Yes, it’s true — I’m writing this blog from Jamaica. And last week I updated it from Trinidad, and then from Barbados.
To anyone in North America and Europe who is celebrating the arrival of 50 degree weather, I am living some kind of dream, and MUST be loving it.
Well, I am loving it…! I have to tell you that triathlon training takes on a different spin, when I’m cycling down to Port Royal with the sea on both sides, and the John Crow mountains in the background, or running on the Savannah and having a cold coconut water to refresh myself afterwards, or swimming at 5:30 am in the clear, blue waters of Rockleigh.
Hey, I’ve worked in London, Austria and Toledo, Ohio in the dead of winter. There’s a reason it’s called “dead!”
At the same time, giving up an apartment in Florida and having one here in Jamaica (i.e. really moving back) has its challenges that I won’t go into in a broad way, but I’d like to share in some of the small ways.
— yesterday I went to the plazas in Liguanea and was pleasantly surprised by the very friendly customer help I received. I mean, it was GOOD. Kudos to Western Sports for having more Pumas than any shop I’ve seen in the US, including my blue and yellow track shoes. Now, how did they figure out how to price them at about 60% of the price I paid online??????
— at the same time, I went into Sugar and Spice/Tastee Pattee shop where the staff manifested that “I don’t give a rat’s ass that you’re a customer” attitude…” that I’ve seen at the worst stores in every country I’ve been to (Brazil not included — they seemed to be universally friendly there).
There will be more on this topic to share as time goes on, and what I’d love to do is explode some of the myths about moving back to Jamaica, and the differences regarding doing business in Jamaica and North America.