I subscribe to a newsletter by James Clear who wrote the bestselling book ‘Atomic Habits’. No, I haven’t read the book, but I love his weekly newsletters. In this week’s letter the first item read:
“If you want a recipe for unhappiness, spend your time accumulating a lot of money and let your health and relationships deteriorate.”
That made me think about how I prioritize and value these things. How would you rank/prioritize these – money, health and relationships? Are you happy at the moment?
For me it goes health, relationships, and then money. I believe that if you have your health, nothing is impossible. I do value my relationships highly too since I’m pretty damn social and love surrounding myself with smart, funny, and a bit loco people 🙂 But I guess if I didn’t have an income and needed to eat and have a roof over my head, I’d prioritize money.
Some other things I value highly are travel, experiences that challenges me, and learning new skills. And tripping 😉 How about you?
Went for another staycation last week. I visited and stayed in Tepoztlán again, and I love it there. Very chill with great restaurants and bars. I’ve heard that it gets packed during the weekends though. I prefer to visit places during the week when it’s not too crowded. That way you never have to wait for a table and there are plenty of Airbnb accommodations to choose from. This was our casa and it was great!
Checked in and took a stroll. We passed this beautiful cemetery…
Grabbed some food and I found this awesome cowboy hat to hide my bad hair days with 🙂
There is a bar called La Cueva – the Cave. It feels like you are in a cave made of trees. Grabbed some cocktails and in the end we ended up eating there too. Got a new cute kitty-buddy that I shared my meal (not cocktails) with. I know a lot of people think you shouldn’t feed dogs or cats in a restaurant, but I do because I just can’t resist them 🙂
Next day Ximena came down and we got some work done. First, test the lighting, and then action..
Lot of swimwear. I love working outdoors!
How awesome is this t-shirt?
Dayana came down and joined us. We headed for a late lunch at La Veladora. They have a pool area for hotel guests, good food and it’s very relaxing there…
There’s some great sculptures, and I tried to imitate one of them. Pretty accurate or what do you think?
Had time to chill for like 10 min and switch outfits, then we stopped by La Cueva again for pre-dinner drinks.
Dinner was at the Amomoxtli hotel. Been there before and it was great then. Now it was just meeh. Not very good service, but my Piña Colada was very good 🙂
Passed a local bar on the way back and decided to make a pit stop. It was packed with locals and you could order 1 liter beers and blue Smurf drinks hahahaa… Settled for some beers and Tequila shots.
When we arrived home we had these horses outside our place. Not sure if they were wild, but they were just strolling the streets…
Back home we felt like an after party. Unfortunately no one brought a speaker, but a coffee pot did a decent job 🙂
Next morning we walked to Cafe de la Milpa. It’s an amazing farm to table restaurant. You sit outdoors and they have a community garden there. I can imagine myself living like this in a few years with all my rescued animals 🙂
We worked on our tans by the pool for a bit before checking out. Then we headed to the main street in town. Lots of shops, restaurants and bars…
Or you can buy yourself some scorpion infused Tequila…
I wanted to do this hike up the mountain Al Tepozteco at the end of the main street, but there just wasn’t any time. Or energy I might add… There are some old pyramids up at the top and it’s supposed to be very cool. Next time…
Grabbed some lunch and I’m showing off my beautiful new bag I got from Dayana. And my Pussitive hat 🙂
The restaurant had the best painting so I thought I might as well imitate that one as well 🙂
I also got this mug after we finished the drink in it 🙂 I think the chicas on mug look like me & Dayana. Chicas Borrachas means Drunk Girls hahahaaa…
Found some leftover pics. All together it was a great little trip and it’s only about 1,5h from Mexico City so definitely go if you can 🙂
Best part about coming home is Hunter of course. He doesn’t think I need to work when I’m back so he plants himself on the computer, or just stares at me until I either feed him or go and take a nap with him 🙂
I went to a great event this weekend and went eating Colombian food and shopping with Dayana yesterday. I will make another post about it. Heading to a camera store now to look at cameras 🙂
It’s been a fun-filled and productive week. Walking in Mexico City you always discover new places. I walked on this street before, but now I spotted a photography school. I visited them and found out that all of the scheduled courses are in Spanish; no bueno for me. They also offer tailored private classes in English, so long story short, I’m looking for a camera unless I can get the one repaired that I have. I want to take classes in lighting first and learn Lightroom. Very excited about this!
En route there, I found this amazing seafood restaurant. Not very healthy, but anything fried pretty much makes love to my tastebuds hahhaaaa….
On Tuesday I had lunch with Dayana and another friend named Camile. They laughed when I suggested lunch at noon. Latinos don’t eat lunch until later, so we planned for 1.30pm. European as I am, I was obviously on time. Both Dayana and Camile (they’re Colombians) showed up 30 minutes late. It’s not even rude here, it’s just the norm. Sometimes people ask if the time is “Mexican time”, meaning that everyone show up about an hour late. We went to one of my favorite restaurants here – Estiatorio Nostos.
They have really good seafood and I had the responsibility of finding the right fish for us!
Lunch became drinks at some bar, and whoever came up with this bird-drink-glass, where you insert the straw up it’s a*s, must be someone with a great sense humor!
Couldn’t do an all-nighter, because I rented a location for the next days shoot.
Hit the gym 3 times last week. 2 classes on Thursday and after that I needed a caffeine fix after to make it home!
A friend’s girlfriend was having her birthday, so I joined in for a drink before they headed to dinner. I prefer wearing my onesie over anything, so as I soon as I come home, I switch. I think I spend about 50% of my time in it LOL…
I met a girl here through another friend who’s a filmmaker. We’re planning to do an experimental film, and it’s going to be shot on VHS to get the old grainy feel to it. Unfortunately her camera decided to not work when we were going to shoot, so now we are waiting for her to find another ancient camera 🙂
Another friend is visiting Mexico City right now, and we had a nice group that went out for dinner. Only managed to snap myself in the mirror as I came back from smoking.
After, there was some birthday dinner venue we popped in on. Weirdest place. It’s about 01.30am here, bright lights on, no music, and the place was packed. Felt more like a school cafeteria. Like why not dim the lights a bit and have some music? Strange, but fun…
I also talked to Troy in Jamaica. I want to put together a mushroom retreat in May. It was such an amazing experience there and I want everyone who’s interested to get to experience it too. I will have more info and dates in a week or two 🙂 That being said, I leave you with a selfie and Hunter hard at work with me 🙂
How’s your first week of 2024 been? For me it’s been pretty chill. Trying to not procrastinate on things that need to be done, getting my ass to the gym, and work. Also enjoying the perfect temperatures here in Mexico City…
New Years Eve was great and managed to not go too loca 🙂 The theme of the party was Intergalactic cowboys/cowgirls and there were a lot of games, dancing & booze. Someone had chocolate shrooms and I thought it was a brilliant idea to chug down a big piece at 2am. It kicked in when I got home and was trying to go to sleep hahhaaaa…
There’s a tradition here that you count down from 12 to the New Year at midnight. At the same time you are supposed to eat a grape for each month and make a wish. I tried to manage the 12 grapes and almost choked lol…
As always it’s hard to get your body moving again. At the same time it felt great to sweat, lift and push myself again!
Put on my suit and got back to work…
Kaptain Psychonaut ready for the world!
Hunter is taking this first week like he takes every other week – easy peasy 🙂
And just me out and about…
Almost forgot, watched 2 great movies this week. First one is a Finnish movie called ‘Sisu’.
“During the last days of World War II, a solitary prospector crosses paths with Nazis on a scorched-earth retreat in northern Finland. When the soldiers decide to steal his gold, they quickly discover they just tangled with no ordinary miner.” Very good and bloody!
The 2nd movie was ‘Saltburn’. ‘Distraught by his classmate Oliver’s unfortunate living situation, Felix, a rich student, invites him over to his estate. Soon, a series of horrifying events engulf Felix’s family.’ Reminded me a bit of ‘Talented Mr Ripley’. Very good too.
Let me know if you have any great movie recommendations. That’s it. Got nothing special planned for this week. Plan to work, hit the gym and that’s it pretty much.
Thinking back on 2023 and trying to summarize it with a couple of words. What comes to mind is adventure and experiences. I also have some questions about my direction and where I’m headed. Still can’t answer that one hahhaaaa… I love to travel and being in nature, so I hope 2024 includes that. I also hope I get to be healthy so I can keep exploring and experiencing!
Here are a few highlights from last year…
Visiting Patagonia in Argentina in February. Stayed in Bariloche and it was beautiful. Surrounded by water and nature. Also visited the little town El Bolsón where I would spend more time in if I visited again.
It was weird travelling and being in a country with such high inflation. You paid double for things if you paid with a card. To get cash you had to wire it to yourself and then line up at Western Union to get it.
Went to a wedding of a good friend in Palm Desert. Everything was kept off social media so I couldn’t post pics of the beautiful groom & bride. I really enjoyed Palm Desert and hope to go back.
After Palm Desert I went to LA and my sister came too from Sweden. We stayed with Sandy and her family so I got the good stuff all at once, family & friends while visiting LA. Took advantage of Sandy’s make up skills and got some work done too… I’m trying to plan a trip to LA asap to see Sandy as I miss her a lot!
In April I visited Puerto Escondido here in Mexico for the first time. Wow, what a cool beach town. Not busy and developed like Tulum. Very chill and relaxed. Would definitely go back here too 🙂
In May I went to the Mycelia Retreat in Jamaica. Definitely one of the top experiences in 2023 that made a big impact on me. Such a beautiful time with mushrooms and an amazing group of people. I hope to host my own retreat this year. Let me know if you’re interested in coming 🙂
In June it was time for a yearly hike up north in Sweden for my sister and I. 3rd year in a row and we plan to keep this going. This time we did the first part of the Kings Trail. 6 days and 5 nights and we loved every day of it!
In August I visited Oaxaca the city. Very beautiful. Drove to the small village called San Jose del Pacifico. It was mushroom season and had a great mushroom trip out in the woods there.
In October it was time for Medellin in Colombia. First time trying paragliding and another mushroom trip 🙂
And the last adventure of the year went to San Miguel de Allende. That trip included trying Kambo and San Pedro for the first time. Very powerful and intense experience.
Not to forget, Hunter celebrated 1 year as a new family member. I love him so much 🙂
Soooo, how about you? Got goals, direction or things you want to do/achieve in 2024? I hope you gotten a fabulous start to this new year!
I had a great time in Sweden. Got to see a lot of friends, family, snow and froze my butt off, went to a couple of spas and a cruise, party and dining & a lot of tasty Christmas foods…
My flight from Mexico City was delayed so I had a long layover in Frankfurt. At least I slept and ate good on the plane 🙂
Didn’t get to my sisters until 1am. My sister is the best and had my favorites lined up as I got there 🙂 Also a belated birthday gift which was a supersoft Fjällräven sweater! Thanks sis!
Next day I started with breakfast and a fika at my favorite cafe in Stockholm, Lisas Grabb. There’s a lot of regulars there and this time I was introduced to a guy named Jorgen. He is a pro hiker and has written 8 books about hiking. He gave me this book, so hopefully on my next hike my backpack will be a lot lighter.
I don’t think I’ve shared this before, but I have hearing aids. I barely used them in the past, don’t ask me why, but maybe because they don’t feel really sexy LOL… I have noticed my hearing is worse and it’s annoying when I miss things in a conversation and have to ask people to repeat themselves 16 times. And people repeating themselves are just as annoyed. So, I finally upgraded to what they called the ‘Rolls Royce’ of hearing aids. Daaaamn, it’s like a new world! I hear birds, snow crunching, and can secretly listen in on other people’s conversations hahahaa… Also they have bluetooth so I can take my calls or listen to music in them. I also got a TV adapter so I can listen to the TV in them without having to turn up the volume to the max. Glasses, hearing aids, where will this end hahahaaa… #gilf
Met up with my sister later for dinner and what was going to be one drink. But more and more friends kept showing up and all of a sudden we are playing ‘Truth or Dare’ and doing dance off’s hahhaaaa… Needless to say, there was more than one drink being had…
On Friday me and my sister went to Yasuragi, a Japanese styled spa in Stockholm. Perfect way to recover 🙂 We hit the saunas, different pools and then had massages and food. No cameras allowed so couldn’t take any pictures from the spa.
The weekend I spent with one of my best and definitely oldest friends Karina. We did some Christmas shopping, eating, drinking and catching up all day. On Sunday we checked in At Ellery Beach House which is another spa hotel in Stockholm.
We hit the sauna and even managed to take a plunge twice in the ice cold water outdoors. Then some chilling and pre dinner drinks 🙂
Also met up with my childhood friend Pia. We went to Liljevalchs and checked out the Fredrik Robertsson exhibition – The dress makes the man. He is probably the only one in Sweden buying Haute Couture. Very cool outfits!
This was really out of the blue, but on Tuesday I went to casting for a Swedish movie. I’ve never done well in castings because they’ve always given me the script right before turning on the camera and then asked me to deliver the lines. I can never remember any lines so I pretty much read the paper from top to bottom, and as you can guess, it’s never a success. This time I got my lines before and was able to study and remember them so I thought it went pretty good. But then I always think I do good. Whether it’s in tests, performances or whatever and that’s not always the case hahhaaaa…
Party time! Had a night out with my friend Katrin and a couple of other girls. Katrin is a great because she doesn’t half ass things and when partying with her, she rarely talks me out of a great (sometimes bad) idea. Like when we hit a bar/club after dinner and I spot a ceramic panda with guns that I thought was awesome. I convinced a bar man to find me scissors and I freed him for a better life with me. I then wore him in my pants with his head and guns sticking out the whole night. Yes, I was going to make it mine until Katrin calls me the next day that the owner of the panda, also owner of the club/bar, demanded his return to captivity! Oooops… But I did as I was told and I think the panda had a blast in my pants for a night out on the town 🙂 I only found this picture from the night out hahahaaa…
I had some gringos in town and took them sightseeing in the rain and snow. We checked out the Christmas Market in Old Town and I obviously fed them meatballs too at Älskade Traditioner, which is another favorite place of mine in Stockholm.
On the 23rd we all went on a cruise to Mariehamn. An island between Sweden and Finland, but I believe it’s ruled by the Finns. We were 10 in total with a couple of kids included. Raced motorcycles, ate Swedish/Finnish Xmas foods, shopped candy and then I played Bingo. I love Bingo and used to play car bingo with my mom. I’m quite lucky in games so when it was time for 5 rows to get bingo, who do you think won??? Me of course 🙂 31 Euros so don’t get too excited hahahaaa…
Finally Xmas Eve and Santa time! We headed out to my nephew’s place out in the woods. So beautiful (and cold) with all the snow…
Lots of food…
I was winding the kids up about Santa Claus so they were almost poo-ing their pants in excitement hahhaaaa… I think I might of been more excited about Santa than they wore and he finally came.
The 25th I went to the stable with my cousin. I used to do horseback riding so it was great to get to pet a horse again. And there were stable cats that I was chasing to pet too…
That is pretty much what I managed during my stay in broad strokes. There was a lot of fikas, more meatballs and friends, so here they are in a mix…
And can you guess what this is? Sorry, my humor…
I got a cold now but my plan is to be rid of it by January 1st 🙂 Too much to deal with a cold and a hangover 😉 What are your plans for tonight? I’m going to a party with an Intergalactic Cowboy/Cowgirl theme. I love costume parties so I will see what I can come up with 🙂
I will do a recap of 2023 and my plans for 2024 too. You got any plans or resolutions? Yesterday I got an invite to go to Goa in India in February. I think I’m going to jump on it 🙂 OK, more to come, need to nap now so I can stay up until midnight! Me & Hunter wish you a fabulous New Years Eve whatever you got planned and the best start on 2024!
Today we’re celebrating Christmas here in Sweden wohoooo… And I guess it’s celebrated in some other Nordic and European countries as well. You gringos got to wait until tomorrow. The Santa is from Finland after all so I think we got it right 🙂 Aaaaanyways, I just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, God Jul, Hyvää Joulua & ¡feliz Navidad!
Are you guys wearing Christmas sweaters by the way? I found this sweater in a thrift store and I think it’s pretty awesome. I think it’s gnomes from outer space, high on acid hahhaaaaa…
OK, I’m done wrapping my gifts and my sister is prepping her homemade mustard with whiskey. In a bit we’re heading out to some relatives and friends out in the woods. Look forward to relax and eat a lot of good Finnish and Swedish Xmas foods 🙂
Let’s start with the most important stuff first. Wednesday was Finland’s Independence Day! For those who don’t know, I was born in Sweden, but my parents are Finnish. I put on Finland’s hockey jersey and put on some Finnish Christmas songs to celebrate 🙂 Paras Suomi!!!
I got my hair done. My friend Dayana is moving her salon so I had to go to a new place. The guy is Mexican, but lived 12 years in Sweden so we had a lot to talk about 🙂
I don’t know if it is because the weather is colder or knowing that it’s the end of the year, but I didn’t have much motivation to go to the gym this week. Only managed to find my way there twice…
Met up for lunch with Angel. He has a portable wash station in his car so we tried it on the street and it works great 🙂
Been working on my Christmas content and it’s coming along. Hunter wanted some Xmas content too!
My not so Christmasy stuff…
On Friday I had my little get-together and I made Swedish Christmas foods with Julieta’s help. Meatball sandwiches with a beet salad, salmon, ham and some other stuff. Bought a couple of cakes because I was too lazy to bake 🙁
I always plan to take more pics, but it’s so fun to chat with everyone and I forget. It was a super fun night that ended with some Abba karaoke songs, wigs came out, and I tried a pillow as a temporary butt-implant 🙂
George, who I visited in Colombia, was proudly showcasing his mullet LOL,
That was pretty much the whole week. I had my dance class and I felt like I could bust some moves this time! Going to try to get an appointment for nails today and remove these long claws. Too much to maintain. Packing since I’m taking off for Sweden tomorrow night wohoooo… And lots of cuddles with Hunter since I miss him so much when I’m away. Julieta is coming to stay here with him so I know he’ll be in good hands 🙂
Next post from Sweden unless I freeze my butt off there 😉
Finally feeling almost back to normal. Even went to a class at the gym yesterday and struggled through it. At night we had dinner with people from the gym. Most people speak Spanish so I did my best to follow along. Luckily there is always someone translating for me when I’m looking completely lost 🙂 Finished the night off with a Mezcal shot!
Oh, and one guy had this awesome tattoo of an alien handing out mushrooms.
Also got a Christmas tree and started decorating last night. I love the feeling of Christmas being around the corner. Hunter inspected the tree, and so far it still standing. Also forced Hunter to pose for some pictures with his Santa hat, and he was less than impressed by that. I’ll show you next week when I’ve chosen the pics where we both are most photogenic 🙂
I went on a small staycation in Coyocán last week. It’s very popular and a lot of tourists visit during weekends. I stayed at Mansión de Papilo. WOW, what a place!
There were peacocks strolling around and a cat or 2. The colors on the male peacocks are so vibrant. The females looked like regular turkeys next to them lol… And they had an albino peacock too!
I got a whole building to myself in the back. It even had this private pool for me. I hope I can go back soon because it was sooo nice and relaxing there. There was a full tree growing out of the bathroom…
I think I accidentally shot a picture of the toilet too, but now you know how that looks too hahahaa…
Before I left for the retreat I had a girl come over and give me a trippy set of nails. I loved them. I would do it all the time if it didn’t take so long. But pretty cool, or what do you think?
After the retreat I was sick and exhausted for a week. I didn’t do much else other than sleep, cuddle with Hunter, or watch movies. A lot of mornings Hunter and I watch the birds outside together 🙂
When I finally felt better it was time to put on some outfits and get to work…
Catched up with Milla, saw this cute dog, a huge spider, and then it’s just the regular selfies 🙂
I bought more lights for my Christmas tree, so I’m gonna throw them up. Tomorrow starting off with the gym and then going to get my hair done. I have Spanish and a dance class this week too, and on Friday I’m having some friends over for some Swedish Christmas foods 🙂 What are you up to?
Here comes the second part. In case it wasn’t obvious by the headline lol.
On our 3rd day it was time for San Pedro. Here is Lupita who made us a tasty juice for breakfast 🙂
We had another exercise and we talked about human needs. We arranged them by how they are at the present moment, and how we would like to reorder them. There was a lot more that went into this, but hard to explain it unless I write an essay and I suck at that 😉
I’d never tried San Pedro before which is a cactus. It was like a dark green, lumpy, warm smoothie. It did not taste good! We all had a lot of trouble getting it down; spooning it up from our cups while gagging.
I laid down to wait and see what San Pedro was going to bring along. I fell asleep and when I woke up I was alone in the room. I got up and joined everyone on the rooftop and listened to some good disco tunes.
None of us were really feeling anything from the medicine. We decided that we would have some more. It was really hard to get it down again, and I only managed to eat half of it.
We then started sharing about our families and upbringing. My personal story was about how my dad was very strict. I had the utmost respect for him, border lining on fear if I knew I’d done something wrong. There were a lot of emotions and tears. Bawling. Michael brought out wooden boards. He taught us a technique to punch through it. Not sure this was anything I could do. Seemed like some cool Kung Fu. I was told to share the old image/perception I had of my dad, and then what would be the new one. In short, I believe he really loved me and did his best. Even though he was a bit hardcore at the time hahhaaaa… I was told to punch through the wood.
Damn, that was powerful and I felt a bit like Uma Thurman in Kill Bill when she punches herself out of the coffin! I did cut out my bawling before this though…
We then ate on the rooftop together and talked. The weirdest thing is that I then started feeling the San Pedro. Things were morphing a bit and I was tripping. It was great hanging out, and after a while we all felt that it was time for bed. I slept badly though, and was twisting and turning all night.
Sunday, our last day, and I was (and looked) pretty worn out hahahaa…
It was time to prep for Bufo. Bufo is a psychedelic derived from the secretions of the Bufo Alvaius toad. Photo by Joel Sartore, National Geographic.
We gathered in our retreat room and were told that Bufo is what would bring clarity to all of the previous medicines. I was very excited about it as I felt I need some answers.
A little side note here. We were told on the first day not to smoke anything whether it be cigarettes, vapes or cannabis. I refrained from smoking for two days, but then snuck out and had a couple of cigarettes. Also a couple on the rooftop the night before. Not very bueno of me, but I felt like I ‘deserved’ it… Here’s me thinking I got away with it 😉
Sooo, Miryana and Michael started preparing and serving the medicine.
They came to me last and sat down next to me. I was then told that I would not receive the medicine since I’ve been smoking. I felt disappointed and angry. I realized that I could only blame myself. So hard when you can’t point fingers at anyone else hahahaaa… All I could do was take this as a learning lesson, to honor my promises in the future! I asked everyone else how their experience was and it sounded pretty amazing. I’m sure there will come another time for me to try Bufo…
Afterwards we gathered on the rooftop and talked about these 4 days. It’s hard to take it all in and make sense of it so shortly after. It was an amazing group of people and new friends were made.
Alex came up with our motto which I documented with and extra # in the end hahahaaa…
This is a very intense experience in a short period of time. I believe most (if not all) medicines numb you and take away what might be an uneasy feeling, like depression or anxiety for example. These medicines do the opposite, they make you feel! It might be hard, or not, but I’ve seen and felt them work on me and others.
I took the bus back home on Sunday afternoon.
Monday was pretty normal and on Tuesday I got a cold and was a bit lethargic. I felt a lot of different emotions, ups and downs, and I stayed home most of the day. I don’t know if it’s been because I was sick, but for the first time I’ve been able to just be at home and relax. I barely did anything last week. I stayed home, I started reading a book about mindfulness, and I have tried to meditate for small amounts of time every day. I watched a movie in the middle of the day, I slept a lot, and didn’t feel any pressure to work on something all the time. Normally I need to be working or I feel that I’m wasting my time. I feel better now and I will try to hold onto this new more chilled version of me 🙂 And of course Hunter is supporting me. He likes chill 🙂
If you have any questions about the retreat, hit me up 🙂
