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 🙂
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 🙂
I’m still processing the experience as it was a powerful one. From the beginning though…
Our original guide/facilitator had to cancel, but recommended for us to go to Andres at La Ofrenda Para Ti. It was me and three friends arriving at 8pm. It was my first time doing a ceremony at night time. The space was pitch black and there were a few ‘huts’ with some light in the woods. We just stood there dumbfounded not knowing where we were supposed to go until our guide, Andres, appeared from one of the huts cheerfully. He showed us around and told us that all the huts were made of clay and wood. We then walked a short path to a big dome.
There were matts and blankets laid out individually for each of us.
Andres started working the firepit in the middle while we all shared a bit about ourselves and our intentions for the journey.
My intention was that I wished for some guidance. I feel there are new things coming for me and I have some ideas on my own, but feel a bit hesitant, and have 105 different ideas hahhaaa… I have long since learned that with mushrooms, you don’t get what you want, but what you need.
We finally had a big fire going and we were first served Ambil (tobacco paste) that you licked off a stick, and then after a small spoon of ground up Mambe (coca leaf powder). This is used for the equilibrium between masculine and feminine energy, thinking and feeling, to open up your heart, not from the ego, and to clarify purpose. Not super tasty, but it eventually dissolved and you swallowed it. Then we got rapé. And then we got two different types of dried mushrooms that we ate. Three grams of Blue Moon (lab) and one gram Mexican (earth). I was told that the one from lab helps with focus and Blue Moon is more visual and keeps a connection to earth.
I always note the time down when I ingest any type of psychedelic. It was 10:05 pm.
I laid down and after, what probably was 15 minutes, remembered thinking: ‘these shrooms are probably not that powerful since I’m not feeling anything’. Shortly after it hit me full force and it took me on a powerful ride. I remember sometimes it being so intense so I opened my eyes and looked at the fire which kind of centered me and reminded me that I’m safe and can let go.
At points it is like I cease existing and I’m a being in a different realm. I’m not seeing it, I am in the midst of it all. For me it is like cartoon images. It’s not realistic surroundings and people, but they are drawn and cartoonish. I see things and then I’m swooshed away like I’m flying to new imagery. I also remember looking up at the dome and it was all purplish with tentacles dancing around me.
After about 2h I sat up and everyone was laughing and having a great time. I felt exhausted after my initial ‘ride’. I put on my headphones and danced a bit. The music always sounds so good and evokes all kinds of feelings in me. I felt a lot of love and most of the times my family, friends and people I know come to my mind. I lied back down, cried, and watched the fire. The crying is not out of sadness, more a feeling of love and it feels like I’m clearing my head/body of tension.
We had our driver come at around 2am to pick us up. We all felt that we were not ready to leave yet. I think at some point we all slept. I spotted this mask and felt like it was a sister Puma meant for me 🙂
It was refreshing to step outside in the fresh air and sit in the darkness. I liked hearing the laughter from inside the dome…
I went in and out of sleep and at 8am we felt ready to emerge from the dome. Andres served us some fruits and drinks and we sat talking about our journey. I felt a lot of gratitude and a beautiful connection to everyone in the ceremony. It is always funny how different everyone’s trip is. Some did not have a lot of visuals while I felt that I was emerged in them. All together a beautiful ceremony and night and I hope to visit Andres and La Ofrenda Para Ti again.
Not much got done the day after. We all smelled like a fire pit after a night in the dome, so a much needed shower felt amazing. Later we went to Crepes & Waffles and this dessert hit the spot.
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I was going to share George’s dog adoption story here too, but since Hunter’s adoption is going to be 1 year next week, I’ll share them together 🙂 Instead you get this little video of our night that I scramble together 🙂
While on the subject of mushrooms, my next retreat is coming up now in November. I’m sharing 2 videos about it. It’s in San Miguel de Allende here in Mexico. About 4h drive from Mexico City 🙂 I’m very excited about this one as it’s going to involve other psychedelics and not just mushrooms.
There are 2 spots left and if you are interested, contact @miryana.gongora.hernandez or @michaelhokkinensoder on Instagram. They are both super nice and can answer all your questions 🙂
Until the next trip you all 🙂 Happy Halloween and Día de Muertos!
Like I wrote in the previous post, it was busy in Sweden. I wanted to hang with my family and see all of my friends. And squeeze in work…First off was dinner with one of our cousins. Walked home after and I got to witness a beautiful sunset over Stockholm…
Then off to my friend Katrin’s summer house in the Archipelago. It’s on a small island with a few other houses. It’s super relaxing there. Or at least it was until her sister, husband, and their dad with a horde of kids arrived hahhaaa… We thought it would be a great idea to eat by the water as the sun was shining. Well, 15 minutes later it was storming! Typical Swedish summer 😉
Katrin isn’t even a Finn, but she has a sauna. Pretty much everyone went in and then swam in the ocean. Can’t think of many things that beat a sauna and swimming after! Spent the night and had a beautiful sunny day the next morning. Chilling by the pool and tried cheating the kids in poker hahhaaa… Then boating back…
Then off to see my friend Linda. Every summer we are pretty much the same gang who gets together for bbq and catch up.
Also did a road trip with Mark and we went up north to Hudiksvall to celebrate our friend Anton. We didn’t say I was coming too, so it was fun surprising him. Very fun party and we all snuggled up to Anton when the guy had enough of the celebration hahhaaa…
When in Sweden, my must have food is meatballs. Had them more than once at the same place 🙂
Hung out with my oldest friend Karina a few times. I’m lucky to have friends with such great places that I can crash when visiting. There’s also a sauna down by the water that we usually put to use, but it was hot enough outside…
One of my favorite places to visit when in Stockholm is Fotografiska (The Contemporary Museum of Photography). My sister likes it too, so we went and saw the Peter Lindbergh exhibition and others.
I also went and checked my hearing. For those who don’t know, I have a hearing aid. This might actually be the first time I’m admitting it hahahaa… Been kind of embarrassed over it for some reason. Anyways, I’ve had it for about 8 years, but I don’t use it a lot. A lot of my friends were pointing out now that they have to repeat themselves often because I don’t hear what they are saying, or I hear something completely different. My hearing has gotten worse, and they adjusted my hearing aid. At the same time they told me that there are new and improved hearing aids now. With bluetooth and a charging case so you don’t need the tiny ass batteries anymore. So that’s on my list to fix now, an upgraded hearing aid. Sexy!
The last weekend in Stockholm, I went to a 90’s music festival with Katrin and some other friends. We wanted to dress in 90’s outfits, but what was the style of the 90’s? I had a mixture of clothes and I had my sister ‘waffle’ my hair. Not sure you call it that in English, but in Swedish it was called ‘våffla håret’ and I’m pretty sure I did that back in the 90’s 🙂
Afterwards we went out. The night ended with someone smoking some strong weed and thinking they’d been drugged. Had to point out that it was weed in a vape they smoked that they somehow completely had missed hahhaaaaa. My last pic in my camera from that night…
It’s always with mixed feelings when I pack up. I always wish I had at least 1-2 more weeks at home.
But then I’m also excited going back and I miss Hunter when I’m gone. I had a couple of interesting ‘work’ meetings while in Stockholm. We are working and polishing the idea now, and the plan is to pitch it in the beginning of September. Fingers crossed 🙂
Smooth flight back and I was happy I had Hunter to jet-lag with 🙂 He might have been more tired than I was…
I now have friends visiting from Puerto Rico which is great. Us girls are going to see the Barbie movie on Friday. Good to be back at the gym and in front of the camera 🙂 Catch ya’ all later!
