Just the other day, I was sitting alone at home with my laptop in front of me…
And I figured to buy some movies on Youtube to watch whenever I want.
I get some folks will read that and wonder “why not Netflix?”
Well, in my experience, Netflix never has the fucking movies I want to watch.
Anyway, they do have the movie I’m about to bring up…
Rocky.
So I got watching Rocky again for the 100th time in my life.
Either way, I got watching Rocky and there was a scene in the movie that I resonated with after the years now living in Latin America…
This scene her specifically in Rocky 1.
In which Rocky says to this chick about how “he don’t have nobody to enjoy Thanksgiving with.”
You see, he wanted to take this chick on a date.
And he don’t got nobody to celebrate Thanksgiving with.
Anyway, he takes her on the date.
Going ice skating.
And back to his place.
What a chad.
In all seriousness, it was funny enough a scene that made me think about my time down here also.
In Latin America.
But first it makes me think of a similar scene I had in my own life before we get to the point….
An Xmas Dinner
Some odd years ago, I was living near Cuatro Caminos of Mexico City.
For more dedicated readers, it is already known that it wasn’t the best time in my life.
As I was very low on cash and struggling to get by.
As you can read here and here.
Anyway, I tried to enjoy my time there as much as I could.
It was getting close to Xmas.
I was dating a Mexican chick named Brenda.
That is her real name.
I might’ve used a fake name of Alejandra for her beforehand on this website but I can’t remember.
Anyway, her real name was Brenda.
And I remember during that winter month of December….
Well, not much of a winter since Mexico City doesn’t get snow like Iowa…
Either way, we enjoyed that month together.
Went to a shopping mall and she kept harassing me to buy a winter coat because she was so worried that I would get sick from the cold wind outside.
Which, as I wrote here, is funny because I’ve often seen Latinos have a weird sense of what is cold.
To us spending the New Years together with some food we cooked together in that crummy apartment.
From what I remember, it was mostly pasta with meat and some side dish.
Plus, we had a bottle of wine we bought that we spent an hour trying to break into as we didn’t have that small tool you use to open wine bottles.
But we got into it ultimately.
It was a moment I appreciated.
Why?
It’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t been here before.
Ultimately, it comes down to you being the foreigner down here.
And feeling like an outsider at times.
With moments that come in which you can sometimes feel alone.
“Nobody to Celebrate the Holidays with”
Ultimately, you are the foreigner.
Maybe you got friends here.
Or chicks you hookup with.
Maybe a girlfriend.
Or a wife.
But you are the foreigner.
In my case, I didn’t have to leave to live in Latin America.
But circumstances led to that.
Many of which led by my own decision making.
And I don’t regret it.
But you do have more negative moments…
Where you are alone.
A holiday day passes…
And you don’t have anyone to celebrate it with.
All alone.
Imagine an Xmas all alone.
Or a Thanksgiving.
Or whatever the Holiday might be.
I appreciated the moment I had with Brenda in that moment because I had someone to celebrate Xmas with.
But it gets bad when you don’t….
I’ve also had days where I had nobody to celebrate a holiday with.
There is a feeling of loneliness when you are alone on a special day like that in some new city you just arrived to.
You sit down.
Nothing to do.
Nobody to enjoy the day with.
Everyone else is enjoying the day.
You aren’t.
You don’t know anybody in this new place you are in.
It feels weird.
You really do feel alone.
It’s easier on days like your birthday when nobody is celebrating that day and you can enjoy the day with you want.
Those days are easier then as your friends are at least still in the city.
But the days that hit harder anyway are days like Xmas for example.
New Years to a degree also although not necessarily as probably some of your local friends are still in town.
But holidays where there is nobody to celebrate with can hit hard anyway with feelings of loneliness.
To be fair though, you do have the option of just going to some nearby bar and get chatting with anyone there.
That's the usual solution to this.
Perhaps you can also argue one other point....
Developing Connections
I remember I was talking with a friend of mine about this subject.
A friend of mine named Gino.
He mentioned how, in these specific moments, it is better to have local connections obviously.
Some friends as we already mentioned with whom you can celebrate a holiday with.
On my last New Years, I remember going out for dinner with some folks I know.
You can also argue that having a partner obviously helps in these moments also.
Like a girlfriend or a wife.
Because the girls you hookup with don’t really give a fuck about you.
Not usually but sometimes they can.
But the girlfriend or wife does.
Though in a situation where you are enjoying the bachelor life and your friends are away on Xmas day with their families.
Well, then you are all alone.
Maybe find someone cool at a nearby bar to chat with.
But otherwise you are alone.
And, as said, it can add an extra feeling of loneliness that sucks when it happens.
Obviously, much of this can be worse when you are on the road again.
Perhaps you leave Mexico City or wherever you are at in Latin America....
To go live somewhere else again.
That whole "Digital Nomad" lifestyle.
For those especially who always hit the road never set up base anywhere....
That especially can be lonely at times in my opinion.
Well, relatively lonely compared to setting up base in a place like Mexico City for a year or more where you can develop local connections.
Anyway, the point of this article is pretty clear cut.
The Point
The larger point is to emphasize how important to develop local connections.
And also pointing out a possible negative with the whole "digital nomad" lifestyle for those who constantly move around without having a base anywhere.
Also, to bring up one negative in general that you will encounter at some point when abroad -- loneliness.
You have to be able to be comfortable in your own company at times down here.
For me, that's easy.
It only sucks if it happens to be on a holiday and I happen to be in a completely new city where I don't know anyone.
And loneliness can and will probably be an issue at some point in time with life down here.
Even if it is just temporary as you establish roots somewhere new.
Anyway, as I said, it's a simple aspect to life down here that you might come across.
Nothing major though.
Got any similar experiences or observations?
Drop it below in the comment section.
Would love to hear.
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Best regards,
Matt