Pasta and a Handpan concert
When a musician comes along in a surf hostel
After one month at the surf hostel in Conil, Charlie had finally found some balance between work and life. Being a digital nomad isn’t always easy, especially when you have to work when others go surfing. This Friday was a quiet one for Charlie.
She was as usual the first one up at the hostel and working from the common room as the others slowly joined for breakfast. Frankie was planning to leave at 9 to the surf school in El Palmar and Charlie wanted to go with her to surf. Flavio who had arrived the day before had a surf lesson at 10 and Sabina joined them that day in the van.
A quiet surf town
Down in El Palmar, everything was quiet. It seemed that the season had officially ended on 1st November and all of Europe was going through a second wave of Coronavirus cases and back into lockdown. In Spain, every region had its own rules and the only restriction they had at that moment was a curfew between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Many flights had been canceled, including Charlie’s, and there weren’t any tourists coming to the region at that time. El Palmar was like a ghost town but Charlie kind of enjoyed that. It was very quiet in town and there was only one surfer in the sea that morning. They had the whole ocean to themselves!
After a good surf session, they decided to spend the rest of the day in El Palmar. Charlie had her laptop with her and got some work done at the bar next to the Take Surf School, Canibal Royal. It was always closed during the week and a good spot to work from. Sabina and Flavio went for a coffee to A-Frame – it was the only place in town that was open that day.
They joined Charlie again a bit later and whilst Sabina and Charlie were having coffee and cake (they do takeaways at A-Frame), Frankie drove Flavio back to the hostel. In the meantime, Charlie and Sabina had made a plan for the evening. Flavio was a professional musician and very skilled at the handpan. He had offered to play a little concert at the hostel, Charlie and Sabina were planning to cook for the whole group. Once the siesta was over (and the shop opened again), they went grocery shopping. It would be a big bowl of pasta with a vegetable sauce with Chorizo. Yum!
Evening surf session
They came back to the surf school when Frankie was about to close, just before 6 p.m. They still had about 30 minutes until sunset and the conditions looked good. Charlie and Frankie quickly changed into their wetsuits to get in the water. Charlie couldn’t find her contact lenses and decided to try it without them. The surfing worked because she was able to see contrasts, but it was dangerous as she couldn’t see the other surfers. It was an interesting experience though, especially on her way back. The currents had made her drift a bit down the coast. She knew approximately where she was, but she had a hard time finding the right exit from the beach because she couldn’t see anything. It is interesting to notice in these moments what you could recognize and were able to use as a pointer. The white building of the Nomad Market was a perfect point for orientation as it was also brightly lit up in the evenings. From there, Charlie could point towards the flags of Take Surf School and find her way. Sabina was very agitated as she had been worried about Charlie. That is a nice thing about surf friends: you always look out for each other.
Hostel nights
They were back at the hostel by 7.30 and Charlie took a quick, warm shower before they started cooking. They got a beer from the hostel bar and made their way through vegetables, Chorizo, and pasta. It was a feast! Everybody who was staying at Take Hostel was there that night and once they had finished eating, Flavio got his handpan out and the little concert started. The music reminds of the sounds of a meditation bowl and it got everybody into a sleepy, but happy mood.
Charlie fell to bed at 11 p.m., totally exhausted but content. She had spent a lovely day by the beach with the perfect balance of surfing, coffee, work, good company, and music. That’s how she liked her digital nomading!
