Day 23: The Joys of Live & Work in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

I woke up today and had to be ready for an early meeting with Thom at Chef Alexandra’s place. Thom’s sister and her fiancee are on their way down to Playa Del Carmen and they are going to rent a room at Chef Alexandra’s place. Thom also needed a place to work out of for the morning. Thom is an interesting guy. He spends his time traveling around the world with his girlfriend while working remotely for a company that has no clue where he is. This is exactly the kind of lifestyle I advocate. Why do we have to be in the office anyways? As long as the work gets done, who cares where you do it…

In the new business movement, working from exotic destinations is the norm. I am already thinking of how I can spend my whole winters outside of Toronto each year. I am not a fan of the blistering cold and I feel that I need to make like the birds each year and fly south for the winter. I just love how Thom’s company has no idea where he is. For his protection and to conceal his identity, I wont put any pictures on this blog of Thom. Also perhaps, Thom just might not be his real name 😉 It’s not like it’s a big deal anyways. After all, he does get the job done on time. I am not sure if his boss would really even care but I don’t think his organization, as a whole, is ready to find out about his adventure.

Thom probably wouldn’t care if he lost his job though, at least that is what I think. From talking to Thom, this experience has definitely taught him a lot. He is traveling around the world with his girlfriend and living on way less then most North Americans live and doing way more. It’s hard to just give up this lifestyle when you realize how sweet it is. I personally have been thinking about not going back to Toronto and turning MonthInPlaya.com into WinterInPlaya.com.

I will, however, be back in Toronto, I landed a really nice place for one year in the heart of downtown on the 43rd floor. I always wanted to live in a glass box in the sky, so I am doing that for one year. Thom and I spent a few hours talking about the evolution of the world of business. He introduced me to Bitcoin. Bitcoin is an open source currency system that aims to replace the monetary system. People are already doing transactions in Bitcoin and these Bitcoins which are digital currency, have real monetary value. It’s an amazing concept and if all goes as planned, bye bye monetary system! We also talked about WikiLeaks, a website that exposes corruption and scandals through leaked documents from organizations, religious movements and governments. All really cool stuff put out there by computer geeks to change the world.

Thom and I also shared a discussion about minimalism. The idea of owning very little material possessions and only owning what you need. Thom and his girlfriend have gotten it down to living out of a suitcase. I have it down to almost that. Together we enjoy life in fully furnished living situations and on the whim, we can pick up and move half way across the world. Minimalism also offers other benefits. My favorite are the psychological benefits. Minimizing my possessions has taught me to let go easier. Let go of items, people, worries and whatever else that does not serve me well. As a result, I can perform a lot better for my work and be a lot clearer in my mind. I mentioned earlier that I will be moving back to Toronto at the end of this month. I will however not be moving into a fully furnished place this time. It will be empty and I will be buying the furniture from scratch .But again, within my minimalistic guidelines. If you want to be able to live abroad and stretch your dollar so you can live an exciting and adventurous  life, consider get away from clutter and learn about minimalism “Only own the things you need for your life purpose”, is the motto Thom and I share.

After our long chat, Thom’s girlfriend and sister showed up with her fiancee. His sister and her fiancee are on vacation. They are not doing the lifestyle design type live/work situation like Thom and I, but instead they are here to spend a week and enjoy it before heading back to New York City for the regular routine. They were excited when they showed up and for good reason. Hot weather, nice beaches, good food and a ton of fun things to do await them here in beautiful Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.