rachel

Visiting Champagne

My advice and recommendations for first-time visitors to the region:

Champagne Houses:

Unlike Napa, everywhere requires reservations and most places are by invitation only. When visiting a champagne house, it’s customary to be given an overview of their approach, including a visit to the cellars and the vineyards (if the are onsite). Larger houses may offer bottles for sale at the end of your visit, while smaller ones may not.

You can self-book an appointment in advance with the big houses, or work with a professional for a more intimate experience with smaller producers. Be forewarned that many places may be closed on Sundays.

Between vineyard visits and the cobblestoned streets, I would avoid dainty-heeled shoes. And cellars can be quite cool, so you may need an extra layer, even in summer.

Tours/Agents:

I’ve worked with Larry from Champagne Tours on a number of occasions to craft custom single day itineraries which include multiple house visits plus a driver and car. He’s done an excellent job pinpointing my goals for the visits and has impressive access to both large and small producers.
Cynthia from Delectabules offers day trips focused on champagne houses who have women in significant roles.
Tyson Stelzer is a renowned expert who curates week-long small group tours twice a year. His access to houses and knowledge of champagne is unmatched – you’ll certainly learn a lot, get to taste some very rare vintages and eat a lot of incredible food. For champagne connoisseurs, this is a dream trip.
Gina (aka A Vine Affair) crafts luxury holidays with a focus on wine. Expect a lot of personal attention and an itinerary that balances group tastings with other activities. This trip is about drinking champagne and having a good time, with a nice mix of large houses and small growers.

Self-Booked House Visits:

Moet & Chandon (Eperney) is the largest producer in the world. The tour will be very polished and part of a large group. It starts with a well-produced video explaining how champagne is made, followed by a tour of their impressively large cellar before the tasting. The guides are very knowledgable.
Tattinger (Reims) is also a large, formal tour with lovely grounds and usually includes a visit to their crayeres (chalk caves) before the tasting.
Ruinart (Reims) offers self booked tours including their crayeres. Sometimes in summer there are special tasting brunches on their lawn.
Lanson (Reims) is located on the edge of town but is reachable by the local tram. It’s a small group experience and a thoughtful tour. There are multiple tasting options – I highly recommend trying their prestige cuvées.
Bollinger (Äy) has an impressive operation and is the only house in champagne with their own cooperage (barrel-making workshop). Special events, such as rare tastings and even a chance to participate in the harvest, are offered through their app.
Champagne Moussé (Cuisles) is a small producer of entirely Meunier-based champagnes. Cedric is a charismatic host, experimenting with very progressive techniques. The best way to learn about their public events is via their Instagram – if you manage to secure a spot, I guarantee you’ll leave delighted.

Epernay Highlights:

The train from Paris takes about 90 minutes and stops a short walk from the center of town, though the timetable is somewhat limited. The main town is walkable, though you will need a car/driver to visit any producers in the surrounding villages. Uber is not an option, though there are many local taxi services that will book cars in advance.

Hotel Les Avises: home of Selosse champagnes, approx 20 minutes drive from Epernay. This is a beautiful place to stay, and lucky guests may be invited to a tasting. The husband & wife team offer a charming restaurant experience which is very reasonably priced. The money saved on food can go towards a bottle or two of the hard-to-find Selosse champagne. (They only sell bottles to drink on the premises.)
Avenue de Champagne in Epernay is the street where many big houses, such as Moet & Chandon, have gorgeous property. Some have cafes where you can have lunch or relax with a glass of champagne.
#Brut is a champagne bar right on the Avenue de Champagne. They only carry small producers. It is generally open later than anywhere else on the Avenue. It’s a relaxed vibe with very knowledgeable staff and a nice patio area if the weather is good.
La Grillade Gourmande is the best restaurant in Epernay so book in advance. Known for grilled meats and their excellent wine list, they happily made an off-menu vegetarian meal that was delicious.
Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa is located outside of Epernay, perched on a hill overlooking the vineyards. This is a 5 star property with spacious, well-designed rooms, indoor/outdoor pool area, and attentive staff. They can arrange house visits and other activities. Definitely not for the budget-conscious traveler, but you won’t regret the indulgence.

Reims Highlights:

Reims is a larger city than Epernay with more options for hotels and restaurants in the central area. A 45 minute train ride from Paris, the timetable has more frequency than Epernay. The city is very walkable. Uber is technically available but can be a challenge to secure a car.

Be sure to visit the Reims Cathedral in the center of town- it is stunning. Entrance is free.
L’Assiette Champenois is a hotel with a 3 Michelin Star restaurant, located on the edge of the city. Rooms are elegant and modern, and breakfast is an incredible spread. The restaurant is a multi-hour experience of modern French creative cuisine. The champagne list usually has more than 1000 different bottles, and the chef is a Krug ambassador. Book for dinner well in advance, though hotel guests are usually given priority.
Les Crayeres has lovely accommodation in a traditional style. Le Parc is a 2 Michelin Star restaurant, more traditional in style. Service is flawless, food is exceptional, and the champagne list is incredible (as expected). If weather is nice, aperitifs or dessert may be served on the terrace, overlooking their manicured gardens. Advance reservations required.
Club Tresors Boutique is a shop showcasing the champagnes from the 29 producers who are part of the association. It’s a charming retail experience offering a lot of information about the winemakers, and the small producers may be hard to find outside of France. There are usually 7 different bottles open for by-the-glass for tastings, or you can purchase any bottle and drink it on site (or at home). They can ship globally. Check their Facebook page for any formal tasting events.
Wine Bar by Le Vintage is a cozy little spot very close to the Cathedral. They have a remarkable champagne list with very knowledgeable staff who can make wonderful recommendations. Usually there are around 6 different bottles open for purchase by-the-glass. The menu includes meat & cheese platters plus other nibbles – it’s great for grazing over snacks while exploring their impressive wine list. Book in advance via their Facebook page.
Fromages Vins is my favourite local cheese shop, with an impressive array of local cheeses and incredible butter.
Sacre Burger is a casual burger spot with fabulous champagne list. It has become really popular with bubbleheads, so reservations might be needed.
Glue Pot is a local bistro popular with the vignerons.
Moklair Coffee Roasters is the best option for coffee in Reims.

Course Review: Champagne Masterclass by Richard Juhlin

Richard Juhlin is a Swedish champagne expert who has published multiple books and has tasted over 15,000 champagnes. In my ongoing quest for more champagne knowledge, I discovered his collection of videos.

Key Takeaways:

These beautifully produced videos cost €132/year for online access and also come with 6 downloadable PDFs, including a copy of his Champagne Hiking book.
This is beginner material, with a little bit of history and production basics. It’s largely focused on tasting champagne, so you’d better enjoy watching him drink a lot of it.
This is solely a collection of self-study materials – there is no exam or certificate of completion.

Of my studies, these are by far the most beautifully produced videos – gorgeous settings, helpful graphics and articulate guests who are very comfortable in front of the camera. (A free preview is available here.) Though filmed in 2019, the majority of the information is timeless. While there were quite a few spelling mistakes in the subtitles of the interview with Anselme Selosse, the videos were otherwise very professional, and the highest quality I have encountered in my pursuit for more champagne knowledge.

I did have trouble subscribing via Apple’s App Store and reaching anyone for help was challenging – the contact forms on the website often return error messages and social media doesn’t seem to be moderated. Once that was sorted, it was easy enough to progress through the materials in the unlocked area of the website. The videos inexplicably buffered periodically and there’s no automatic progress tracking, but there were no major hiccups.

The videos are generally 10-15 minutes each, with speed controls for faster or slower playback. You do need to have an active subscription and be online to watch them.

Richard is very knowledgable and covers everything from storing, serving & food pairing through to blind tasting techniques. His passion for champagne is evident, and his tasting experience is undeniably vast. He is joined in conversation with other experts, including Anselme Selosse and Michel Fauconnet formerly from Laurent Perrier.

There is a lot of time dedicated to watching him drink champagne, and while this can be informative, at times I found it tiresome. Tasting along would be much better – if only I could get my hands on a 1985 Leclerc Briant or 1976 Gosset!

The collection also includes links to videos which are publicly available on YouTube – these include a very strange 60th birthday tribute, and several interviews where he explains his many talents in great detail. (Spoiler: he’s not humble.).

All in all, I found the videos a worth watch and the annual subscription includes access to a prolific amount of regularly published posts/articles about Richard’s champagne experiences – I can’t honestly say I’m inclined to read most of them but its certainly good value for the price. Though he’s far-from-modest in his delivery, he does have a lot of knowledge and infectious passion.

Course Review: Champagne MOOC by Comité Champagne

If you want to know more about the business and technical aspects of champagne, who better to learn from than the governing body of the region and the brand? This online learning platform is a great way to dive in deeper on all thing champagne, and the majority of the content is available with a free registration.

Key Takeways

The material covers mid-level information about the production process, terroir, history of the region and serving/tasting with nicely designed documents and quality videos in multiple languages.
It’s self-guided and though there are message boards, they are not active.
For €49, there’s some additional information and the opportunity to test your knowledge with an exam. (Though there’s nothing preventing you from cheating on the final test.)

This is a web-based self-study program that includes nicely produced videos featuring industry experts like Denis Bruner from Bollinger, the historian Yves Tesson, and a number of people from the Comité Champagne. The footage in the videos is nicely shot and very much related to the subjectmatter, including vines, production facilities, and even how to properly open a bottle. There are also a number of helpful diagrams included as PDFs. Both the documents and the videos are available in multiple languages.

Admittedly, some experts were more comfortable in front of the camera than others. Most of them were speaking in English which isn’t their native language, so I didn’t mind the occasional stiff exchanges between people. And though the host was sometimes a little awkward, I found him charming.

The material is all delivered via a website which won’t win any design awards but was easy enough to use. While it isn’t optimized for mobile, it worked fine on an iPad. There’s no (obvious) way to download the videos so the content has to be consumed online. I did appreciate how the website automatically tracks progress so I could easily pick up where I left off.

It looks like the material was developed in 2018 so numbers may be slightly dated, but the concepts all still hold. The Message Boards seem long abandoned, but I didn’t feel like I was missing anything.

While a few of the videos seemed like they were intended for boosting tourism in Champagne, the majority of them were really insightful and had some very practical tips. Though I recently completed the in-depth Champagne Masterclass from WSG, I still learned quite a few things. All in all, this was €49 and several hours well-spent.

Course Review: Champagne Master Class by the Wine Scholar Guild

I wish I had known more about this program before signing up, so I have written this review to help others who are considering it.

As a champagne enthusiast with a lot of drinking experience, I really wanted to deepen my knowledge about production – the WSET are the most recognized programs for wine education, but they don’t offer a champagne-focused course so this seemed like the next best option.

I will preface this by saying that I did learn quite a bit, though as a remote experience, it was incredibly disappointing. And at $875+ (USD), it wasn’t cheap.

Key Takeaways:

This is a self-study program that deeply covers the technical aspects of production, regulation, geography, terroir and business. It only lightly touches on tasting.
There is in-depth material provided by many experts, including Essi Avellan, Peter Liem, Cedric Mousse, Steve Charters, Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon, Charles Curtis and historian Yves Tesson.
- The use of technology is disappointing, confusing, frustrating and when it came to taking the exam, invasive. The facilitation was not the level of professionalism I expected for the cost.

Calling it a remote class isn’t accurate – it’s a self-study program. The videos and reading materials are released monthly and you read/watch them at your own pace. My session went from March-October, which is quite a generous period of time. There were 6 Zoom calls spread across 8 months where the material was reviewed – the Zoom was usually around 40 minutes, and it was recorded & posted promptly for anyone who couldn’t attend. Interactions were limited to the chat function (cameras off), meaning there was no possibility for discussion.

There were access to Message Boards included with the program. I found participation in the Student Forum limited to a few people. There was also an Instructor Q&A forum where response times varied quite a bit – sometimes there was very helpful follow up to questions quite quickly, and sometimes questions went unanswered. The Tech Support channel, which was used often by many students, was very helpful…

… and this is because the technology was confusing and materials were sloppy. There were many typos, including misspellings of place names and even a village missing from the maps. The portal with all the study materials was very confusing – people often struggled to find things, it doesn’t automatically track progress, and it’s not usable on smaller screens. (When I signed up, it said the class was compatible with an iPad – I am happy to see that language has since been removed from the website.) The practice tests were very clunky, including text occasionally covered by graphics, leaving you to guess the rest of the question. Material in the book and in the videos contradicted each other at times. At one point in the class, there was an entirely new message board system with no warning – half the students were not added to the relevant forums and all previously asked questions went unanswered.

They also published new (corrected) and surprisingly different maps in December, which was after the course had concluded but before many students had taken the exam. Those new maps wouldn’t be used in the exam for several weeks, causing a lot of confusion around which maps to study (especially for those of us who had exams scheduled for early January). For the price of this program, this kind of sloppiness is unacceptable.

The videos, which make up the bulk of the class material, were primarily recordings of Zoom calls. It wasn’t unusual for the presenter’s head to be covering some important detail on the accompanying slides. By contrast, the videos for the Champagne Masterclass by Richard Juhlin are incredibly well-produced and only €132 for a year’s access (my review is here). The videos from the Champagne MOOC by the Comite of Champagne cover similar topics to the WSG program, are subtitled into multiple languages, and only €49 (read my review of this here).

The physical book is a required purchase and not available in any downloadable form. (I did ask them directly about this.) This means you either have to be online to read it via the awkward portal, or carry the large, floppy physical one around for offline viewing. I am someone who travels a lot, so this was not practical for me. On top of that, the shipping charges for the book were not included in the class fees and were unjustifiably expensive. ($85 was the value listed for the book. I had to pay an additional $66 for shipping from Germany to London, which is ridiculous.)

The final exam can be scheduled at your convenience and I was impressed they let me take it on New Years’s Day. It is monitored by a third-party proctoring agency and felt overly complicated to schedule (though I expected nothing less at this stage). There were many steps just to make the appointment, including emailing humans at WSG to activate the link to the third-party proctor to set up a new account at their website to access the scheduling tool. Once scheduled, there was an additional piece of software to install and several computer settings to reconfigure. Everything had to be done on Mac or Windows computer using the Chrome browser.

The exam itself was 2 hours for 10 mapping questions, 50 multiple choice questions, and 4 essay questions. While there were a number of practice tests available for the multiple choice portion, it was tricky to know if I was adequately prepared for the essay portion since the class contained no opportunity for discussion or equivalent practice. I do think the instructor did a good job at prepping us for the kinds of topics which might be asked for this portion of the exam. The multiple choice portion did contain some surprising questions – small details/vocabulary which weren’t touched on in any of the review Zooms or practice tests. And of course, I was surprised by some of the mapping questions, given I had studied the new maps and the old versions were the ones on my exam and surprisingly very different.

My biggest issue with the exam was the amount of invasive technology required for the third-party proctor. Despite going through all the technical checks in advance, there was additional software required to install & run at the time of the exam which gives this third-party full access to your computer, including screen-recording, camera, microphone and mouse control. I was using my work computer and my work security setup understandably prevented me from running this software. While the tech support team from the proctoring company was very patient, the only way I could take the exam was to use another computer – as someone who works in tech, I happen to have access to multiple computers but I suspect this is a luxury few people have. After completing the exam, there was no information provided on how to disable/remove this software and all the settings that the remote agent configured – I shudder to think how many people have taken this course and still have their computers completely vulnerable to remote access!

It took a full 3 weeks to get the results from the exam. No detail was provided – just a score and whether that is a pass or fail grade. Should you fail, they would be happy to let you re-sit the exam, for a fee (naturally).

At the end of this program, I certainly deepened my knowledge about the CIVC, viticulture, the production process, geology and geography. Having been to the Champagne region many times, this was a good academic compliment to my experience meeting producers and tasting with them. That said, I’ve participated in many remote educational programs and the execution of this one really fell short – between the inept use of technology and the missed opportunity to create community, I don’t think its worth the cost. Given how much money they are making, its a shame they haven’t invested into making the experience better.

If you’re looking for a self-study program to deepen your knowledge, I recommend starting with the Champagne MOOC by the Comité Champagne – it has great videos, detailed information, a website that automatically tracks your progress and several quizzes to test your knowledge for only €49 (and quite a lot of it is available for free).

Zumba in London

I’ve been living in London for about 6 months now and have only made it to one Zumba class… I am hitting the usual roadblocks of all the classes being at gyms. With my long working hours and regular travel, the cost of gym membership didn’t seem worth it. While I’ve been entertaining myself by playing a lot of Just. Dance, I was missing the fun of a live class so I decided to check out Frame.

They offer a huge variety of movement classes – from pilates to something involving mini trampolines. Drop-ins are welcome, though you should probably sign up a day or two in advance as the studios are small.

The highlight has been the 80s Aerobics, which was essentially this:

giphy1

(but with fewer leotards, thankfully). It was a genuine aerobics class, with all the classic moves including lots of pelvic thrusts, legs lifts, jumping jacks, etc. – set to a soundtrack of Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson, Madonna, and more. It was genuinely hard, and a lot of fun. The entire class was basically singing along (when we weren’t panting to catch our breath).

I also went to a Dance Cardio class, which as the name implies was Zumba-esque. While it was a great workout and much dancier than the aerobics class, the acoustics made it impossible to understand the instructor’s verbal cues. Also, the room got so sweaty that the floor was pretty slippery. I enjoyed it, but it also left me pining for a proper Zumba class with a large space and non-verbal cues.

Frame also offers something called Music Video, where they spend an hour teaching you a piece of choreography from an actual video. When the instructor announced today’s class was from Dream Girls, I wasn’t exactly thrilled… I am not a fan of musicals and was hoping for something more contemporary. To my surprise, the song was actually a bit disco-y, and the choreo was a mix of Bob Fosse with bits of Beyonce-fierceness, both of which I love.

giphy2 — I’m sure we all looked just like this!

Plus, the instructor was really into the drama of it all… he kept motivating us by saying things like “pretend like your arms are draped in diamonds!” or “whip your head around like you’ve got Beyonce’s long weave”. Obviously, I adored him. While it wasn’t a high impact workout, it was definitely a lot of fun and I enjoyed throwing myself into the dramatics.

Upcoming classes there include: Beyonce Dance Workshop, Spice Girls Cardio, and Kylie (Minogue) Butt Lift. Even if the classes aren’t perfect, I love having these kinds of options (and it’s only a 5 min walk from my house)!

Moving to London

After a gauntlet of paperwork and a series of appointments which were mainly designed to determine if I knew how to follow instructions, we officially moved to London!

Though Virgin Atlantic isn’t as glamorous as it used to be, we still enjoyed that the plane had a standing bar…

We have up to 6 weeks of temporary housing in a furnished flat in King’s Cross. Though it is generously sized and adequately furnished, the internet speed is slower than what I had in China (despite my near daily complaints to the property manager).

Shortly after we got the keys, someone knocked on the door and handed us 2 bags of random groceries, which included coffee & filters for a non-existent coffee maker, heat & serve meat lasagna, margarine, mayo, jam, mustard and a couple pieces of fruit. It seemed so haphazard, we are pretty sure we unintentionally stole someone’s food. (Grocery delivery is very popular here.)

Banking seems unnecessarily complex. You need a bank account in order to rent a flat, but you need a residential address in order to get a bank account. Once you find a bank willing to let you open an account as a foreigner, you have to wait for a series of documents to arrive in the mail. Over the course of 10 days I received various separate letters which included the ATM card, cheques, and several different PINs – one for telephone support, another for the ATM card, and another for mobile banking. And in order to access my account info online, I have to insert my ATM card into this calculator-looking device to verify my identity:

Modern Banking

As one of our friends said, it’s almost as if the banks have forgotten that it’s your money.

Renting an apartment was the next task. 1-2 bedroom flats often come furnished, which is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, we don’t own any furniture so that saves us from having to buy a bunch of stuff. On the other hand, finding an apartment with furniture we didn’t detest felt like it narrowed the options significantly.

We saw a charming converted schoolhouse followed by a place which you accessed via the lobby of a TravelLodge, a converted warehouse loft which would have been perfect for hosting a Wild West theme party, and then there was this:

At viewing #29, we encountered a modern apartment in the hipster neighborhood of Shoreditch and rapidly made an offer. (Nice difference to SF: you can negotiate the rent down.) Though its barely larger than the place we had in the Castro, it has wood floors, all modern fixtures/furnishings, and is less than a 10 minute walk to our favorite Indian restaurant. If all goes well, we will be in there by the end of November. If all doesn’t go well, I blame Barclays.

While it doesn’t feel like we “live” here yet, it’s been long enough to note some major lifestyle differences:

It’s amazing to live and work in the same city. My commute went from 90 mins each way down to 25, and there are so many great restaurants, pubs, and even theatre venues a short walk from my office door. I can even run errands during lunch! (And by “errands”, I mean “go to All Saints and check out their sale”.)
Door handles are confusing. Unless there’s a sign, it’s impossible to know whether to push, pull, or hit a button in order to operate them. I am surprised I haven’t yet broken glass or my nose.
It’s properly cold here and it’s barely November. I may not survive the winter… please send sun.
While walking down the sidewalk is like some kind of advanced level of Frogger, I love hearing all the difference accents and languages being spoken – its such a diverse city.
You need to plan things way in advance, which you wouldn’t think would be a problem for me, but it is taking some adjusting. Everything from restaurants to museums to cat cafes require several weeks planning (or more). It’s time to dust off my Cruise Director hat and start planning some fun!

Summer in SF

While The German was in NYC at his Nerd Summer Camp, I opted for summer in SF (after a brief stop in Miami to visit family) where I reunited with many friends, played surrogate mom to 6 cats and 1 dog, saw 3 concerts plus 1 singing clown, taught 9 Zumba classes, met 1 new baby and 1 new horse, ate at Tacolicious 7 times, bought 2 new pair of Fluevog shoes, worked over 429 contracting hours, and drank countless bottles of champagne.

And I was also on a billboard:

Betabrand Billboard Model

My initial re-entry to SF was rough. As happy as I was to see friends and eat so many delicious things, the city felt dirty and expensive, and the homeless situation seemed worse. And after spending every day with The German, the 3 hour time difference between us felt much larger.

It was, however, surprisingly easy to go back to work at Apple. I was touched by how many people were so happy to see me, and it’s no secret that I enjoy being productive. And of course, it was nice to earn some money after a year without a paycheck. While I quickly remembered how much I hated the commute, I was happy to jump into my summer project and get things done.

Though I initially planned to only stay at Apple for the summer, a new opportunity presented itself and today I start as a full-time employee (again), managing international design teams based out of London. It will take another month or so before I can officially move, but I am thrilled to have Apple’s help with all the paperwork and I am excited about the project and my teammates.

I will still have plenty of opportunity to travel, which is fantastic, especially as I will be back in SF several times a year. But I am also looking forward to living with The German again, in our own apartment. I have always loved London and am excited to officially call it home.

The next 6 weeks (or more) are bound to be chaotic and unpredictable, but I am excited to see how it unfolds…

What I Learned in 13 Months…

This trip was never intended to be a big “spirit quest”, though I often joked with my friends that I was winning the mid-life crisis contest since I left my great job and fantastic apartment to travel around the world with my European Boy Toy (ha ha).

Before we left on this journey, I had reached a point where there was no work/life balance. It was constant working, accompanied with a long commute and no energy left to see friends or enjoy the city. My main hobby was (online) retail therapy, and teaching one Zumba class per week took all of my remaining energy. This trip seemed like a good way to hit the reset button on a lot of habits.

So here are some of the big lessons I learned during our travels:

When it comes down to it, what I really need to be comfortable is: tasty food, decent wifi, warmth, and regular access to a washing machine. Places like Borneo, where there just wasn’t very good produce or decent food, got old quickly… I don’t need gourmet cuisine at every meal, but as a vegetarian, fresh ingredients are important. I love to enjoy a good meal and eating just for sustenance makes me sad.

We relied so heavily on connectivity, for staying in touch with people and entertainment, that I quickly learned that decent wifi could make up for a lot of other accommodation shortcomings… without it, every less-than-optimal aspect of our situation became amplified.

I was pleasantly surprised that I was just fine without a lot of clothing (as long as I had regular access to a washing machine). I only packed things that I loved, so I never got tired of them. And as The German pointed out, I was still allowed to buy things… they just had to be able to fit in my luggage. I did rotate things out along the way, especially once we were done with all the safari gear, but otherwise shopping became a rare treat as opposed to a stress-relieving habit. (I am sure Gilt is lamenting my disappearance.)

I was worried that I would feel lost without my job… what would I say to people when I introduced myself? How would I spend my time? Thankfully, I was relieved to discover that work doesn’t define me. The “what do you do?” question is only central to American conversations and came up much less frequently in other places. And while I certainly like to feel productive and always want to learn new things, there were many other ways to achieve this. I rarely felt bored and being in new places meant that just walking to the grocery store could be an adventure. It was nice to be able to leisurely spend time reading the news while drinking coffee, instead of rushing from one thing to another as I previously did.

Dancing always makes me happy. In Melbourne, I was going to multiple classes per day and I loved it. In Ubud, I had daily access to a studio where I could work on new choreography. Even a “bad” dance class was a good learning experience. When I return to work, I need to continue to make Zumba and other dance classes a priority, even if I am stressed and tired.

Friends are important, and it’s hard to make new ones when you’re not working and constantly on the move. It was always amazing to meet up with old friends in various places, and FaceTime dates with my friends in SF were always a treat. Zumba was a great outlet for me to meet people, but other than the odd tech meet-up, The German struggled to connect to like-minded people. Once we discovered the co-living places with built-in communities, we couldn’t go back to isolated AirBnBs. Wherever we settle, it needs to be a place where we already have a lot of friends or will easily be able to make some.

Roughing it can be good for you (though it doesn’t need to be to the extreme of climbing Kilimanjaro). The positive side of bad meals or crummy accommodation is that it helped reset our expectations for the next spot. Despite how it may have appeared in this blog (since posts about us making omelettes in a tiny kitchen would be pretty boring), fancy dinners became a rare treat that we really appreciated, and my first trip to the cheese counter at Whole Foods was particularly joyful after 4 months in SouthEast Asia.

Now the real test will be if I can hold onto this perspective now that I am back in SF for a few months…

Mexico

We utilized the last of our frequent flier miles on United to get from Tokyo to Cancun. While no one was beaten and dragged off the plane, the flight attendants were less than helpful and give us inaccurate information about a number of things, as well as some unsolicited career advice. (Random small talk resulted in a flight attendant telling me I should work for British Airways – so bizarre!)

Unfortunately, our 2 hour layover in Houston unexpectedly resulted in going through US Immigration. This means they started counting down the 90 days of The German’s tourist visa from when we transferred in Houston (despite the fact that we were immediately leaving the country again), as opposed to when he landed in NYC. (There are some little-known rules that were certainly created to prevent people from making visa runs to Mexico.) This was 10 days earlier than we had planned, which has created a scheduling problem with no obvious solution.

Our brief re-entry in the Houston Airport left a pretty poor impression: there were so many employees standing around and not doing anything (or just chatting to each other), the default demeanour of all the staff was “rude”, and everything was pretty dirty. It will be interesting to see how we both feel when we are back in the US this summer (and not jet-lagged or stressed about immigration).

Fitness Marshall

The impetus for Mexico and enduring such heinous jetlag was a 4 day retreat with YouTube dance fitness star, The Fitness Marshall. (His routines are a bit like Zumba but with incredible amounts of sass. I have always wanted to take a live class with him.)

My friend Sue was a willing accomplice – a dance-filled weekend at an all-inclusive resort wasn’t exactly a hard sell – so I left The German at an AirBnB in Playa del Carmen for the weekend.

The resort had over 700 rooms and a ton of mediocre reviews on Trip Advisor, including rooms smelling like sewage, only 1 hour per day of terrible wifi and inedible food. I mentally prepared myself for the worst. While the food was terrible, our room smelled ok and I was pleasantly surprised to discover the retreat group was only 20 people!

Live events with The Fitness Marshall are usually hundreds of screaming fans, so I assumed I would be fighting for space at every class. With such a small group, it was no problem to get a great vantage point. He even came down and danced with me at one point, which was obviously a highlight (and I was thrilled I had Sue as a witness).

Another benefit of the small group size is that we really got to know everyone. We had lots of opportunities to interact with other participants as well as the Fitness Marshall crew. And between the resort and our host (Mind Body Spirit Vacations), there was no shortage of activities.

I was originally worried I would be one of the oldest people there, but there was a huge age range and people from all over the US. Everyone was so friendly, and we had tons of fun hanging out in the various pools, doing water aerobics, exploring the resort, and of course, dancing.

Post foam party in the pool

Channelling our innder bellydancer/Britney Spears

Our entire group on the last night

Totally fake laughter for a “candid” shot, plus a brilliant photo bomb

Because we can’t take a normal photo…

Hamming it up with the girls on the last night

Sue, looking less than thrilled with her meal

While the resort lacked good service and food, it was a jungle-esque location with an abundance of wildlife. Large iguanas were everywhere and not at all timid – I nearly stepped on one that was camouflaged with the sidewalk. The wild deer were not shy and wandered very close to the paths. Best of all, it was easy to spot wild monkeys in the trees!

On the down side, it seemed like most pool chairs were inundated with ants and we saw 2 snakes, one of which fell out of a tree right in front of us! (I don’t necessarily mind snakes, but I would prefer if they didn’t unexpectedly drop from the sky.)

I was pleased that my broken rib didn’t seem to be an issue. I quickly realized that any movements involving putting weight on my right knee or elbow, like crawling across the floor, wasn’t a good idea but I was able to do most of the class without risking a re-injury. It’s amazing to think that 7 weeks ago I was struggling just to sit up – the healing powers of the human body are impressive!

Sue and I had a fantastic time dancing, laughing, and drinking tequila. A resort of that size with unlimited alcohol meant terrific people-watching, and the on-site club was particularly entertaining. (There was one middle-aged guy on the stage in the club who poured a drink down his front, pissed his pants, and kept dancing. Seriously.)

All in all, it was a really great weekend spent with old and new friends, and I would do it again in an instant!

Statue — And in our usual fashion, we took time to mock some statues.

Live Aqua

Despite the fun weekend, I wasn’t sad to be leaving the mediocre resort for someplace with much better food. We made a stop for chilaquiles in Playa del Carmen before dropping Sue off at the airport. Then The German and I headed to Live Aqua in Cancun for a mini “vacation” before we parted ways for the summer.

We had been to this resort before, so we knew there would be no children in the pools (it’s an adult-only resort), a gorgeous stretch of beach, and great service and food. And given my prior 4 days, I had a new appreciation for the attentive service and friendly staff (and the fact that I could drink wine out of a wine glass instead of a disposable plastic cup).

We spent our days lounging on chairs by the pool, gazing at the turquoise ocean with frozen drinks in our hand.

What’s Next

So after an incredible 13 month adventure together, I am pretty sad to be spending the summer on the opposite coast from The German. He is off to NYC to participate in The Recurse Center (a 3 month programming retreat) while I will go back to SF. We have dealt with greater distances, but it will be strange not to see him every day. On the positive side, being apart will really allow him to focus on programming, and I will get to see all my friends (and my clothes!).

I will spend the summer petsitting for various friends around SF and doing some contract work (details on that are still being solidified). We also need to figure out where we want to live in the Fall, so consider that a cliffhanger!

Author: rachel