Category: Travel

My first tears in Mexico were shed over the difficulty in obtaining my controlled substance medication here – Zolpidem aka Ambien, a medication I have used for over 10 years and sadly, that I need. Mexico only has a handful of controlled substances and of course, my medication would be one.

I’ve gone two routes getting my prescription here: the legal way with a doctor’s prescription and the illegal way of getting it from a – what I’ll call – “lenient” pharmacy.

Zolpidem is available in a few different brands in Mexico: Stillnox, Nochte, Notix and some others. Stillnox and Nochte prices vary from $2100-$3000 pesos ($100-150 USD). Notix is a generic brand and I’ve found it for $1700 pesos without a prescription, and $1200 with a prescription (+ $600 pesos local-priced doctor visit).

Overall, it’s been easier to get the medication at a “lenient” pharmacy since it ends up being nearly the same price as going to the doctor for a prescription.

Last night, I used my last tablet and it was time to hit the streets to find my medicine this morning. Little did I know, I would be out for over 3 hours and realize how much resiliency I have built up here.

I packed my US prescription bottle in my purse and headed out to the more local street, av 30 in Playa del Carmen to start my search. I pop into every pharmacy I see, which is 1-2 per block nearly. I show them the bottle and ask if they have it “sin receta” (without a prescription). Some told me that I needed a prescription (Farmacias YZA, Ahorro, FarmaValue, Similares).

Outside of FarmaValue, I stopped for a caramel iced coffee at a cart. Sat at the cart, enjoyed my coffee and mapped out where I’d look next.

The lenient pharmacies only had the brands that cost over $100 USD and I was only going to pay that if absolutely necessary by the end of the day. I continued my search for the cheaper brand – Notix.

After no luck at about 15 pharmacies, I took a pit stop in Forever 21, Librería Gandhi book store (bought Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell), and Sephora.

My route next took me down the infamous 5th Avenue, where I found another four pharmacies within two blocks, which were all out of Notix as well. By this point, I started to weigh the pros and cons of popping into my doctor’s office for a prescription.

I decided that’s the best thing to do and walked a few blocks over to the walk-in clinic of Dr. Bernardo Diaz. I was in and out in 10 minutes with my prescription in hand.

FarmaValue was the cheapest, so I headed back there. Once there, I say hello again and show them my prescription. They then inform me that they can’t fill it even with a prescription, because it’s a controlled substance. So I head down to Farmacia Bazar, where I have successfully gotten this medication with prescription for $1200 pesos before.

I dropped by Walmart on the way to check if I could get it in the pharmacy there – they don’t have it.

Farmacia Bazar only had two brands that are over $100 (with my prescription) and I told her that I will keep looking. She told me that they restock on Thursdays and Fridays, so they might have it next week. I don’t have time to wait for that.

I ran into by Mega Soriana pharmacy – they didn’t have it. I stopped at Farmacias Similares – they didn’t have it.

No idea why I wasn’t losing faith. I almost felt encouraged to overcome the challenge of finding it at this point.

I stopped back at the first YZA pharmacy that I started at today, which is only a few blocks from my house. They have Notix! AND it’s $800 pesos ($40 USD)… I’ve never even seen it this cheap before! I buy it and let out a huge sigh of relief when I stepped outside.

On the way home, I bought a $45 peso smoothie and two vegetarian tamales from a cart for $70 pesos.

This is what real life as a digital nomad looks like.

In February, I completed my open water PADI certification with Liz at Jaguar Divers in Playa del Carmen, Mexico and I could not recommend her more! I am not being compensated for this review, I genuinely want to share my experience.

I had tried scuba once before many years ago and failed the mask clearing skill due to pure panic. I have wanted to get my open-water (OW) cert but have been scared since then. A friend completed her cert with Liz and recommended her to me. 

Upon reaching out to Liz and telling her my fear of the mask clearing skill, she gave me encouragement and recommendations for how to work on this at home/in my pool. This made me feel from the get go that her motivation is definitely successful students! 

She sent me a PDF book and videos to watch and study for the theory and written portion of the certification, and we scheduled out our days. She checked on me occasionally before our meet days to see how my studying was going, which was a nice accountability. PS- You DO need to actually study. 

Day One

We met to review the book work and any areas I had questions about. She took the time, drew pictures, showed me equipment, etc to make sure I understood. I then had to take section quizzes, we went over the answers and explanations again. Finally, my 50-question final exam. After that, we fitted me for my equipment. Liz provides all your equipment for you, including a dive computer to use to learn with (which apparently isn’t so common).

Day Two

On the second day, we headed to Casa Cenote in Tulum for our closed-water dives and skills. We spent time going over the equipment, how to set up the rig, how to check your own setup to prep for a dive and your buddy’s. Then to the water! This Cenote is beautiful and so so perfect for learning to dive, and let’s be honest… a Cenote > pool.

We worked on about 15 dive skills, including my nemesis mask-clearing skill. Liz was SO patient and encouraging with me. I took 20 minutes to muster up the courage to fill my mask and Liz just patiently allowed me the time I needed and wrote me some underwater notes to encourage me. We then took dive 1, which I remember nothing about because I was in a slight panic. Normal.

We had a quick lunch of sandwiches we brought, learned to change tanks and headed back to the water for part 2 of skills (30 total) and at the end, our second dive of the day, which by this point I was able to begin to enjoy! Diving in a Cenote is super special and magical.

Casa Cenote is well-known for a crocodile that lives there. We were very lucky to catch a glimpse of her at the end of our dive!

Day Three

The last day, we went out with a dive boat for ocean dives 3 and 4. We went to much deeper depths (around 60 feet) in these dives and I had to perform some of my skills in the salt-water, including removing my mask. We had two lovely dives where we worked on buoyancy, relaxing and enjoying the essence of diving. We saw incredible amounts of fish, two sharks and two turtles during these dives. I also learned how to enter and exit the water from a boat, how to disassemble and clean equipment.

I am confident that Liz is why I was able to get through this certification with my anxiety and fear. I am so grateful I found and chose her as my instructor. 

If you are curious or committed to your OW certification (and beyond), Liz is your person! She is highly skilled as a diver and instructor. She is quick to respond (in and out of the water), calming, warm, empathic and encouraging. I can’t wait to do more dives with her — and I hope you choose to experience diving with Liz! 

I’m locking up my barred door on my studio apartment in Playa del Carmen, Mexico to head out for a piece of cake at a nearby bakery. It’s 8:15pm and after locking the door, I see my new neighbor in the building next door sitting on the steps outside of her apartment. I’ve seen her a few times and once waved to her from my apartment when I saw her looking, but we’ve never talked. 

I say hi and ask her what her name is. We do the ever-so-typical exchange of where are you from and how long have you been living here. Her name is Felicity and she’s from Montreal. She appears to be in her mid-twenties with a bright, uplifting voice and a sweet French accent. I tell her that I am on my way out to get a pastry and invite her to come with me, she accepts. 

As we are walking down the side of the street as you do in Mexico, we glide through conversation about moving, living abroad, traveling. She asks me what brought me on this journey and I condense the story as well as I can. I explain my necessity of meeting and connecting with other humans, which I personally feel can’t be done when you travel too quickly.

Many digital nomads are in one city and off to the next within 1-2 weeks. That is not enough time to create safety and bonding with other humans. Sure, you can connect on the Gram and following one another’s stories for the next 5 years until you bump into each other waltzing down the street in London randomly, but that’s not what I seek. These hollow connections are everywhere in a city like this where everyone is using it as a jumping off or heading home point.

So I have chosen a slightly different avenue, which is lovingly referred to as “slow-mading” – a nomadic life where you spend ample time in each location. Ample time is defined on your own accord, and for me – it will be whatever time feels right. I will stay as long as it feels good, and I will leave when my heart tells me it’s time. 

As we’re sitting at the pasteleria eating our brownie cheesecake, we discuss how we both no longer have a “home” to go back to in our home countries. I moved out of my house and it was sold. Felicity moved out of her apartment. When we return to visit, we will stay with friends of family. I explain that I think not having a “home” can cause our body and mind to be in a place of feeling insecure and unsafe. Not having a consistent home… is that something that is unnatural to humans or culturally taught to be unnatural?

We’re walking down the street back towards our houses with our takeaway containers with forks sticking out in hand. We’ve decided that our leftovers will be our breakfast. 

Felicity tells me that her dream would be to live in a community where everyone has their own separate spaces but also have a shared common space – which reminds me of a co-living space or a self-sustaining community. She would love to be able to go on short travels away but have this home to return to. I giggle and tell her that’s exactly what I was referring to in regards to having the security of a consistent home. She laughs and agrees. 

We expand on her yearn for the community she spoke of and we circle back to the conversation of how digital nomads travel too quickly to build meaningful bonds most of the time, and that I don’t believe humans are meant to spend so much time alone. Cavemen, for example, lived in communities to protect each other. They moved around to areas where food was abundant, so their home may have been changing – but they had the consistency and safety of their community.

As a solo digital nomad on the go every other week, there is neither- not a consistent home nor a consistent bonded community for protection and support. 

So is may be fun for a while, but I feel that after the thrill of solo travel wears off (it can take months or years) – we just all want to strip back the basics: safety and security, love and belonging.