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| While they rarely know what a T-Shirt says, you can believe they understand this one! |
I am asked this quite a bit. It is tough to answer because my days vary so much. Much of my day revolves around doing the videos, so we will just assume that and talk about the other things.
I think the questions come from self-interest. In other words… what will I be doing and will I be bored to death? I think that depends so much on the person. If you speak little Spanish and have little interest in learning, you will likely surround yourself with familiar things and stay in a lot. It is easy enough to become a secluded couch potato. Now and then I will practice that craft myself.
I generally wake without alarm from 5-6 AM. I think you can be as interested or as bored as you choose. For me, much of my days I will simply go for a walk. While I lean toward the “anti-social” end of the spectrum, I love to people watch. There is plenty of ammunition for that hobby! In fact, a few of my favorite things to notice are as follows.
I love to look at T-Shirts. I would love to do a video on them. It amazes me. Nearly all are in English, and I would wager that few of the wearers have no clue what they say. It reminds me of the people that get Chinese tattoos with some deep meaning only to learn it is a recipe for soup. Or an ad for Huawei. Because of that, you can see some hilarious or embarrassing (did I just repeat myself?) T-Shirts walking around. It is a bit like an outdoor sport that must be WAY better than bird watching.
Another people-watching related thing is to simply view the interactions. Now that sounds mundane, right? It sounds obvious. However, here in Armenia, it is the next level. You have to see it to understand it. But I love watching people go out of their way for others. You see taxis waving pedestrians across an intersection even when they have the green light. Or you see pedestrians notice they have a fare aboard and wave them on. Where else is that done? It amazes me constantly, for I see it constantly. I see seats on the bus given up for others (Ecuador could learn something from that) or doors held open for a stranger. If someone appears to be lost or confused, there is no shortage of people that will stop to inquire if they need help.
One day I was waiting outside the Movistar office to open. In front of that office on a short wall sits a man, every day. He has artificial legs and is quite old. Likely a victim of the FARC war of the past. Every few times I go past Ill drop a 1000P in his cup. But on this day, I saw this young school girl (catholic uniform, hell kitty backpack) coming his way. She got to him and rummaged around in her purse. She took out all her coins. She looked at him and back at her coins. She dropped all of them in his cup, then quickly went back on her way. You just know she has very kind parents that she loves and respects.
Some days I will sit and have bottled water (carbonated, called agua con gas) at an outdoor cafe. Again I repeat myself because they are all outdoor. I will sit for an hour, taking video clips now and then but mostly just watch the world go by. There is so much happening, and in such a positive way, it feels refreshing.
Sometime during the day, I will use the gym I have as part of my building. I do not keep up with it ever since I hurt my leg, and need to get back on it. Being sloppy for a few weeks can become a habit. But in general, I will be there an hour, spending 20 minutes on the bike and 40 minutes on the universal gym machine. Earbuds in, listening to music of course, and thinking about video topics.
What else? when I can afford it (had some issues in the past 4 months), I will jump on a bus to visit a local area/town.
I also have been “Dating”. A lot. Since Manizales, I have been actively looking for a girlfriend. The permanent kind. I am way too picky. I have yet to find someone I want to keep. On the other hand, I have met many very nice people. I know most guys want to know all about this process but unless it is in person, I prefer to keep details to myself. I have no intention to talk about someone or post their picture in some frivolous way. But I can tell you I have met with dozens. All ages, sizes, and colors. While I am really picky, the physical attributes are not what I am so picky about. So this takes up some of my time as well. I can actually recommend this process as you will meet many new friends.
I will go down to “El Centro” and walk around, checking out items quality and prices. I will go to the malls and do the same. I spend a fair amount of time on the internet mostly researching one topic or another. Often, for a video I plan to do, but also for myself as well. I tend not to believe anything I read especially when it comes to politics, so I spend time looking at sources. Scientific American is a fav site for me, and I will also look at speeches and lectures on youtube so I can hear first hand what someone has to say. I really hate getting interpretations of something when I can see it all, in context, for myself. I probably spend 2 hours a day on this.
I have various social media but actually, don’t spend a ton of time on them. I have twitter and never look at it. I actually despise the format. I have Instagram and look for maybe 3-5 minutes in the morning. I have facebook and will scan for comments and comment on something that I find of interest, and I monitor the group I have, Adventure in Gran Colombia. With a few exceptions now and then, I rarely will spend more than 10 minutes in a day on social media platforms.
Later in the evening, usually after 9PM I will binge watch some sort of TV or movies. I generally go to sleep around 2AM. I use Stremio mostly. I really should cancel Netflix. While cheap it really is a waste of money. Stremio gives me everything I want to watch anyway. Now and then a show I want to see will have a bad source and buffer too much, in which case I will check it out on Kodi. An example is Gordon Ramseys 24 hour show. On Stremio it never has a good source. But on Kodi, I can watch no problem. I watch on my laptop, located on a tall table next to my bed. Why no TV? Well when it is just me, a 17″ screen a foot away is fine. One day when I straighten out my finances I will buy one for when I have company in the future (as in a girlfriend). Until then this works fine. I do have 2 firesticks so when that day comes I will still have the programs. If you are paying for cable, I have to say it is a bit wasteful. I need no VPN and pay nothing yet I can watch more than any cable provider has to offer. Thin about that.
That is essentially my daily list of things that I do. Of course, I left out the skype calls (getting more on the consulting thing) as well as a host of other things that come along infrequently. Most of the day is video work. It is pretty much a full-time job.
So what can you do if you move here? The sweet answer is, anything you want! Write a book. Start a business. Travel around. Make friends. Go out to dinners. Ride a bike. Whatever you care to do, you can do it. I can tell you that even if you tend to be sedate, this environment will likely drag you out of it. it is too enjoyable out there to ignore. What do you do to stay busy in your life?