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Manu | 24 April 2016 | no comments

PLAYA DEL CARMEN

There is something about Playa del Carmen that captures you forever.

The story is known by now. I arrived in Playa del Carmen in December to stay for a day before heading to Central America and there you go, I got stacked there for 5 months.

There is one question people have kept asking me in this four months in town.

Why do I love this place?

Sometimes you don’t have a specific reason to love a place. It is the overall experience and vibes that make a place good for your soul. This is what happen between me and Playa del Carmen.The town is perfectly comfortable, small enough to have the possibility to meet the same people easily on your walking around. This makes the place human, and it is usually one of the factors I nowadays love when I live somewhere. This human factor contributes to make you feel at home, like if you belong to this place since ever.

After several months here, I loved to passing  the streets I usually walked and greet the local people around the corner and being recognized by them. If they didn’t see you for a while they asked you where you had been, like at home. People always greet you with a smile and make you feel you are part of the place, like them. Useless to say, there is no better feeling than that. This is something I love of all the little places I have been living at, such as Reykjavik, too, but of course the warmth of the people doubles up when you compare the Tropics to Iceland. The season that ended last week has been one of the most amazing periods of my life. Few others have been so intense and awesome like this one. I can recollect London in 2006 and Reykjavik last winter, and now Playa, the only 3 places that managed to make me feel sad to leave.

Play del Carmen, Mexico

My friend Dulce, like a sister in Playa

They call this place Playa del Karma and many, down here, say that Playa ‘te atrapa‘, it gets you, it captures you forever. There is no other place on Earth where you will hear stories of people, foreigners and Mexicans too, who came her to stay for a short holiday and they have stayed for 20 years. These stories are very common and it seems almost the normality when talking with people living here. I know it is the normality because it seems I am one of them. I got captured by this place, I found it hard to leave and now  that I left I  know I will be back here again. I leave because a new adventure is awaiting for me out there, in far far away Greenland and I couldn’t refuse an offer from a country I always wanted to see and experience, but the departure won’t be too bad as I know I will be back around here at a certain point.

I have traveled to many countries around the world and in each of them i have always wondered if I could have lived there one day…I mean settling down. My natures tells me I could live in a lot of places of course, but I have the feeling I have find the place where , when I will ever decide to do it, I can finally plant my roots. So see you soon again querida Playa. I know I will miss you a lot and I know we will meet soon again. It has been a pleasure like no others.

My Playa del Karma is made by amazing people and daily simple life I wanna give you an inside at:

Playa del Carmen hostel, Mexico

The patio of Wonderous World Hostel where I spent my best time in Playa del Carmen

It all started here, in the Wonderous World Hostel, the place I have been called home for the last 4 months and a half. I came here to volunteer as a breakfast cook for a month in December than it became two months and quickly it evolved in a base and a home and in a family.

Playa del Carmen hostel, Mexico

Cinder and Suerte, my two 4 paws friends in Playa

David, Randy, Dulce, Cinder the dog and Suerte the cat have made me feel at home. It has been always a pleasure to come back here after any trip I have been in these months. They open the door to you and give you a hug of welcome back. I have felt like at home and they were like a family all the time. I have lived in this hostel for almost 5 months, outdoor, in the sun of Mexico that has managed to warm up and color not only my skin but my soul, too. In here I have also met some of the most interesting people of the last year, travel people who have become great friends. I can definitely tell you to try this place on your next visit to the Riviera Maya and experience what I am talking about. Leaving the hostel is sad but…we all know I will be back again!

Playa del Carmen concert, Mexico

Every Saturday night around 11 at the Irish pub in Playa go to see Procer Band playing rock!

It has now become a fixed appointment. If you are in Playa, every Saturday night the band called Procer rocks the night at the Irish Pub in town. It is something not to be missed for some good vibes and great music. I have been to see them basically almost every Saturday since I discovered them this winter. They guys are super sweet, they even know by now what music I like and they always try to play at least one of my favorite tunes every Saturday. They feel like part of the Playa family too. They always have a hug for me at the end of the show. Guys check them out down here. The good vibes they can spread from that stage will make you feel good for the rest of the week and will help the hangover of the day after.

The hundreds of street food people who have accompanied my days and nights out with delicious food and most of all with a smile. They have become a family inside the family of Playa, eating almost everyday at their place has created a connection with each of them and contributed to make me feel a local. Mexican food is great also thanks to them who are there at every time of days and nights.

Playa del Carmen hostel, Mexico

All the people met in Playa in the last 5 months have become a new family

 

Play del Carmen, Mexico

Kevin, my Dutch friend, called by everyone my nephew for all the time we spent together in Playa

And finally all the great people I have met at the hostel in the past months. Travelers with a travel soul, they came and went away but with some of them a true friendship is born destined to last despite the distance. I call them “the family” because they kinda are. When you travel, your family becomes the people around you that make everyday a special day. Here in Playa, every single day has been special, and that’s why I’ll keep the memories of this experience forever in my heart…until I come back again.

Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Thank you Playa for the love!