13/12/2016
Friends, we apologize for things being silent here for so many months. For us, 2016 has been—as we suspect it has been for many of you—a challenging year that has put us through the ringer. Don't get us wrong: the year has had its share of good moments and laughter and beauty, but on the whole, we have largely been weathering the storms life has thrown at us and trying to keep our heads above water.
Perhaps the biggest (and saddest) update is that we had to say goodbye to one of our pups, Emmy Lou, in August after she succumbed to canine lymphoma. The loss of one of our furry travel buddies at the not-quite-ripe old age of 10 ripped a hole in our hearts that is still quite raw and aching. We miss her dearly, though we are incredibly grateful that we were able to spend nearly every day of the last 2 years with her and that we were able to afford to provide her with top-notch care here in Mexico. In case you missed it on the blog, Tony wrote a tribute to our beloved girl, which you can read here: http://www.20yearshence.com/pure-love-remembering-emmy-lou/
Given that most of you are likely wondering whether we're still in Mexico, the answer is: Yes! Not only are we still here, but we're actually still in Playa del Carmen. In fact, once Emmy was diagnosed with cancer, we decided to make the leap and forego visa runs and applied for Mexican residency. In June, Tony was approved for temporary residency here in Mexico, and—in a bittersweet twist of fate—my residency was approved a week after we said goodbye to our girl. So we are now bona fide expats now!
We've now been in Playa for 15 months, which is by far the longest we have been anywhere since 2012 when we started on our travels. We are loving the community of likeminded digital nomads and those seeking a life less ordinary and can't imagine basing ourselves anywhere else while we still have our corgi Rory as our travel companion. If you are passing through Playa del Carmen or the Riviera Maya, let us know as we've become quite the experts in the area and Playa's dining scene in particular. ;)
As 2016 enters its last legs and we enter the holidays and the season to give, I wanted to draw your attention to a few opportunities to do some good if the spirit so moves you:
1) Ever since losing Emmy Lou, we have been doing our best to help as many other dogs as we can. Emmy was a former street dog that Tony rescued and we felt that the best way to honor her memory would be to give back. We are currently fostering one street dog who followed us home a few weeks ago and are trying to find her a forever home. But more pressingly, we rescued a starving street dog who was rifling through the trash outside our apartment on Sunday and is little more than skin & bones (see the pictures I have attached to this post for proof). Street dogs are sadly a dime a dozen in this part of the world, but we could tell this dog desperately needed us to intervene on her behalf. We are currently fostering her as well and have named her Catrina (after the Dia de los Mu***os lady skeletons made famous from the La Calavera Catrina etchings by José Guadalupe Posada) After contacting all the shelters and animal welfare groups that we could, we heard back from Playa Animal Rescue who have agreed to shelter Catrina and help get her back on her feet. She has met with their vet and has been diagnosed with 2 tick-borne diseases as well as intestinal parasites, all of which she is currently being treated for. Once she is healthier, she will also need to be vaccinated and spayed/sterilized. PAR charged us $0 to provide her medical care or to take her in, but they run solely on donations. They do excellent work and have managed to find wonderful loving homes for countless street dogs here in Playa. Without them, Catrina's future would not be nearly so hopeful: After just one day of medication and regular, nutritious meals, she is already so much more energetic and when she's not trying to get food from us, she's desperate for cuddles and attention. If you have ever loved a dog, I encourage you to send them a donation (which you can easily do via PayPal. If you choose to do so, you can specify that the money is for Catrina if you would like). The Mexican peso is ridiculously low right now, so your money goes extra far here. No amount is too little and every donation is appreciated. For those in the U.S., your donation is even tax deductible! To donate to Catrina (or any of the dogs at PAR), see here: http://playaanimalrescue.org/donations/
2) Our dear friend Kim has launched a super inspiring project to spread kindness globally called The Yellow Envelope Project. If dogs aren't your thing but you would still like to spread some holiday cheer and generate good karma, check it out and contact her about getting a Yellow Envelope of your own; she will send them to anyone with an address anywhere in the world. When we take Catrina in to PAR on Wednesday, we'll be making our donation to them in a yellow envelope.
From Playa del Carmen, Mexico, Tony & I wish all of you a happy holiday season & have our fingers crossed that 2017 is better for all of us (even if 2016 rocked your socks off, better is always welcome, right?). If you have any questions that you'd like us to answer (about dogs, life in Mexico, future plans, secrets of the universe) share it in the comments below and we'll do our best. And please share what you've been up to down below too!
