🇬🇧 It might be that the only reason we could give up our original plan and return home with some level of mental sanity was our decision to buy a campervan. We were lucky enough to find it during self isolation and buy it once we could freely move around the country. Our new home that brought some renewed sense of adventure.

🇸🇮 Pot domov je trajala okoli 65 ur: iz Cozumela v Mexico City, tam prenočitev v hotelu blizu letališča, naslednji večer do Madrida, pa še ena noč (tokrat v hotelu znotraj letališča, kot v enem bunkerju, zanimiva izkušnja) in potem jutranji let do Benetk. Žiga naju pričaka, kako lepo se je spet videt, čeprav se zdi, da sva bila na drugem koncu sveta samo nekaj tednov, ne pa pol leta. Na letališčih je vse zaprto zato lačni zavijemo na prvo pumpo, Italijani imajo res povsod dobro hrano. Midva seveda nisva nič slutila, ampak Žiga je bil zmenjen s Tajo in Ivanon, da nas presenetijo na Lomu – kakšen šok in veselje 🙂 pa še to na Ivanov rojstni dan. Hitro ugotoviva, da je tu vzdušje glede virusa dosti bolj sproščeno – vseeno se za dva tedna odpraviva v Rovte v izolacijo, v naravo, na svež zrak. Po poti se ustavimo še v Ljubljani, kjer nama Katja in Jan predata zaloge hrane za celo vojsko, z domačimi dobrotami, z že kuhano večerjo in presenečenji, kot jih samo onadva znata pripravit. Prekiniti potovanje je bilo težko in žalostno, ampak s takšno dobrodošlico se rane hitro zacelijo. Cel kup vas je, ki ste se veselili z nama, naju spremljali, bodrili, preverjali, če sva ok. Potovat je super, ampak pravo bogastvo je življenje delit s širokim krogom družine in prijateljev, doma ali pa na drugem koncu sveta ❤️

🇬🇧 Our trip took around 65 hours: from Cozumel to Mexico City, we spent the night in a hotel near the airport and flew the next evening to Madrid. Another night, this time in a bunker-like room inside the airport, and a morning flight to Venice, where Žiga picked us up – how nice it is to reunite, it feels like we’ve been gone only a couple of weeks. Our last proper meal was in Mexico city and even a snack is hard to find as everything is closed on airports, thankfully Italians have delicious food even on gas stations. We weren’t aware of anything but Žiga was plotting with Taja and Ivan to surprise us on the way – big shock and so much happiness. The attitude to the virus is much more relaxed here, but we decide nevertheless to isolate in the mountains for two weeks, to enjoy the nature and feesh air and sleep! Our last stop on the way is in Ljubljana, where Katja and Jan bring us so much food and home-made treats and dinner and surprises like only they know how. Granted, it was hard to stop our plans and return, but coming home to such wonderful people is amazing.

🇸🇮 Letenje v času pandemije je svojevrstna avantura. Držanje razdalje se jemlje resno, na letališču je prelepljen vsak drugi sedež, vkrcavanje na letalo poteka po vrstah, stojimo 2m narazen. Razen na letalu, kjer so prodani vsi sedeži in si malodane sediš v naročju. Tudi maske so obvezne povsod na letališčih in skozi celoten let. Razen ko strežejo hrano in pijačo. Pa na netu moraš poiskat in izpolnit vprašalnike o zdravstvenem stanju, vsaka država (iz Mehike preko Španije v Italijo) in letalska družba (letela sva s tremi različnimi) ima svoje. Poskenirali so ga samo v Madridu. Vsemu navkljub je šla pot gladko, nobenih odpovedi ali zamud, hvaležna za EU ker lahko pristaneš v katerikoli državo in si praktično že doma.

🇬🇧 Flying in times of this pandemics is an adventure in itself. The distance is taken seriously, in airports only every 2nd or 3rd seat is available, boardin is strictly by seats and you need to stand 2m apart at all times. Except on the flight where all the seats are sold and you seat as close to everyone as always. Masks are obligatory from enering the airport to exiting at your destination, except when they serve food and drinks during flights. You have to actively search online to find health questionaires that is different for every country (we flew Mexico-Spain-Italy) and every airline (we used three different ones), but they only checked it in Madrid. We were lucky that everything went smoothly though, no cancelations or delays. We might avoid flying for a good while though 🙂

🇸🇮 Po zares neštetih debatah in ugibanjih in podaljševanju do zadnjega je padla odločitev: kupiva karte za domov. Štiri meseci čakanja in upanja so naju utrudli, v Mehiki ni bilo enega dneva predaha od tega virusa in stvari se (sodeč po objavah v medijih) samo še slabšajo. Letalske karte dobiva za 24. julij, na zadnji 180-ti dan najine mehiške vize. Zdaj samo še miritev živcev, ugotavljanje procesov na letališčih in upanje, da grejo vsi trije leti po planu.

🇬🇧 After countless discussions and four months of guessing, hoping, wishful thinking we have decided: we’re flying home. This virus has worn us down and it seems like things are only getting worse in the region, and in the world – countries are mostly closed and those that opened the borders mostly demand all sorts of tests and money deposits. We got tickets for 24th of July, the last day of our 180-day Mexican visa. Now all that is left is hoping that all three flights happen as planned.

… deserves a separate post because during those months when days seemed endless and the news were always bad, meeting her brought back the fun and laughter and the easinest of human connection.

Thanks for teaching us about Mexican cousine and culture and slang, for the Mariachi, and for Cozumel. This pinche virus turned everything uspide down but it also brought us together. We hope to see you soon, wherever!

🇸🇮 Marianin prijatelj Pablo naju je razsvetlil, kako velik kulturni in športni dogodek je vsakoletni Ironman, ki se ga je tudi sam udeležil. Res sva opazila, da z vsakim dnem več ljudi kolesari, plava in teče, kar je za Mehiko zelo nenavadno. Miha je takoj zagrabil priložnost in odkolesaril s Pablotom 65 km dolg krog okoli otoka, pa čez nekaj dni še enega, zdaj že sam kolesari in celo Tino je prepričal (in prešlepal v zavetrju). Zdaj pa nov izziv: koliko km bova nabrala, preden zapustiva Cozumel?

🇬🇧 We met Pablo on a beach day with Mariana, and learned how proud the locals were of their yearly Ironman event, which Pablo also completed. It turns out many people regularly bike, train swimming in the crystal clear sea and run in the Malecón – with days passing and the island slowly opening, we certainly noticed a lot of people practicing outdoors, which is quite unusual (this part of) for Mexico. Miha was stoked to join Pablo on the 65km ride around the island, and another one in a few days, and then it was time for Tina to give it a go as well. Now the challenge is, how many km can we collect before we leave?

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🇸🇮 Cozumel sodi med najboljše potapljaške destinacije Karibov, na povprečen dan v visoki sezoni se tu potaplja okoli 2500 ljudi! Ni bilo nobene dileme, da narediva vsaj par potopov, čeprav so cene res ameriške. Ima pa soseda od Cynthie tu kjer stanujeva svoj potapljaški center, tako da je bila organizacija enostavna, potopi pa res čudoviti – sicer brez znamenitega močnega toka, ampak vseeno z odlično vidljivostjo, čisti sami na vseh lokacijah, s krasnimi formacijami in pestrim podvodnim življenjem.

🇬🇧 Cozumel is among the top diving spots in the Caribbean and surely the most popular diving spot in Mexico. On a normal high season day, with all the cruiseships visiting, around 2500 people dive on the reef here! We didn’t think twice to take advantage of the empty island, and as Cynthia’s neigbour Marion (or Mariana, as she introduces herself in Spanish) has a diving company it was easy to organize. We had the boat to ourselves, and the reef as well, without the typical strong currents but with still excellent visibility. Marianna even took pictures so we felt completely spoilt by the service and amazing dives, with impressive formations and a lot of life underwater!

🇸🇮 Sva mislila, da niti slučajno ne bova rabila 180 dni vize, ki jo Mehika podeli tujcem ob vstopu. Pa morava ta teden na urad za tujce vprašat za podaljšanje, ker kot zgleda do konca julija še ne bova letela nikamor! Te dni uživava na Cozumelu, zato je malo lažje sprejemat to zmešano situacijo po svetu.

🇬🇧 We were sure that 180 days of tourist visa in Mexico will be more than enough, and what do you know – this week we have to ask for a prolongation at the immigration office because we won’t be able to fly anywhere yet in July! They say adventure is the willingness to accept an uncertain outcome. We’re enjoying Cozumel these days so it’s a lot easier to accept the madness of the situation around the world.

🇸🇮 Cozumel je največji mehiški otok, obdan s čudovitim karibskim morjem. Večina ljudi tu živi od križarskega turizma, v sezoni jih je čez dan tu parkiranih tudi do 12!! Maji so na tem otoku častili boginjo plodnosti Ixchel, njej posvečeni templji so privabili romarje in posebno romarke iz celotnega Yucatana.

Ko smo pripluli na otok s Chyntio, Christianom in psom Jaggerjem, smo prišli praktično v mesto duhov – vse turistične trgovine in bari zaprti, par lokalnih taco stojnic, odprlo pa je tudi nekaj beach klubov. Na polno smo uživali te dni skupaj, prevozili otok, pojedli kar je bilo odprtega in končno smo lahko šli na plažo. Redka priložnost izkusit Cozumel kot je nekoč bil, in kot skoraj nikoli ni, s plažami in morjem, ki so tri mesece počivali brez gromozanskih križark in tisočih turistov.

🇬🇧 Cozumel is the biggest Mexican island located in the Caribbean Sea, a popular cruise ship port with as many as 10 or 12 big cruiseships parked here during the day in high season! For the Maya, the island was sacred to the Moon Goddess Ixchel, and the temples here were a place of pilgrimage from all over the Yucatan peninsula, especially by women desiring fertility.

When we arrived with Cynthia, Chrystian and Jagger, the island was still pretty much shut down, with only a few restaurants and beach clubs open. That didn’s stop us from spending a few fun days trying all the food, going to the beach and playing La Loteria. We made the best out of the island as it once was, and as it almost never is: without thousands of tourists roaming around, the touristic shops closed, the beaches and sea recovered from the absence of humongous ships.

🇸🇮 Že nekaj tednov naju srbijo podplati, potovala bi pa se ta virus še kar ne umirja. Sva mislila še malo podaljšat stanovanje v Playi, ko pa naju Cynthia povabi na Cozumel za nekaj dni, se na hitro odločiva spakirat vse stvari in vrnit stanovanje. Super občutek, sploh ker potujeva z lokalci in lahko v miru odkrijeva, kako zgleda ta nova realnost.

🇬🇧 We have been very eager to change environment, so when Cynthia invited us to Cozumel for a few days, we decided on a whim to pack our stuff, leave the apartmemt and pretend to be traveling again! It feels great to be on the move, with the added feeling of peace to be traveling with locals and discover what this new reality looks like.