Digital Nomad Diaries: Puerto Escondido, Week 1

Puerto Escondido has been on my radar for a year. Everyone I know who's been here has absolutely raved about it.

The surfers, the sunsets, the food, the pace of life. It had built up a kind of mythological status in my head, the way a place does when enough people you trust tell you it changed something for them. I arrived with a full month ahead of me and expectations to match.

The Inevitable Rough Start

Week 1 was a lot.

The first few days were rough. As a full-time traveler, I've learned it usually takes me about four days to feel settled somewhere new. The disorientation, figuring out where to get coffee and where to work and what the rhythm of a place actually is. It passes. I know that now. But this time, I was also switching accommodations mid-week, which should have been my cue that this one would take a little longer than usual.

I arrived late Sunday night and spent the first few nights in a hotel while before my real accommodations were ready. The hotel was cute: lots of greenery, a pretty pool. But as with many places here, every common area was completely outdoors. And this is Puerto Escondido in peak heat season. We're talking feels-like 100 degrees, every single day, with high humidity to boot. With nowhere to escape except my bedroom, my body just couldn't relax. I never fully unpacked, I never fully exhaled, and I felt it in everything: my sleep, my focus, my mood. Living out of a suitcase for even a few days has a way of keeping your nervous system in transit mode.

Then Thursday happened

I moved into my coliving house, and it is stunning. Amplitude Co-living is brand new, less than six months old, and the entire place is pink. A beautiful, coastal sandy pink. I'm basically living in Barbie's Mexican dream house, and I’m loving it.

I got settled in and met my housemates. My favorite thing about staying at co-livings is the people and the community you find there. The people who choose this lifestyle tend to be super interesting, coming from various backgrounds and on different journeys. My housemates are digital nomads from all over the world, and within the first 24 hours, I was locked in with the group.

The week wrapped up in the best way. We had dinners out at spots around town, a couple of home-cooked meals from housemates sharing dishes from their own cultures (a personal favorite kind of evening), and one night that went wilder than planned and was completely worth it. The weekend was full recovery mode: slow beach walks, long brunches, catching up on the work that had quietly piled up while I was still finding my footing.

For the first time since I landed, I finally feel settled. Like I can actually be here, not just survive here.

Puerto Escondido, you have my full attention now. Week 2, let's go.