chinese style social credit system.  Leading to less food, less energy, less healthcare, less travel, less anything that makes life fun and worth living.  Not to mention more man-made disasters, engineered pandemics and more dodgy mRNA so-called vaccines, possible even forcing the latter on people, using the social credit system and our own money, via CBDC’s to coerce us to comply.

Having been in the UK unexpectedly for the two years previously, my mental health suffered in spite of a couple of re-readings of my mate Andy’s “Bug Free Mind” books, so I wanted to find somewhere to live where further restrictions, mask mandates and lockdowns were unlikely, come Autumn.  I didn’t want to go too far, so that meant Central and South America.  Poorer but self-sufficient countries who are not under the thumb of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) who can enforce compliance with the WEF and CDC ‘mandates’ because of enormous debt owed to the IMF.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele had said several times publicly, that he would not enforce lockdowns or so-called ‘vaccine’ mandates.  The jab was there for those who wanted it but not enforced. The Mexican president Andrés Obrador has also never subscribed to the lockdown & jab mandates, according to several people I know that live there.  The latter is coming up for an election soon so will, no doubt, be replaced by a World Economic Forum puppet, but for now, all is well.

i also wanted to find somewhere warm (so that the inevitable massive energy price hikes would not be so punishing) and cheap to live, with a beach ideally, and affordable great fresh food, as I wanted to save as much of my hard earned cash (and my brother’s inheritance) as possible.  Now  invested in ‘real money’ not dodgy fiat currency, so that when the inevitable dollar currency collapse comes, I’d be set up for life.  Set up and able to help my friends and family, who will by then, need some help, being oblivious to my warnings of what is to come.

On another note, on my ‘bucket list’, I have always wanted to see the mother & baby whale migration up the Pacific coast to Alaska and beyond and both El Salvador and Mexico have an active whale watching scientific community and boat trips.

So, as I’d now got it into my head that El Salvador would be cheaper to live in, rather than a beach resort in Mexico, I set off there first.

El Salvador

El Salvador is the home of Bitcoin – it’s legal tender all over the country – and Max Keiser & Stacy Herbert love it. They visit regularly and are even becoming residents, if not citizens.  Something the President vows to make much easier, as he’s hoping to attract business and financial talent from around the globe.  Following the recent massive gang arrests, there are many new tourists visiting and adventurous people moving there apparently.

But I got off to a very bad start when I couldn’t find the entrance to my AirBnB, in spite of extensive instructions from my host (who was on holiday in Europe).  It was in a gated community and the fact that a gated community was even necessary, with such extensive security that we couldn’t find out way in, spooked me a bit.

Now what I should have done next was look up the nearest 4* or 5* hotel, to book into for a few days to think my next moves over in luxury. In fact, I would recommend that to everyone travelling as the whole process is tiring and fraught with sub-conscious fears and you need a period after arriving somewhere to acclimatize, get the lay of the land and catch up on your sleep.

But I was trying to travel fairly frugally, beyond my longest flights, so while a hotel occurred to me, I did have another option.

Eventually, I asked the taxi driver to take me to an upmarket hostel nearby, recommended by my local guide.  They were wonderful, taking me in and finding me a full room with bathroom and mini kitchen.  It was at the top of the house, but Brian seized my two suitcases and hauled them up there.  I sank gratefully onto the brown leather sofa and turned on the air-conditioning.

It was spotlessly clean but the whole room was clad in dark wood and tiles and definitely sloped downwards from one side to the other.  Dark wood is not great for spotting insects approaching.  (Did I mention I have a spider phobia?  Even typing the word makes me feel a bit sick).  It was bright, having windows on three sides, but looked over a four-lane highway at the front and a large 5g tower at the back.

I went downstairs and sat in the communal dining room, overlooking a cute little outside courtyard and wondered where I could get some lunch. Brian helpfully told me that the nearest restaurants were either up or down the hill a bit.  Might as well have been on Mars.  Even an umbrella wouldn’t cut it in that rain.

Then the light changed to a strange yellowish hue and the rain started.  O my, what rain!

Being at the top of the hostel, I was right under the roof which sounded like it was corrugated iron.  It was LOUD.  It was the kind of rain that I’d only seen in Greece once or twice, where the heavens open and a lot of water falls out of the sky, and I mean a LOT.  The kind of rain that flattens plants and people alike.  The kind of rain you need to avoid being out in, at all costs.

I went back upstairs to wait for the rain to stop and fell asleep.

Several hours later the rain stopped.  It was early evening now and I was very hungry.  I’d had no breakfast, there was nothing on the plane from Panama City to El Salvador and I’d been too busy since then, finding somewhere to sleep.

I ventured downstairs again and n very halting and broken Spanish (I’d been learning on DuoLingo for weeks now but it was still woefully inadequate) I enquired about food deliveries.  After several attempts to get the local equivalent of Deliveroo going on my mobile, the young lady behind the desk told me to walk down the hill and I would find a couple of places to eat.  There was nobody about but I bravely walked purposefully down the road, dodging cars and puddles.

I found a Pizza Hut and gratefully sank into a booth to order, by pointing to my smiling waitress, a pizza and Heineken.  Never have I been happier to eat a simple pizza and drink a simple beer.  You always feel much better after a sleep and some food.

The rain had started again but it was only spitting so far, so I put up my tiny umbrella and walked up the hill again, watching out for potential gangsters and kidnappers.  I have never been more aware of my rather unfit, 60 year old state, but I figured I must look poor enough to ignore.

Very breathless, I arrived back at the hostel and climbed back up to my room.  The rain got harder again and continued all night.

Loudly.

The next morning, the ever-helpful Brian knocked on my door and asked, did I want breakfast as it was included in my room rate. 

I ventured downstairs to find some really friendly locals cooking up a storm in the kitchen and I ordered a traditional breakfast; scrambled eggs with onions & peppers, lumps of cheese, refried beans and fried plantain (yuk!), orange juice and a very weak milky coffee. 

Double yuk on the plantain and milky coffee.  The juice, eggs and beans were nice though.

I went back upstairs and talked to Diego, arranging to go to a Bitcoin meeting the next evening and have a little tour of the City. 

I talked to my daughter who was enjoying hearing about my adventures.  She said “You got this Ma!” but I was rather afraid that I did not!

I talked to my son who had just come back from Mexico and various other Central/South American countries and who had a blast.  However, he was 24 and travelling with another guy as tall and tough looking as him.

The problem was, the longer I sat on the brown leather sofa trying to be brave, the less I wanted to be there.

Should I go to El Zonte (the beach area where Bitcoin adoption started) next?

Should I stay in the City and tough it out?

Was I justified in finding everything threatening and scary?  Was the barbed wire everywhere really necessary?

Was I just too old to be doing this? Had I morphed into a permanent 5* kinda gal?

Eventually, I reached a decision just as it started to rain again.

Hard.

What do you think I chose, dear reader?  What would you have done?

Let me know in the comments below!

Check out Part 1 – Findon & Greece
Check out Part 3 – Mexico via Panama City

Warm regards

Nicola

P.S. If you enjoy my blog please feel free to share my latest post with a friend, that’s the main way I grow my audience. If you have just received a link from a friend, you can subscribe free by sending an email here!

Filed Under: Travels

27 August 2022 By Nicola Cairncross Leave a Comment

The Wanderer Returns | Part 1 | Greece & Findon

I’m coming to you today from a glamping pod in famous racing stables in Findon, West Sussex.  The glamping units are very nice indeed with great decor, awesome hot showers in designer bathrooms and a green, tranquil setting.  Findon Village is beautiful, with several gastro pubs but the real draw is the horses and true to form, the horses are stunning.

A mixture of riding and racing horses, they clip-clop up the lane right next to my abode, to the Downs where they exercise.  Then they clip-clop down the lane again, to relax in their stables, every need taken care of, for the rest of the day.

I ran into one, jockey astride, yesterday afternoon as I went to my car.  The jockey graciously dismounted, and asked if I liked being there, did I find the horses noisy and did I want to stroke her.  Did I? Up close, racehorses are very, very big.  He held her while I tentatively stroked her, saying out loud exactly what I was thinking which is “Are they not the most magnificent creatures?”.

When you drive – very, very slowly – through the yard, all of these magnificent creatures look at you out of the top half of their stable door, some whinnying gently, some snorting, but all thinking deep horsey somethings.  You can feel their souls as you go past.  I like being here a lot.

Well, I would be coming to you from there right now, if there was internet in my current glamping pod.  There was internet in my last (bigger) pod, there will be internet in my next (bigger) pod but apparently not in THIS interim pod.  No TV either, but luckily there is enough of a mobile signal to catch up with Masterchef Celebrity and my favourite Vietnamese & Philippine Forest Farmers last night, or I’d be tearing my hair out.

But it’s typical that the very day, after three months, that I finally feel inspired to write something, today would be the non-internet interim pod weekend.  Bank Holiday weekend in the UK, you see.  Not a hotel room to be had for less than £250 a night unless you want to go to Brighton (and I didn’t).

So I’ve de-glamped to my mate Andy’s dining room to use his internet, him being just up the road from said Stables.  Not that his house is not glam, it very much is.  But glam with internet.

I didn’t expect to be back in the UK until next year actually, so you can’t be any more surprised than I am to hear I’m in Sussex again.

Apologies, y’all.  I’ve been seriously putting this writing business off… well, for about three months now.  If it were not for the weight of emails – at least 12 of them – asking me whereabouts I am in the world now, this probably wouldn’t even be getting written now.

I fully expected to write at least one post a week from Greece, Mexico and El Salvador, my three intended destinations. So what happened?

When I got to Greece, I spent a month with no internet as I’d forgotten to ask my hostess if there was any.  To be fair, she thought there was but as she only stays there occasionally, she didn’t realize she was actually on her mobile data.  I had no internet and my O2 roaming data didn’t cut it at all. No signal to speak of, in the particular part of the village I was in.

Then it got so hot the only place I wanted to be for any length of time was on the beach.  Literally, every day, all day.  I love being on the beach there but while you can do a lot on your mobile, under the sun umbrella, writing a blog post is not one of them.  I’m old school, I need to touch type. Straight from my brain, to your page, via my fingers.

Then I went to The Financial Summit, hosted by Tone Vays in the Dominican Republic and not only was it really hot there too (and humid too, cheesus, was it humid!) but we were very busy.  Barely time to sleep between the learning & networking sessions, the great dinners and the poker & dancing in the suite Tone had reserved for us all to hang out in.

The resort was AMAZING!  We stayed at the Castle At The Sanctuary and my suite was as big as an average UK flat.

This was the most fun – riding the golf cart up the hill from the rest of the resort to the Castle.

And here’s a couple of pics of my room / bathroom (there was a dance-around shower and separate loo).

And this was the top-lit, open-air internal waterfall that I had to pass on my way to my room.

It was all lit up at night too. Stunning.

If you are in finance, Bitcoin or trading, you really must try and get to one of Tone’s Summits. The next one is in Bali and you can find out more here.

But…

This is where the tale takes a turn for the worse.

While there, I made a change to my plans, a change that was to teach me two HUGE life lessons.  One internal – about myself – and one external about what you MUST do when planning a trip.

But in the best Andre Chaperon “cliffhanger” style, I’m going to save that story for tomorrow.

Check out Part 2 – El Salvador
Check out Part 3 – Mexico via Panama City

Talk soon!

Nicola

Filed Under: Travels

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© 2023 Nicola Cairncross | Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy

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Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
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Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
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