Back

Life Lessons & Reflections in Playa del Carmen | Day 320 of my 2023 Journal

Cecilie Conrad·Nov 17, 2023· 2 minutes

Farewell Playa: a confession

I have been unfair.

I have been complaining a lot about Playa del Carmen.

But really. For realsies.

What I like the most about this place is it gave me precisely what I was looking for. A full stop. Soon, we will leave, and staying here at the American Playground, aka Playa del Carmen, stopped us in our tracks and saved us from ourselves.

The Unexpected Pause in Playa del Carmen

When we initially booked this place, we were walking the Camino, not yet in that place of peace the Camino finally took us to, still in the overwhelmed place our XL year had taken us to. And we knew we needed to stop, breathe, think, and relax. We needed a pause from being on an adventure to focus on health, education, and work.

Playa has been perfect for that. Having Kenia and Sophia for the first half of the time and staying here “alone” for the other two weeks was exactly what we needed.

Insights from the American Playground

Had we had a car, we would have been out on day trips all the time. Had we been in a cultural powerhouse, we would have been absorbed in museums and theatres and architecture, so being a little “stuck” was the glue that made us stop for a while.

Watch out for what you ask for. You might very well get it. A life lesson I have learned several times.

At the same time, we have enjoyed the experience. This, too, is part of The World. The overpriced organic cafe, MORE expensive than in Copenhagen, was a nice hangout with Silke, and the extreme tourism was interesting to observe. I am trying to understand. The wild animals in the NO PHOTO place on Fifth must be highly illegal, the tired salespersons in the stores, the desperate mothers selling little things - I want to give them all money, but I know I can not.

I could, before I leave, buy a bracelet I don’t need.

With love

Cecilie-Underskrift-300x133

Cecilie Conrad

Thank you for reading
I would love to hear from you. Listen to your thoughts and reflections - or praise :) It is often emotional to share our lives like this, and we get very happy when we get your feedback. So feel free to share a comment below 😋 

See more images on Facebook

That's the big problem with the mindset behind consequences-based parenting at all levels. It's not actually about consequences, it's about power. It…Read more
How do you grasp every day? How do you structure your homeschool? I have been asked this question many times. Read more
We get many questions about homeschooling; here, I have collected the 6 most common questions and answered them. Hoping it will help you in your proc…Read more
Homeschooling is the most radical choice in the flock of different leaders in our family. What does homeschooling entail, and what on earth is it abo…Read more
Seven good reasons to co-sleep with your children and stay with them and tuck them in until they are completely asleep. Read more
For many women, their children are like a business card. They need to look neat, always. But do you respect your children less than other people's op…Read more
There are many who have asked me to write something about how I survived – and how our family got through it. And I also really want to share it. Read more
I was about to tell Storm that ‘Boys don’t have long hair.’ Most probably because he was simply so super-nice with that messy blonde hair that was cu…Read more
Sibling jealousy is rarely about the relationship between siblings. It is about the child experiencing that it is not seen by the mother and/or fathe…Read more