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Have you ever been on a fantastic trip, yet found yourself secretly wishing you were home with just a few days left? I have. And the weird thing is, it scales with the trip. After six months of bliss in Cancún, I'm starting to get that feeling, even though I'm returning to a Canadian winter. Here’s why I embrace the end-of-trip countdown and how I'm fighting the premature blues with 23 days left to go.
Nine straight weeks of guests in our Cancun apartment and I’m back to quiet 5 a.m. tea and solo café writing sessions. We loved every visit — but even the best company needs an adjustment when you actually live here.
Everyone assumes living in Cancun means waking up to an ocean view. But I passed on the 'Miami with better tacos' vibe of the Hotel Zone for the gritty reality of Centro. Here is why I chose broken sidewalks over the beach.
When everything is new—the language, the currency, the traffic laws, the humidity—your brain is running on high alert 24/7. You are processing a million micro-decisions just to buy groceries or cross the street. It is thrilling, yes. But it is also a recipe for burnout.
We have all seen the Instagram photos. A tanned digital nomad is sitting on a pool lounger, a MacBook open, a fruity cocktail with an umbrella in hand, hashtagging #OfficeForTheDay.
I am here to tell you that those photos are lies.
I file my own taxes. I book my own travel. So, naturally, when it came time to apply for Temporary Residency in Mexico, I assumed I could handle a few government forms.
I was wrong.
Living in Cancun means you are in a constant, low-level war of attrition with nature. The elements here are actively trying to destroy your stuff. And if you don't fight back, they will win.
One of the defining traits of the "Digital Monarch Butterfly" lifestyle—living in two places—is the sudden realization that your hobbies and habits don't neatly pack into a carry-on. When I’m in Canada, I take for granted that I can drive ten minutes to get a canvas or order specialized electronics that arrive the next day. When I’m in Mexico, I have to get creative.
Most people have heard that time seems faster because each year is a smaller percentage of your life. While that explanation holds some mathematical weight, I want to propose a new, more psychological theory—one I’ve been thinking about for a while.
As I began my day I saw others just finishing theirs. Being an early riser at a resort is a strange, somewhat lonely, experience.
Somewhere along the way, I realized: I didn’t want to just be a tourist passing through. I wanted to be a traveller—someone who truly connects with the places they visit, who blends into the background rather than sticking out, and who’s open to letting the unexpected become the highlight of the trip.
I am back on the road. Business travel is not my favorite activity, but if I have to do it I may as well try to make it enjoyable. So what is the secret to enjoying business travel?
For digital nomads, the promise of freedom—to work from anywhere and design a lifestyle on your terms—offers a unique opportunity to simplify and streamline life.
Traveling long-term as a digital nomad requires more than just packing a suitcase and hoping for the best. I’ve learned that if you don’t prepare for the unexpected, you’ll be left scrambling
