The fair is in town. We went over the weekend, ate tacos, got drunk, threw up (it was the tacos!), saw men with fully automatic weapons guarding the merry go round. Normal circus stuff.
Lifetime Collective & Lou Barlow
The boys over at Lifetime Collective recently partnered with the sleeper hit music festival of the summer, Sled Island. Somewhere between the chaos of peddling bikes between parties and as much and rock and roll as they could fit into a week, some genuine moments were captured on film. Watch the above video to get a behind the scenes look at how greats like Lou Barlow create their music.
Check out more on the Lifetime Collective Facebook page. After that, put on some Lou Barlow and get back to work.
Later: Old Website, Welcome: Later Mag
The old Love & Rum is gone... again.
Fact: This website goes through more changes than it does actual writing. I guess I like changing the look of this place more than I enjoy having to read my own stories. Personal blogs are always a kind of vanity project. They have no real goal other than to share your own life with the few who may be interested just enough to suffer 600 words worth of rambling and a few Instagrams worth of bragging. Self roast. I'm getting married, you can't roast me.
Getting out of Dodge: Tyler Quarles
Have you ever felt like just packing it in and shipping out? Sure you have. We all suffer from crazy eyes every now and again.
This is the first post in a new series called, Getting out of Dodge. Interviews dedicated to the eject button. The how, why and where of relocation, but don’t call it an escape.
This quote has at one point or another appeared in your Facebook newsfeed by that person who posts motivational posters about the universe all day long,
Sometimes you have to get lost in order to be found.
While I don’t know much about self-discovery, I do agree with half of this quote. Sometimes you just have to get lost. So put some money in the bank, book a ticket and go get lost.
Six months ago Tyler Quarles packed up his apartment and headed off to Sydney with his girlfriend, Paige. Now that he’s been there half a year, I thought it was about time to check in on the ol’ boy. Because Australia is upside down and TQ is sleeping while I’m awake, and I’m sleeping while he’s awake, below is our email interview…
Love & Rum: TQ, you’re from Vancouver. A damned fine city! The Economist ranked itThe Most Liveable City in the World in 2011. Why the hell would you want to get out of Beautiful Dodge?
Tyler Quarles: Ah yes, Vancouver, the land of plenty. Plenty of great people, restaurants, mountains and coastline. However, I had never taken any sort of time “off” or time to slow down and I knew I wouldn’t be able to if I stayed in Vancouver with all of that around me. Also, the chance to live somewhere else in the world and return home with a different perspective on it all was a rad factor. I had seen so many friends do it and needed to know I could too.
L&R: So you gave it the ol’ college try. Did you think with your short-term plan to only stay for six months, that it might turn into a longer stay when you first left? Or was it just what it was, a hiatus? TQ’s Surf Sabbatical!
TQ: This one was just a six month surf sabatical, yes. There are several pieces of the puzzle that would have had to have fallen into place if I wanted to stay longer. Mostly employment and visa stuff.
L&R: Finances, my man. Finances. For good, responsible reasons, this seems to be the barrier for most. How did you get it going enough to roll out?
TQ: I saved my pennies like crazy and was always punching some sort of working time clock before I left. Never turning down a project. I even created a special savings account with my bank for a trip or something else large like this.
L&R: How did you keep making money from afar?
TQ: Well, most people were cool with me working from abroad, or at least were at first (since we talk mostly on Skype anyways).
That being said, I was looking for some sort of time away from design. Time to gather my thoughts and get some new inspiration. Sydney has been amazing for showcasing design and art. I hope to bring its level of quality and creativity back to Vancouver with me.
L&R: Enough about work and money. There has to be a question or two about booze in here. Did you pick up any drinks down there that you now love which will be hard to find back home?
TQ: They make quite a nice Old Fashioned here. (Editor’s Drink Note: If you like an Old Fashioned, check out our recipe.) Make sure you order from a local Aussie though, backpackers know very little about drink making — drink slamming though, they have that down.
We enjoyed a few frangelico shots. It’s a hazelnut liqueur that I’m sure you can get at most specially liquor stores but is a staple here everywhere.
Coopers for beer has been great (Pale Ale or the Stout). There aren’t too many “dark” beers here. Most bar-keeps say Sol is their darkest beer on tap. I know, right? Maybe it’s the heat, maybe it’s the centuries of Victorian Bitters and Fosters.
They do, however, like their ciders. I’m not the biggest fan. It reminds me of drinking fizzy “bitch juice” drinks (as we so politely used to call them) in friends’ basements as a youth.
A place here in Bondi called The Flying Squirrel has the best new concoction to me which I look forward to making at home. They dub it the “Jerry Ginger Jar” which to my fuzzy memory is a few heathy shots of Sailor Jerry’s Rum, Ginger Beer (the fermented alcoholic kind), lime, and served over ice in a masons jar. Very tasty.
L&R: Did you get loc’d out at a favourite bar over there that you’ll miss?
TQ: My girlfriend worked at The Flying Squirrel so I was there a lot. It’s run by a solid Canadian, Brody Peterson. I will miss their tapas and drink menu. They started serving morning coffees too and I will miss DanoChinos (made by Dan – who else?). Eau De Viedowntown will be missed for sure. Best cocktail bar in the city. Amazing.
L&R: You’ve been gone half a year… What do you miss most about home?
TQ: The homies and the family. It will be nice to have the luxury of being in the same timezone as them and be able to call or text at a moment’s notice. The “support group” if you will. Other than that, I miss my motorbike, our band, cold water from the tap, normal electrical outlets, proper broadband wireless, living room seating (don’t ask), quality sushi, and snowboarding in winter.
L&R: Has spending half a year on the other half of the world made you want to get out of Dodge more, or less? Would you do it all again?
TQ: Absolutely. I’m super lucky to be on this career path that can lead to travel and new experiences in different parts of the world.
I think it was a great thing to realize that we can do it. Next time I will do more in preparation to try and work where I will be in hopes of not only supplementing the cost of living but also gain new friendships and a more keen local’s eye to the city with co-workers.
I’m hoping to get a dog when I return home so I don’t know how easy it will be regarding that, but strings can be pulled…
That’s it, that’s all.
I have heard said of Tyler,
“He’s too nice. Nobody is that positive. I don’t trust him.”
If this follows to be true, and Tyler is not to be trusted for all his cheer and candour, then I can assure you when things go awry he will be found smiling at his court date, personally thanking the prosecution for showing up and waving across at you while he takes the stand. (Taken from a Proof I wrote for VIA about Tyler a few years back).
Visit Tyler’s Tumblr Travel Log, fittingly labeled, Best Day Ever!
The Coast of Cozumel
We have now been living in Playa del Carmen, Mexico for about two months. People adapt, and for me there hasn’t been much need for it other than adjusting to the absence some dear friends. That’s no small thing, but with an exception here or there, I have worked from home for a decade and everything still feels the same. With more sweat.
Katy’s story is slightly different as her entire career path has shifted. She works in a different environment, with different people, a different product and a different commute. Her climate change has been more than temperature.
Acclimatization of a lady aside, it’s been an affirmation of the obvious, but something we had been thinking for a long time: This is the right move.
As we continue to live down here we would like to write about some highlight items from our experience. Something to share with friends thinking of visiting us and for potential tourists to see what kind of bottles and activities you can get into down here. This post? Sailing off the coast of Cozumel.
We recently booked a trip through Dan and Karen who own Cozumel Sailing. It was a Saturday sunset sail that lasted about three hours with one of our best friends, Amanda Ames who was in town visiting. Sailing, as with living in the Caribbean, has been a longtime goal of mine. At least I’ve talked about it enough for it to feel that way. If we’re drinking together and I haven’t brought up jumping off the bow of a boat, we haven’t had enough.
Other than taking out a small Hobie Cat on our own off the shores of Playacar, we hadn’t been on a real sailboat in our time here until last weekend.
And so we did. And so it was great. We took a taxi north from the main square in Cozumel to Puerto de Abrigo where we met the owner, Dan. After getting us a quick drink and taking some time to chat, Dan handed us off to Captain Juan and his Captain’s Mate, Toby. The two of them were skilled sailors willing to take us wherever we wanted to go. South was perfect.
Before sunset we slowed the boat over the clear, turquoise water just south of Puerto de Abrigo. I swallowed the rest of my beer, the three of us each took back a good ounce of tequila and jumped in. We finished, climbed back aboard and continued south until sunset.
The sunset was beautiful, but different than the way it is from land. The boat moves with the sea. There are no sounds of cars passing by or glasses clanking or the chatter of others. It wasn’t like the sunsets from our home in Vancouver, which have their own qualities. It was something new. It was only the sound of the ocean lapping against the hull. It was only the sound of the sails. It was all kinds of literary if that’s what you wanted. For us? It was plain beautiful. If you think simple is beautiful, staring at a sunset from a boat in the Caribbean Sea is about as simple as it gets.
We headed back after sunset. We took one more evening swim in the dark.
Below I’ll share some pictures I took during the day. If you’re headed to the Riviera Maya and you want to go sailing, give Cozumel Sailing a try.
“If you aren’t happy with BBQ chicken wings, beer, cigars, ladies and the sea… you may never be.”