Started the week by picking up Angel and we roadtripped to LA. We stayed at a friends house and he is Mexican. What does that have to do with anything you might wonder? Well, they never make you go hungry! Also got some excellent Mescal! Ooops, did I finish it?!
Next day we had a shoot. I played a creepy masseuse which fits my character pretty good hahhaaaa….
Needless to say, we had a blast! Then back to the house for more food! He started by making us Slovakian Parene Buchty which translates to steamed sweet dumplings. They are served with melted butter, chocolate, and powdered sugar. SOOO GOOOD!
I mentioned that I used to eat Mole in Mexico. He sent us to go buy chicken and whipped together some Mexican rice, Mole and chicken. Heaven!
Topped it off with homemade salsa and tortilla chips like I already wasn’t stuffed to the brim and looking 4 months pregnant hahahaaa…
Since more people showed up and we finished all the dumplings he made one more batch to take home with us! We didn’t want to leave LOL! Next morning, coffee and a stop for snacks and lottery tickets before heading back home…
I’ve been wanting to stop at this sculpture park in Yermo, everytime going to/from LA. We made it this time. It’s called Liberty Sculpture Park. You can Google and read more about it as there are pretty powerful messages behind the sculptures.
When heading back to the freeway we passed a thrift store. I love thrift stores so we had to stop. It’s called Thrift N’ More and the owner is Ron and his wife. He was supernice and gave us a lot of tips in the surrounding area. I smell a future roadtrip coming up!
On Thursday we hit Body20 again to burn off all of the sugar and food from LA 🙂 I signed up for once a week for a month to try it out…
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Angel came over to my place after and Hunter made sure to get some scratches from her. He loves Angel 🙂
Had to take my car in for a maintenance check and oil change. Luckily no major defects and my bank account didn’t have to cry!
Did some more thrifting with Angel and a couple of friends yesterday. I fell in love with these chairs! They were already on hold, but will see if the person gets them today, I really want them, even though I don’t need them. But that’s usually my dilemma, I don’t need anything, but I waaaaant….
Some pics from shoots.. I love the red set!
What else? Started watching ‘Gangs Of London’ and liking it a lot!
Trying to get back to reading. I just started ‘Another Roadside Attraction’ by Tom Robbins. I think it’s described as humorous thriller. It’s weird and really funny. I like reading funny books every now and then 🙂
My last book was ‘Midnight Library’ Matt Haig. It’s highly rated, but wasn’t up my alley at all. I like the idea of multiple universes, but that was pretty much the only interesting thing in the book…
Don’t have too much planned for next week. Got to take a poop sample from Hunter and drop it off at the veterinarian and schedule him to remove a couple of teeth. I feel so bad for him, but also don’t want him having any pain they might cause. He doesn’t have a lot of teeth to begin with…
Guess I’ll just have to take the week as it comes 🙂 How about you?
Almost every week I start with the mindset that I’m going to be eating healthy, train and end up with a six-pack by the end of the week. Started great with snacking on carnivore snacks and actually doing a proper workout at the gym.
Went to get my body realigned too…
Then usually by Thursday I get lazier, order food for delivery, snacking late at night and end up just playing pickleball. BUT, the biggest thing I achieved this week is that I quit vaping! Been a week now and I don’t think about vaping every other minute. It was HARD the first 3 days. I always had the vape within reach and would puff from morning until I went to bed. I do have a couple of regular cigarettes here and there now, but I’m happy I’m off the vape!
Had some time off and decided to go to Mothership for some good coffee and to read. I really like Eckhart Tolle’s book ‘Power of Now’. I listen to it as an audio book too, but like to read and highlight good sections. I’m an expert at ‘spacing out’ and this book is all about being present in the moment. Harder than it sounds, but I can really recommend it!
I also just finished another book on the same topic – ‘Don’t Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking Is The Beginning & End Of Suffering’ by Joseph Nguyen. It’s about how much time we spend on thinking and the difference between a thought and thinking. So good and it’s a bit of a wake up call that I can really recommend this book too.
It’s been forever since I went to a movie theater. Angel and I went to the one at the New Orleans hotel and saw ‘Companion’. It was pretty good. Next movie I want to see is ‘The Brutalist’. It’s 3h and 35min long so I better stock up on snacks 🙂 Lmk if you’ve seen it and what you think of it!
I never visited the New Orleans Hotel before and they had some pretty cool decorations there. Bet they would be morphing pretty freakishly if you were on shrooms LOL….
Have a friend who decided to pop by Vegas for 24h from San Francisco yesterday and nothing better than hiking after a plane ride. Even though it’s a short one. Tried a new hike with Angel yesterday called Petroglyph Loop close to Henderson. Good trail if your looking for a loop trail that’s not too hard.
Built up a good appetite and hit Settebello pizza again hahhaaaa… And the Nutella pizza in the end sealed the deal!
Needed some caffeine after to top it off so tried a new (for me) coffee spot called Dark Moon Coffee Roasters. Tasted great!
Amazing sunset on the way home!
Tried a new restaurant called Salt & Honey for brunch today, Will definitely go back!
Took a walk later and came across this girl with her mom carrying a rabbit. It looked passed out, but the mom said it was alive. Good to know hahahaaa…
Hunter is pushing the limits to see how spoiled he can get. Offered him one plate first and he just walked away. Put a second option and he at least bothered to taste it until he decided he wanted to see if I was going to offer him a 3rd option. Which I obviously did, since he gets whatever he wants 🙂 He decided the 3rd option was good enough to eat…
That’s about it from my week. This upcoming week is going to be fun. One of my best friends from Sweden, Linda, is coming to visit me for 10 days by the end of the week. She has visited me pretty much everywhere I’ve lived around the world, Bali, Puerto Rico & Mexico. We always have the best time with a few incidents. In Bali we drove off the road on a moped and ended up in a muddy rice field. In Puerto Rico I asked her to sit in a river and shoot a video of me. She almost got swept along the river and down a waterfall LMAO… I will try to find the video cause it’s hilarious!
Also shooting another fight scene with Angel. Trying a pickleball place called ‘Chicken N Pickle’ for the first time. It’s super popular and barely any free times available. They have indoor and outdoor courts and bars & restaurants.
OK, going to grab some snacks now so I can start healthy tomorrow again hahahaaa… How are you doing?
This post took longer to write than I expected. It was supposed to be ready on New Years Eve, but I got sidetracked hahhaaa… But here is a little recap of 2024 🙂
Overall it was a great year with travel, moving, and feels like I got a good dose of adventure and experiences…
In January I went to Tepoztlán with some friends. It’s a small town about an hour from Mexico City. I love that place and they believe aliens made a visit there at some point. Never spotted any even though I wanted to 🙁
In February I visited La Paz which is the capital of Baja California Sur. A cute town and best part was snorkeling with whale sharks. And my giant Margarita 🙂
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Also got to go to the big yearly art show Zonamaco in Mexico City with my Swedish friend Sanna. I love art shows…
Apparently I became a carrothead too. Not a huge success if I look back at it hahhaaaa….
Changed back to blond pretty fast 🙂
In March I found a photography school and started taking lessons. So much fun and it’s rewarding practicing a semi new skill 🙂
Traveled to Japan for a wedding. I met Nick & Annie when living in Puerto Rico. It was one of the fanciest weddings I’ve been to 🙂
Stayed after the wedding in Japan visiting Kyoto and Hakone. Too crowded in Kyoto for my liking, but I can see the charm if you would visit when there are less tourists…
Really enjoyed Hakone. The hot spring spa and nature there…
I also booked a room at a love hotel in Tokyo and did a shoot, had some of the best sushi, a fun night at the Muscle girl bar and visited a pig cafe 🙂
One of the highlights this year was going back to Mycelia Retreat in Jamaica. Invited my writer/journalist friend Cyril from Sweden. It was my most powerful mushroom trip to this day and I went through every kind of emotion, but what a reset! I hope to revisit 2025…
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In June I decided 3 years in Mexico was amazing but it’s time to go back to the US. Having a bit of a hoarder mentality it took some time to get rid of almost everything and it was hard to say goodbye to friends… Also spent the last 2 nights sleeping on the floor since I got rid of all the furniture hahahahaa… But I see a visit back in 2025 to visit them all again 🙂
Hunter got prepped with his papers and practiced going outside in his carrier and then his flight carrier. He was such a champ handling the whole trip from Mexico to Utah!
July was spent in Utah. I missed the nature and clean air while in Mexico so took full advantage of Utah…
Utah is where I first encountered pickleball and now I’m hooked!
Flew to Vegas and got my hands full with Tyler Faith. Maybe that’s when the idea of living in Vegas was born?
Also flew to Sweden for my yearly hike with my sister. Longest hike we’ve done so far, 7 days, 6 nights AND we made it up Kebnekaise. Definitely top 3 of 2024!!!
2 of my best friends had their 50th birthdays too which got celebrated!
In August I packed the car and moved to Vegas…
September was spent exploring what Vegas has to offer. Reunited with friends from back in the day, found great hikes, celebrated my birthday and a gym with pickleball! I’m loving it here and Hunter is very happy too as long as the neighbors cat Ocean keeps a paws distance 🙂
Finished off October with Halloween…
In November I had a looooot of shoots with fun people 🙂 Even made it out to LA, Nelson’s Ghost Town twice and got taped for the first time which was really cool…
Tried new hikes. Happy I have friends who enjoy hiking as much as I do 🙂
My sister came to visit and we did Vegas and LA. I love that I’m so close to my extended family and wifey Sandy now that I love in Vegas 🙂
And Masha from Russia paid a short visit too. Met her when I lived in Puerto Rico 🙂
Finally December and there was some christmas prepping to be done as yo can see in the previous posts so I’m not going to bore you with those pics again 🙂 My holidays were great. I got some relaxation in, I guess I’ve been pretty good since I got a lot of presents hehheeee… Hunter got presents too obviously and he is spoiled year around whether he behaves or. not hahhaaaa…
Everyone here recommended the show ‘Absinthe’ and I finally got to see it. Wow, it was so good! Funny, incredible acts and now I’m looking into taking lessons in roller skating because this couple looked so cool doing their act with roller skates. It was so fast paced and that they manages to stay on stage without just impressed the shit out of me! If you get the chance, see the show!
Did a mushroom trip and it was great 🙂
Didn’t have any plans for New Years Eve other than wanting some outdoor access. Went hiking with Angel and it was an easy hike and I always feel so good after being in nature!
Ordered lobster & crab nachos for dinner and watched the movie Small Engine Repair. It was pretty good 🙂
How were your Holidays? Any goals/plans for 2025? I’ still figuring mine out and fine tuning them. But some things I’ve been thinking about and on my bucket list are:
-visit Vietnam and Iceland
-try a new experience every month, like rollerblading, shows in Vegas, rage room, grow shrooms, race car driving, new recipes and the list goes on.
-having eyelid surgery
-yearly hike with my sister
-add more mindfulness into my life like yoga and meditation… So far I’ve done short meditations every day, but it’s haaaaard with my brain being all over the place hahhaaaa…
I’ll probably be adding to the list, but this is some of it 🙂
I hope your year has been off to a fabulous start! I’m off to LA next week for work and see to see my wifey Sandy 🙂
Last week on Wednesday I took an Uber at 02.00 am to the airport. Tried to sneak out without waking Hunter up, but no luck with that. When I grabbed my bags and was ready to head downstairs, he came out stretching and yawning and walked me to the door.
Sooo tired and happy when it was about time to finally board the plane. I find out that the flight to Houston is being cancelled because the plane is broken. Or I guess in less dramatic terms, has technical issues. Ugh!
There are not many options for flying from Mexico to Jamaica. They tried to find options, but all of them meant staying somewhere overnight and continuing tomorrow. I finally got the brilliant idea to look for a flight to Kingston in Jamaica instead. It wasn’t guaranteed I’d get on it though because it was overbooked. I thought some good thoughts, crossed some fingers, and at 08.40 am I flew to Atlanta instead. Pretty much passed out as soon as I sat down on the plane.
In Atlanta the pIane was overbooked and they started offering money to people to fly the next day instead. Luckily enough people took the offer and at 5.59 pm we took off to Jamaica finally! I think the Atlanta airport had very interesting artwork. Or is just me that has a dirty mind?
Got to the villa around 22.30 and met everyone. Chuck who I met last year from the US. So great seeing him again! Cyril from Sweden. More about him later. Dev from Australia, Alex who is Armenian, Derryck from USA (but grew up in South Africa and lived in Russia among other places) and Rob from South Africa but came from Cayman Islands the next day.
Thursday
Slept good and woke up at 7.30am. I always get excited if I have a pool or access to a beach and feel the need to get in instantly. Afterwards I had coffee and mingling while having a light breakfast.
Around 11am Mama Orah came over to give us a yoga session. If you read my blog last year you already know I love Mama Orah. I believe she’s past 70 years old and she just radiates compassion and you want to hug her which I obviously did 🙂 While the rest of us are in the shade yoga-ing she’s in the sun like it’s nothing! I’m guessing it was about 31 Celsius!
After that it was time for lunch and Marcel was the chef this time too. He cooks the best food and is a sweetheart!
What I like about this retreat is that there’s no stress. You have time to relax on your own or with the group. I love meeting new people, and we were a great group with a lot of interesting stories and experiences on why we all came here. Cyril is a writer/journalist from Sweden who I had only been in contact with on Instagram a couple of times. About a month ago he posted about psilocybin on his feed. I sent him a DM that I had micro-dosed and asked him if he didn’t want to come to Jamaica on a retreat with me. Cyril had been traveling for work and rerouted his return by Jamaica so here we were meeting for the first time.
Around 4pm we were on a private beach for our 1st mushroom dose. A lighter dose and I took 2 grams in a gummy and 1 gram of chocolate.
We all were swimming and a rainbow appears. So cool. I didn’t expect to feel as much as I did, but I had a lot of visuals. The clouds were in 3D layers and I saw geometrical patterns when I closed my eyes. Felt a bit restless and lied down on a towel on my own and let go… When I felt that I was coming out of it I started listening to my music and dancing. Damn, I love dancing when ending my trip. It’s like I release all of the built up and leftover energy. I feel so free and great after… We also had a beautiful sunset on the beach before packing up and headed back to the villa.
Marcel had cooked us dinner and we sat talking about how our trips had been. Cyril and I sat up until midnight because he just has the craziest stories to tell about people he interviewed, wild parties, and wars in Syria and Ukraine he’d reported from.
Friday
The day started with coffee, chilling in the pool, breakfast and then another yoga session with Mama Orah.
After lunch we had individual sessions with Stacey who was our facilitator. She is from Jamaica and very calm and wise. We talked about my intention for the upcoming journey and how much mushrooms I was going to take. There will be a longer and separate post about this because this was probably my most powerful trip ever in so many ways. I finally understand the meaning of “The mushrooms give you what you need, not what you want” and it was so true for me on this trip. This is us getting to ready to take off…
The night ended with Cyril and I sitting up talking about our experiences until 2am. I felt elated and drained after and still had some visions when I went to bed and closed my eyes…
Saturday
One of my favorite things form last year is when we all shared about our trips. This morning was no different. Everyone was curious about each others journeys. Seemed like everyone had a powerful one. Stacey was also around to answer questions and listen to us sharing…
At 4pm it was time to head to another beach for our last dose. I only took 2 grams and felt it in my body, but didn’t really have any visuals. It also started raining so we had to take shelter and it’s different when you are interacting with other people versus just lying down and letting go. I also believe the mushrooms felt I’d received what I needed the night before so now it was mostly relaxing. Witnessed a beautiful sunset before heading back to the villa to chill…
On Sunday we packed up and checked in and Sand & Tan where I stayed last year too after the retreat. It’s a simple hotel right on the beach and it felt good to reflect on the past few days.
My favorite was to just walk out from my balcony and go swim first thing in the morning. There was barely any other people there so we were just journaling, talking, eating and hanging out. I went paddle boarding every day and just laid on the board. Was even able to get one sunset on the water on the board.
Lunch with gang. Anyone else think this sign is funny?
Dinner at the hotel…
Pulled myself together and worked a little. Can’t really say it feels like work when you’re on the beach in yet another beautiful sunset 🙂
Met this artist at the hotel and he painted this mural. I suspect he even might of planted this weed plant next to it 🙂
On the last night the last stragglers visited a strip club. I love visiting strip clubs in different countries. We had a couple of drinks and watched some great pole tricks before leaving and crashing in bed.
My flight was not until 2.30pm on Wednesday so I had time to swim and have breakfast with Troy and John who runs the retreat and Cyril.
The guy who runs Sand & Tan buys fresh caught fish every day from the fishermen…
Had to stop for some great jerk chicken on the way to the airport too…
Made it home and I feel much more relaxed. Something I’ve taken home is to feel more present. Be in the moment. I sometimes do 5 things at the same time, but I think I’m a bit more focused now and able to concentrate on only 1 (or 2) things at the time.
Hunter was very happy about me coming home and talked a lot before he slept glued to my side the whole night 🙂
I think I will have some other exciting news to share in the next few days 🙂 Just finalizing details now wohooo 🙂
The next retreat in Mycelia is June 23 – June 27 and there are a couple of spots left. If you’ve ever been thinking of going to a retreat, I can’t recommend Mycelia enough! Here is how our itinerary looked for the days we were there.
Hope you all will have a great weekend! Got plans? I’m going to polish my notes about the big trip experience and hopefully post it tomorrow. Hopefully getting together with Dayana today before she leaves for her summer travels. Tomorrow I’m helping Astrid with some computer stuff, but will read and relax too 🙂
Still working on this blog and I think I will stick with the design I have now. Just have to fix little things on it 🙂
Monday was Sarah’s last day in Mexico City. Went to the gym. So much fun when you have a gym partner that pushes you!
Hunter loves when people come over. Made Sarah scratch his scalp before sending her off…
Sometimes Hunter sneezes/coughs. I saw a video on Instagram of a cat doing the same and it was asthma. I called Hunter’s vet who came and picked him up for X-rays. He dropped him off an hour later and said Hunter doesn’t have asthma. Probably just something from back in the day when he lived in the woods. The pollution is pretty bad now too. Puh!
Let’s just continue on the Hunter topic… Hunter surveying what everyone is up to and him sleeping in the bookshelf with an iPhone as a pillow, amongst my clothes and on my shoes while he waits for me to come back home 🙂
On Wednesday I shot with Mistress Rose. She is so much fun and easy going so we had a great time. Just like when working out, it’s sometimes more fun with a partner in crime 😉
Went to lunch after we glamorously stuffed down sandwiches 🙂
About 3 weeks ago I signed up for a ‘dinner with strangers’ kind of thing. It popped up on my IG and I thought why not? It said it’s 6 people they put together and book a restaurant for you where you all meet. It was awesome and a great group. We also went to a bar after and met a couple of other people from other groups that had done the same thing. I love meeting new people and like a friend of mine said: “Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet” … Obviously not all strangers become friends, but there’s a chance 🙂 Forgot to take pics. Only got this one from the elevator going home. The package? A nice fan bought Hunter a new bed 🙂
I have been wanting to color my hair a bit more natural color. So on Friday I went to a new salon that has great reviews. I asked for low lights and maybe some color to blend with the rat color on top which is my natural color. I showed several pics of what I was aiming for and said that I still want to be blond, but more natural. After sitting with what I thought was lowlights, I find out that they were actually more blond highlights. We then pick a color and I ask that the color is only going to go on the top part of my hair, not all of it. No, just the top. Sooooo, 6h laters when I’m finally colored, cut and blow-dried and stand in front of the mirror and see my new grayish color, I admit I was pretty disappointed.
The comparison of what I was looking for and what I got…
I wrote to them that I will be gray haired in a few years anyways so I don’t want to pay to be it just yet. They agreed the color is a bit off, so tomorrow I get to go back and hopefully be a little more non-grey hahhaaaa….
I also have friends from San Francisco in town and yesterday we had some BBQ during the day. Only made it home to paint my face and go to Casino Royale themed birthday party. We got fake money to play blackjack and poker with. It then turned in to some cash games. I love gambling and especially poker! Had a blast and forgot to take one single picture 🙁 There might of been some Tequila involved in that too…
I met the photographer this week too but unfortunately he’s leaving for the summer to Europe to shoot 🙁 Have to try to find other ones that I could shadow/assist and learn more.
Wohoooo, finally it’s time for Jamaica next week. I really look forward to going. I fly super early on Wednesday. OK, here’s a few leftovers and I hope you all had a great weekend! I might or might not update you next Sunday from Jamaica. But I will be posting on IG so make sure to follow me there @thepumaswede 🙂
It’s good to be back, but damn, the jet lag is rough! Been to the gym twice and it feels like it’s the first time ever hahahah… Note to self: don’t skip the gym on holidays! Good to have Hunter jet lag with me, and he likes the Japanese cat treats I bought him 🙂
Anyways, here comes the rest of my Japan trip. Before heading to Kyoto I had breakfast with some people still left in town from the wedding. Not your usual eggs & bacon…
Then jumped on the bullet train that took a little bit more than 2h straight to Kyoto. Not a problem when you bring a few(?) snacks. The breakfast didn’t quite hit the spot.
Guess train rides build an appetite so I got a Wagyu burger for my dinner in Kyoto. Super tasty and it was nice to have something else besides sushi and yakiniku.
Strolled around after and checked out Nishiki Market at closing time. The market is packed with food stalls and other little stores.
Straight for coffee the next morning and starting with Goodman Roaster. Thumbs up!
Then walking in the rain and checking out what Kyoto has to offer. Everyone was on the look out for cherry blossoms. Wherever they were there were always people taking pics. Why should I be any different 😉
Then more coffee and tried Okaffe Roasting Park. Here they don’t rush to make your coffee. It was almost like an art form and there was always some latte art in the milk. Another superb coffee spot!
After a nap I headed back to Nishiki Market to eat dinner. WOW, the amount of people! It came to a total stand-still at moments. Tried some different seafoods and it was amazing!
Finished off with some sake at the room 🙂 Iit’s party-o’clock somewhere in the world, right?
Headed to the famous Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine the next morning. I knew there would be people and I think half of Kyoto was there at 8am in the morning! Still a beautiful hike up and and lit a candle for family & friends who have passed at the top 🙂
And some things that caught my eye on the walk back…
All the fresh air, the climb, and heat made it necessary for a coffee stop and then a sugary waffle-thingy on top of that…
Walked by a place called Skål which means ‘cheers’ in Swedish. Nothing Swedish about the place. Had to go in and check to make sure. Looked like they had good food so I decided to try it. The portions were really small, and super good, so I ordered a 2nd plate. The guy that took my order and payment looked impressed 🙂
Also found Stumptown coffee at a beautiful outdoor mall, bought a new perfume after a lot of testing, impressed by the selection of kimchi and noodles at the grocery store, bought a seal-vibrator at a sex shop, ate more yakiniku saw more shrines… And bought this superb second hand kimono for $15.
I loved all the great coffee places in Kyoto. For me it was the wrong time to be there as I think it was too many tourists. It was hard to get a table at restaurants at night because everyone was fully booked. I see the charm with the small alleys and maybe I would’ve liked it more if I visited another time…
Decided to check out Hakone on the way back to Tokyo. Wow, this was my spot! This is right after getting off the train and going to my Airbnb.
I was so excited to get a bedroom with the Japanese style where you just unfold a mattress on top of these mats. I sleep better on hard surfaces so this was perfect for me. I had to google about this and supposedly it’s a better way of sleeping for your body and posture. Maybe my future bedroom 🙂
Hakone is famous for their onsens. They are bath houses with hot springs. After I checked in I went straight to one called Tenzan. Wow, it was so nice and I liked it since they had baths outdoors. You put your clothes in a locker. No swimwear needed or allowed. Then you wash yourself and visit the different pools and saunas. It was so relaxing and it only cost $10. No photos allowed from inside so got these from their website. There were more pools, but my favorite was sitting inside the cave 🙂
Starving afterwards and decided to grab food at the restaurant there. I saw there was raw horse meat on the menu and went for the safe bet ordering fish, shrimp and veggies. The shrimps were tiny little things with shell, head, and everything. The fish was tiny too, but good. Maybe not my best meal of the trip but I had some chips and cookies from 7-Eleven after hahahha…
Was supposed to head out and see The Hakone Open Air Museum the next day. While I was having coffee I discovered there were hikes in the area. Opted for a 3 hour hike instead and it was a really nice trail along Lake Ashi.
When finishing I went straight back to the same onsen as the day before. Perfect after a day out sitting in the hot water just relaxing…
I wish I would’ve had more days in Hakone. Smaller and more chill than Kyoto. Not as crowded and there were more things I would’ve wanted to check out. I would’ve done hot springs every day! One can always hope to visit again 🙂 Took the bullet train back to Tokyo while snacking on chocolate shroomies 🙂
Dropped my bags off at the hotel and headed straight to brunch with friends from the wedding… I think I visited the dessert table like 4 times 🙂
The next day I went to a micro pig cafe. They have so many different animal cafes in Tokyo with owls, hedgehogs, capybaras and snakes for example. I started wondering if Hunter would accept a micro pig as a buddy, but I think he’s happy being the only one getting attention so it’s a no 😉 But they were very cute…
A photographer wrote me on IG and asked if I wanted to shoot while in Japan. Why not? Got to put in a little bit of work while travelling 🙂 I wanted to shoot at a love hotel. Basically a hotel where couples can go and hang out, (and more), away from home as many live with their parents. They have them here in Mexico too. You book them per hour. So after cuddling with the piggies I met the photographer at Lapia Hotel and booked a room. You get free popcorn and can pick a costume to wear too. There are vending machines for lingerie and toys too. Very cool! It was a great shoot and the photographer was great. Here are a couple of behind the scenes pics and a couple of shots I put on IG. More coming 🙂
I had initially planned to go to a snake cafe after, but opted to join some friends at a Muscle Girl Bar instead. It is just what it sounds like, a bar with muscular girls. You get a protein shot when you came in and for about $30 USD you could drink as much as you wanted. The girls danced, poured shots in peoples mouths for tips, did pole tricks and pull-ups. There was a whole menu for what you could buy for tips, butt kicking, face slaps, being sandwich between 2 girls (only for girls though) etc… It was a fun experience and the girls were fun.
I was pretty beat and a bit drunk when I made it back to the hotel. Put on a face mask and my April fools joke was that I had adopted this bird I found. I actually found it while shopping for fun stuff for my shoot and thought this birdie would look good on my head 🙂
The last day in Tokyo was spent walking around and I bought some gifts. Walked by the famous Shibuya Crossing, the iconic intersection. Traffic is stopped in all directions where everyone can cross in all directions…
Coffee break and spotted some cherry blossoms…
I got an reservation at Sushi Nakamura for my last dinner in Tokyo. A friend who spends a lot of time in Tokyo and loves sushi recommended the place. It was Omikase style with sake pairing. It was definitely in the top 5 of food experiences in my life! The sushi melted in my mouth. Also the first time I tried uni, but not my favorite. There was so much food ands sake I rolled/wobbled out of there hahahaa…
Needed a boost of coffee before heading to the airport so I relented and made a cup of instant coffee, having to use the free toothbrushes the hotel offered to stir it with. Very classy…
Took the train to the airport and the flight home felt super fast since I slept most of the way 🙂
It was a great trip. I’m amazed how clean everything is. Even the public bathrooms are spotless! No smell, no paper on the floor or drops of whatever (most likely piss on the floor)… And I love the toilets that wash all your holes, fan that dries you and some even had music that you could play for privacy! Also something I’d like for my home! A picture of one of the toilets where the water was filling up from the top after flushing. Or was it for washing your hands? LOL
The train and subways was the same way. No litter or stained seats. People stand aside orderly when you exit and even if it’s crowded there’s no pushing. Maybe due to all the signs they have up…
There’s also no smoking on the streets. There are designated areas, street corners or smoke rooms at hotels and malls. There was a lady who used clothing rollers to clean up the entrance mat at the hotel…
Here comes the usual leftover pics…
Such a beautiful wedding and great to see friends I don’t get to see often. I loved Hakone and hope to explore more of Japan one day.
Hitting the gym in a bit and got Lesha coming over later to teach me some more Photoshop and Lightroom. Got a lighting class this week too and hope my sleep will be back to normal any day now!
Got back from La Paz yesterday. Sun, seafood, ocean, and a couple of Margaritas 🙂
Landed in the evening and headed straight out for food. Everyone said La Paz has great seafood and these tuna and smoked fish tacos at Hambrusia were sooo good!
Priority numero uno for me in the mornings is my coffee. That’s a lie, feeding Hunter comes first actually. Since Hunter stayed home with Julieta, I checked out Doce Cuarenta for caffeine and breakfast which was great.
Passed by Gratitude and tried their coffee too. Very good and went back a couple of more times during my stay.
After a couple of relaxing hours by the pool it was time for a late lunch at Claro Fish Jr. There was all kinds of options like tacos, burritos, tostadas, seafood cocktails, aqua chillies and to have your seafood fried, smoked, battered or raw. I finally settled for this huge seafood tower that was as big as one of my calfs!
Found and negotiated with an Uber driver to take me to the dunes and back. No problem to find Ubers in town, but not so many available to take you back if you head outside of town. It felt very remote driving out there and I remember wondering how many bodies laid buried there. Yes, I watch too many movies…. But I really liked it and the beach went on forever.
Only had a cocktail and french toast for dinner when returning to town. One of my big dreams when I was kid, to just eat dessert 🙂
I was supposed to snorkel with sea lions and check out the Espirito Santo Island the next day. Unfortunately they cancelled the tour necause they said the water was choppy and it wasn’t going to be comfortable on the boat. I hit the Uber driver up and went to check out the town Todos Santos. It’s one of the Pueblos Magicos here in Mexico. Meaning ‘Magical Town’. It was very cute. Started by checking out Hotel California. Supposedly the Eagles song with the same name was inspired about this hotel. I just googled it, and it turns out it’s not true. Hahahaaa, but cool story though 🙂
More fish tacos and coffee while walking around town…
I saw these cool and a bit freaky masks made with animal hide. I kind of wished I’d gotten one 🙂
There was this cool pink wall with cactuses. Not sure if they were for sale, but if I had to pick one, it would’ve been this one LOL…
Then headed to a beach called La Cachora. Barely any people there and the waves were huge. There’s something very peaceful walking barefoot on sand and hearing the ocean!
If I ever go back, I would definitely plan a couple of days in Todos Santos 🙂
Next day it was time for a whale shark tour. It was kind of the whole purpose of this trip. They only swim here at certain times of the year and I really wanted to swim with them. And it was amazing! They are so majestic and you’re just a little fart next to them. I did bring my GoPro to film underwater, but then decided to just observe them. It would’ve been hard because you have to pay attention to stay alongside them when swimming. This was the highlight of my trip!
A little bit more pool time after that. And bikini pics…
The Uber driver had been going on about the fantastic Margaritas at this place called Buzos. He wasn’t wrong! Tamarindo is now my new favorite flavour in Margaritas or Mezcalitos by the way! I think they were almost a liter and I was drunk when walking to dinner hahhaaaa…
Grabbed breakfast at this place called Paradiso yesterday. They were playing vinyl records and I obviously noticed the Black Pumas. Not bad 🙂
Better to not be starving when going to the airport so I stuffed myself with this so I could get through my 2h flight 😉 La Mäsa is a very popular coffee and bakery in town.
And the leftover pics of a cute cat, piñata store, and ME 🙂
It was a great trip and I felt I needed some beach and pool time. Feel refreshed now. Booked my Japan trip for next month this morning. Very excited. I want to see more than Tokyo and I’m considering Kyoto. Have you been? Or do you have any other place in Japan to recommend?
Need to go buy food for next week now. Hunter has a special order of some ground chicken mix that has come in that I need to pick up too 🙂
Catch you later and wish you a fabulous week coming up!
How has your week been? Mine was pretty good. Checked off a lot on my to do list, didn’t skip the gym, and I topped it off with some shrooms 🙂
Last weekend I went to a book fair called Index Art Book Fair here in Mexico City. My Swedish artist friend Sanna invited me and the highlight was a talk by Annie Sprinkle, a pornstar from back in the day. Another Swedish girl joined us so we were like an IKEA threesome walking around. We wanted some wine for the talk, so we went across the street and got it in to-go coffee cups, classy!
Luckily it was all in English and Annie and her partner Beth were really funny. They talked about their history and how they now are Ecosexuals. I had no idea what an Ecosexual was, but they had this sheet on how to practice it, ways to make love to the earth, etc. Examples like: massage the earth with your feet, touch her (the earth) all over, kiss and lick her… Kind of like a sexual environmentalist.
There was a lot to it all, and they’ve held talks about marrying the fire and more. I thought it was very interesting and I might not make love to the earth, but I love being in it so maybe I’m slightly Ecosexual 🙂
On Sunday I went to Santa Fe to visit Dayana and she and some of her kids took me to a Colombian restaurant. It’s very hearty meals with plantains, meat, rice and beans. Very tasty and my favorite was the meat empanadas with some chimichurri dip. I ate like 10 of them. I did taste Dayana’s blood sausage, blood mixed with rice stuffed in a sausage skin, and it was OK, but I think I can live without blood sausages…
Went to a mall nearby for coffee and never did I expect to find an ice skating rink here in Mexico…
Showed my exceptional acting skills off in front of the camera 😉 Which reminds me of my casting I did in Sweden this Xmas. I haven’t heard back from them so my acting skills actually just might be mediocre after all…
Sometimes there’s been water leaking by the kitchen fan. They’ve checked it once before, but had no idea where it’s coming from. Now it’s been getting worse with pools of water on the kitchen floor. Three guys came and ripped some cabinets out and found a leaking pipe in the wall. The cabinet and panels have been ruined by the water so they are being fixed now too.
Been going to the gym and didn’t skip any of the classes this week 🙂
I tried to get a cute selfie of me and Hunter, but I don’t think we quite made the cute part…
It’s better to just take pics in his normal state – sleeping. Snapped this when he is under my legs on the couch. This happens every night. I watch TV or read, knees up with a blanket over me, and he jumps in and passes out…
“A Black father. A white father. Two murdered sons. A quest for vengeance. Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time.
But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid.The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss.
Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed of his father’s criminal record. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.
Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.
Provocative and fast-paced, S. A. Cosby’s Razorblade Tears is a story of bloody retribution, heartfelt change – and maybe even redemption.”
Pretty violent, witty dialog, and you root for the old badass dads kicking ass!
I think that’s it for this past week. I took some shrooms this weekend I started watching ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’ on Netflix. Pretty damn weird when tripping but it seems good 🙂
I’m very excited about this upcoming week. I bought a camera after some research and I start taking classes on Tuesday. After class I have a meeting and something fun might come out of that. On Friday I have a photographer coming over and I’m looking to create something cool.
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’ve been back in Mexico for almost a week. Missing Sweden, friends and family a bit, with a touch of jet lag. At the same time I’m excited to back, as I have friends visiting here, Hunter, and a bunch of fun stuff that I’m working on 🙂
Been lagging on my posts, but barely had time to put my butt down in Sweden. A week of hiking, roadtrip, birthday party, dinners, 90’s festival and some interesting work.
My sister and I flew up north in Sweden for what’s now become our yearly hike. This time we tried Kungsleden, aka the Kings Trails. We did the most southern part of it from Hemavan to Ammarnas for a total of 6 days and 5 nights.
We flew from Stockholm to Hemavan. My backpack was 9.35kg…
You can obviously do it faster, but we like to make stops and enjoy the nature while out. There weren’t many stops the first day as it rained pretty much when the plane landed, until we made it to the first hut. Please appreciate my raincoat that makes me look like ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ since my backpack underneath looked like my sister was hiding in there while piggyback riding me hahahaha…
Still a great day out as it didn’t pour and wasn’t too cold.
This was the first week the trail was open so there was only a couple of other people staying in the Viterskalet hut and we got our own room. My sister lit the fire and we enjoyed some food before going to bed. A bit weird since it’s daylight 24/7 up there this time of the year…
My sister and I are alike and we both wake up early. We were having coffee at 6am. Here’s a pic of the Viterskalet lodge when the sun was out the next morning 🙂
Most people eat breakfast before heading out, but we like to find a nice spot and eat it outdoors. This part of the trail was super nice. The sun was out and we started hiking in a valley between two mountains. Pretty crazy it was the end of June and there still was a lot of snow on some parts.
Pit stop with coffee, snacks, and catched up with some other hikers on the trail…
Reached the top after a long uphill hike and we found this spot. Perfect for a break and a nap 🙂 We can pretty much nap anywhere and nothing is better than sleeping outdoors!
The 2nd night we stayed at the Syter Lodge. Washed up in the river and it was cold so you didn’t linger in there…
This was Midsummer’s Eve in Sweden so we had brought small Champagne bottles with us to celebrate 🙂
We had a great host at the hut and she baked us a cake to celebrate 🙂
3rd day was sunny, but super windy. We started to notice the mosquitos, so having a bit of wind was good to blow those f*ckers away!
Bundled up for breakfast break…
It was a pretty easy hike, a total of 14 Km.
Arrived at Tärnasjö Lodge and they had a store at this lodge so a beer and some chips in the sun hit the spot!
Best part of this lodge is that there is a sauna by the lake here. Us being Finns, it’s like telling “Santa’s coming” to a child!
These huts are self-serviced, meaning you carry in water in buckets for cooking and chop up firewood for the fire pits or in this case the sauna. My sister had it down pretty good and I mostly supervised hahhaaa…
The sauna was beautifully located right by a lake so you hit the sauna and then go swimming. Or more like dip yourself in there and hurry back in the sauna. It was like 5 Celcius in the lake brrrr…
Packing up outside the lodge the next morning. It was sunny and it was going to be a hot day…
This was also a 14km day. A nice stop by a river to cool off before a climb to reach Serve Lodge.
The 5th day of hiking was the longest one, 19km. It had a couple of long uphill parts that required some resting after 🙂
Spotted an all-white reindeer. They are suppose to bring you luck. I’m still waiting 😉
Added a stop here to fill our water bottles and I did an impromptu photo session 🙂
The last lodge, Aigert, also had a sauna and you could swim in a small pond after. Such a great feeling after a long day outdoors!
The last day was only 8 km to Ammarnäs. Looking back at the hut and then walking mostly in the woods and crossing rivers…
Came across this great waterfall that was our last stop and also required an impromptu photo session again hahhaaaa… Luckily my sister is very patient!
We then finished and ate some waffles with whipped cream and cloudberry jam at a cafe. Then a 5h buss ride to Luleå where the train back to Stockholm left from. As I said, we nap everywhere LOL… I’m just nice enough not to post the picture of my sister sleeping with her mouth open 😉
Some more pics that I forgot to squeeze in the post…
Burgers and fries before the train tasted so good after eating ‘hiking food’ for 6 days. Then passing out on the train. Almost as good as sleeping outdoors…
Such a great time with my sister and can’t wait for our next hike! We get along so great and get to share great talks and a lot of laughter while out together 🙂 Thanks sis!
OK, going to go through the rest of my pics and going to compile it all together for the remaining time I was in Sweden…
Hunter sends his regards and says “Stay cool…” and we’re wondering what you’ve been up to?
