The Monthly Rundown: February 2018

by | Mar 9, 2018

I managed to stay in the one country, India, for all of February as planned.

The month started in North Goa before heading down to South Goa where the majority was spent (a quick trip to Gokarna to break up South Goa) and finishing in Mumbai.

Cities Visited

agonda beach

Agonda Beach, South Goa, India

(the links takes you to the location on Google Maps)

Stadiums & Arenas

None 🙁 Well I did pop into Duler Stadium in North Goa, but didn’t get a chance to explore at all. Goa is a bit bigger than I realised. I was planning to go to a Goa FC match but it was sold out (it was a holiday weekend).

>>>The Highlight Reel<<<

Getting To Hang Out With Cool People (a.k.a. cool friends)

sunset north goa

I didn’t take any photos with friends. Let alone any photos this month really! (this is a North Goa sunset)

My buddy Stefania who I stayed with in Barcelona last year came to India to hang out for the month! We both had some accommodation vouchers to use so sleeping in non-dorm rooms was a change for me. We spent the first 9 days in Mandrem, North Goa, which was a relaxing town compared to the hectic Arambol a few minutes up the road. We then headed down to Palolem in the south for a couple weeks where we were eventually joined by Alex and Gloria. Most of the month was spent working in cafes, but we did have a couple of adventures. It was simply cool hanging out with each other! One of my mottos for 2018 is to spend more time with existing friends. So far so good!

Ooo, I also got to catch up with Diana for a day in Mumbai. She’s awesome and it was totally worth leaving Goa a couple days early to see her! We met in Kerala last year, so it was fun to meet up in India again.

Having Easy Access To The Beach

north goa run

Beach runs during Blue Hour are the bestest

Ever since learning to swim this time last year, I’ve enjoyed spending time near the beach so much more. Most of the month was spent within walking distance of the beach (or at one point in Palolem on the beach front) and it was great to have such easy access. I was usually running on the beach but did go swimming, meditating, and sunsetting throughout the month.

Exploring Gokarna

gokarna main beach

Looking out from the temple to the south of Gokarna Main Beach

Goa was great, but I was getting pretty itchy feet after a few weeks. That culminated in deciding to take a two-night trip (extended to four-nights) to Gokarna, 60km south of Goa. Wholly, this place is relaxed. The town is sleepy, few people are hassling you and there are a couple of beaches you can only reach by foot (read: pretty empty). It was a great few days, I could have hung out here much longer as the people at the hostel were awesome too!

Interviewing Rohan

After visiting the Blades of Glory cricket museum in January, I wanted to write a post about the museum. I’ve also wanted to dabble in interviewing so I asked the Founder Rohan if he’d be willing to chat on Skype. He said yes! We had a great chat for 30 minutes and wow, he has some incredible stories. Full post will be up in the next few days.

>>>The Fumbles<<<

The Train To Mumbai

palolem beach running

Finishing up my last run along Palolem Beach

Ugh, so I was trying to book a train from Goa to Mumbai and it was so much harder than I expected. I went to Canacona Train Station in South Goa to book the tickets. But apparently, they don’t sell them there. It was then a battle with various travel agencies to figure out a new plan (without getting ripped off). Some said train tickets were sold out, others didn’t and quotes for a bus to Mumbai were all over the shop as well. Why can’t there be consistency! #India

In the end, I rocked up to the bus station in Margao on the night I wanted to leave and got a bus right away for 1100 INR, lower than any price quoted by agencies in Palolem.

That was the only let down this month I think? Can’t argue with that.

What I Finished Reading In February 2018

local bus ride in india

Catching the local bus to North Goa

After getting off to a hiss and a roar with lots of books in January, I didn’t read nearly as much in Feb. Still got a few in though.

  • Crushing It by Gary Vaynerchuk – 7.5/10. I’ve been a big Gary Vee fan for a few years now so was always going to get his latest book. This book is a bit cocky in that it justifies what Gary has been saying for years, but that’s Gary’s style. Some of the case studies I hadn’t heard of before which was great and if I really took the time to focus on what of the strategies in the book, it’d probably work. But the book didn’t wow me, to be honest. If anything, I took away the lesson of being careful who you listen too and follow their advice to the T.
  • Arnold Palmer: A Life Well Played by Arnold Palmer – 9/10. Unfortunately, I wasn’t alive to witness the great battles of Jack and Arnie as they wowed the crowd on the golf course. This book was a bunch of short stories from Arnie and they were told so well that left me with a range of emotions. The world should be grateful this book was completed before he passed away. Anyone familiar with Arnie will appreciate this book and I’m sure you’ll learn some stuff about him you never knew.
  • Martin Johnson Autobiography – 6/10. I picked up the hard copy of this at a random bookshop in Goa, winning. Given I took over a month to get 95% of the way through the book it’s fair to say it wasn’t my favourite book ever. There were some great insights into the Lions Tours of the past with Martin taking a direct approach in his thoughts about the tours as he is known for. This leads to him openly criticizing his actions and those of others at times. There weren’t enough gems in here though. What made him really tick? If anything I learned from Martin, it’s to just keep showing up and people will notice you.

    • New Blog Posts From February

    There was two new posts in February plus the January Rundown.

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