Since we spend at least five months a year in Playa del Carmen, we have developed some routines to provide a break from our typical hectic schedule when we travel. We also spend lots of time on social engagements in the community and trying new restaurants.
There are also things happening around town, including holiday decorations on 5th Avenue and construction on 10th. They have made 10th Avenue one-way and added a large bike/pedestrian path to the street from CTM all the way south to 18th.
Workouts
Workouts are the most structured part of our routine. Here in Playa, Mike and I have a personal trainer who comes to the gym in our condo complex. I typically work out on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and Mike does Monday and Friday, although we don’t work out together. Our trainer is a wonderful person who helps us with all kinds of things, including physical therapy and watering our plants when we are away.
Her services are really economical, and I do video workouts with her when we are traveling. That way, I can maintain my strength training all the time. These workouts make it possible for me to keep traveling and doing the things I love, like skiing and golf.
Spanish Lessons
About a year ago, we decided that we needed to make an effort to learn Spanish since we are residents. Our first teacher didn’t work out too well, but our current teacher has helped us really improve our language skills. We have classes over MS Teams three times a week. Two classes we do together, and a third conversation class with other students. Unlike our workouts, we only take classes when we are in Playa because we can practice there.
I have definitely noticed I’m more comfortable having better language skills, even though almost everyone speaks English in the resort town where we live.
Golf Lessons
When we were in Scottsdale in the fall, we bought new golf clubs. Since then, I have really felt I needed some attention on my swing and to find new ways to make golf successful without killing my back. So, I decided to take some lessons at one of the local golf courses. The practice facilities at Gran Coyote are very nice, and the lessons aren’t too expensive. I signed up for about 3 weeks with classes 2 times a week.
At first, the pro just wanted me to have a proper swing, but together we found that I really couldn’t maintain the desired position, so he helped me come up with a way to compensate. Hopefully, with more practice, I can improve my game with minimal adjustments. Apparently, I had adjusted so much that the ball just didn’t go anywhere.
They have another program that is 3 days a week for 2 hours each time, but the timing conflicts with my workouts and our Spanish classes. There we go, typical over-committing. Anyway, the lessons only pay when we are in Playa enough to actually take our skills onto the course.
Making Friends
As you all know, we are social people, and all the studies show that people live longer when they have strong community connections. Therefore, we have been working hard at making community connections and friends in our complex and outside. One of the ways we do that is through various charity events and organizations. Of course, these events usually involve wine, but we do occasionally meet like-minded people.
At one such wine event, I met a woman who plays golf but doesn’t have any women to play with. We have met at the driving range once, and we will do so again when we return to Playa. Both she and I are thrilled to find like minded people.
The difficulty here in Playa is that we are typically gone during high season, and finding folks who are in Playa when we are can be challenging. But we will certainly keep trying. We have already met groups of people through the KKIS charity that have parties and other events throughout the year, not just during high season. We are usually up for two-for-one martinis on Tuesdays at the Dirty Martini. During the season, it is packed.
Seeing an Interplaya Soccer Game
When we are home, we usually try to attend at least one soccer game at the local stadium. On our first visit this year, we noticed that the stadium had been painted, and it looked pretty good. We also noticed a new sponser Comex, and an odd green mascot. I had no idea what Comex did, and you couldn’t tell by looking at the mascot, so I looked up the company. Interestingly enough, Comex is the largest paint company in Mexico, which, of course, explains the new paint in the stadium.
Publishing the Blog
Admittedly, we are more regular about publishing the blog when we are in residence in Playa. During our travels, it is a bit more difficult to find the time to post. But our travels do provide much to write about when we are just hanging out.
We also spend a tremendous amount of time when we are in Playa planning our future travel. For example, this year we plan to be traveling for five months in a row. Planning airfare, trains, car rentals, and hotels for that amount of time takes a lot of hours. Fortunately, we divide up our time so we can do our due diligence on each booking before we embark. Of course, we don’t always get it right, but we are good at adapting.
Finally, Mike in particular spends a lot of time managing our investments and finances. Some of the jobs fall to me, too and I take on other special projects as well. I get bored and really like having a rotating set of projects to work on. More on my special projects in future articles.
More Work on the House
I suppose it won’t really stop. The project this time has been the patio on the second floor. Our neighbor was kind enough to raise the wall between our patios during her recent construction, and that allowed us to completely cover our own patio, instead of just half. Because the condo has restrictions on when work can be done (not in high season), we had a very small window to finish the structural additions and changes. First, Mike was insistent that we remove the large round pole in the middle of the patio that was holding up the roof. While I thought it was a little silly at the time, not having that pole certainly opens up the space.
We weren’t able to complete the water proof cover on the new side of the roof or get the rolling shades installed but we we did finish the demolition and major construction before we left. Still more to do when we get back and then we have to agree on our patio furniture.
A Little Bit of Pool Time
Finally, while we don’t usually feel like we are on vacation in Playa, we do try to make time for relaxing by the pool. I think you might be surprised by how infrequently we actually do that. As you can see from my description above, we manage to keep ourselves pretty busy with life.
We Also Have to Eat
There were a few new places during our 2.5 months in Playa in the fall. We occasionally try brunch restaurants in our search for exceptional Chilaquiles. This time, it was Crisol on 5th Avenue and Yo Amo Mexico on the northern end of town. We also tried a new fine dining restaurant called Santo Bohemio. While the food was small plates for sharing and very interesting in composition, there was so much smoke in the restaurant that I had to wash my hair before going to bed and air out my clothes. So, overall, I wasn’t thrilled. We also found a place that makes a decent burger and a really good chicken sandwich, Quinta Burger.
What have you been doing during your retirement?
