Last week I returned to Los Angeles on a much anticipated
week long trip back to the states. The
trip had been planned for some time with the main goal of going to see Furthur
(basically the Grateful Dead for readers not on the bus) with longtime friends
from high school and college that I'd been seeing shows with since the
80's. Collectively the four of us have
seen a few hundred shows so to say that we're obsessed with the band and the
music would be an understatement.
Details aside we were treated to the three of the best shows we've seen
this band perform. It was the end of the
fall tour and right before a pre-announced year hiatus for the band in 2014 meaning
we won't see them for a year possibly two, if ever again. The shows were spectacular with the band
winding through many songs we'd never seen them perform in addition to the
cultural phenomenon that the Dead always bring with them that you really can't
get anywhere else, ever. If it ends there, what a great way to go out on top.
Tres amigos at intermission on Night 3:
Furthur at the Greek up close from the pit:
My time in LA was also used to reconnect with friends and
co-workers who I hadn't seen in awhile.
I quickly realized how drastically my life has changed in the past 5
months hearing people talk about work.
Don't get me wrong, I miss contributing to a team and being in the game
due to my highly competitive nature.
However, I don't miss all the baggage and drama that comes with being in
that type of setting. At times I felt
stressed just hearing about people talking about work. Needless to say, it really caught me off
guard. The other thing that struck me as
being odd other than being stressed about hearing friends talk about work was
that you can't go anywhere in the US without spending money. At every turn, I found myself talking out my
wallet to pay for something. This is
quite a change from not carrying a wallet, phone or ID the last 5 months. Granted, I had a laundry list of things I
needed to get before the second leg of our trip but still it is unreal how
quickly money is spent when simply spending a week back in LA. Both of these realizations had me asking
questions, like what's the next play?
Which actually has me pretty motivated to consider where we go after the
trip is over.
Melissa with her birthday board brought back from LA at El Rancho!:
One of the considerations beyond the predictable return to
the states, get a job and jump right back into trying to climb the corporate
ladder is living here in Mexico permanently.
While here we've met a lot of new friends and had some interesting opportunities
icross our path. This includes pitching a land owner we've become friendly with on the idea of
opening a surf camp on his large ocean front property. While not an immediate possibility due to the
capital needed for start up, it would be a fork in the road we would go down as
a family if it came to fruition. There
are some downsides we've weighed where Jordan and Slater are concerned
that are cultural which are tough to wrap our heads around. Plus, with a heavy
cartel presence the last four weeks in our area has us thinking about possible
problems that could arise with that element in the mix. We're leaning toward returning to So Cal heavily,
but still tossing the idea around.
We're quickly approaching the second leg of our trip with
our flight to Nicaragua booked on 10/30.
We fly into Managua, spend the night and then take a 3 hour drive south
towards the Costa Rican boarder to a remote area rich with surf breaks. Rancho Iguana will be our home from
Nov-Jan. Then after that things are up
in the air. Costa Rica? El Salvador?
Panama? Back to So Cal?
We're taking on a quick trip north tomorrow for the next 3
days to Rio Nexpa which is a remote town that features a heavy barreling river
mouth break. It's a relatively unplanned
trip. We're throwing the kids and a few
things into a friends truck and traveling north to meet new people, surf new
waves and wander down the path of life without a map. It's been something we're getting pretty good
at as a family. We're riding a train
with many unannounced stops, but I can hear the next train coming and can't wait
to find out where it's going to take us.
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