how is it possible that we’ve been back in Grenada for over 2 months? It feels like just yesterday that we were surrounded by family on the beach in Manzanillo, Mexico. Time is flying by, but thankfully we feel as though we’re accomplishing everything we wanted to (and more) while living in Grenada.
We’ve rented apartments all around the world and really take pleasure in staying put for a bit and getting to know the destinations we visit. Somehow, without us even really trying, Grenada has sort of become our base.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that when things are flowing smoothly and falling into place, there’s no point in trying to resist. Which brings me to my exciting news:
We’ve Rented a home & Are Living in Grenada!
…well, for a while anyways.
We’ve had a soft spot for Grenada considering that 2014 when we first stepped foot on this volcanic, jungle-clad island, and except for 2017, we returned annually to house and pet sit for around 6 months at a time. The island isn’t for everyone I suppose, but we love the authentic Caribbean vibe, the genuine and welcoming people and of course, the sensational beaches and lush jungle interior.
This February we received a complimentary months stay in a stunning luxury cottage overlooking the sea (thanks to our generous friends), and complimentary rent in March thanks to another house and pet sitting job we were used by some other pals – it’s all about who you know!
A stunning place to walk Mia and Winslow, a couple of charming pooches we pet sat in Grenada
As much as we take pleasure in house sitting and taking care of charming dogs, we’ve realized that we want our own private space. Not a place where other people live, complete with their tastes in decor, their photos on the wall and their personal belongings.
☞ SEE ALSO: The cost of Living in Grenada
Even when we rent through Airbnb, quite typically the apartments are filled with the owner’s personal items like family photos and clothes in the closet, or the opposite – they’re sparsely furnished. Plus, there’s a large Airbnb service fee tacked on when booking through that platform and you have to enjoy out for Airbnb scams.
We’re ready to rent a place of our own. somewhere we can decorate how we like, and where we don’t have to worry about keeping everything exactly the way it was left to us.
On top of that, we’re ready to try living in Grenada without having dogs to take care of.
In the past, we’ve needed to be home for the family pets to feed and walk them at a certain time (of course), which quite typically led to us not being able to be spontaneous. If we were having a good time with friends, felt like going to a bar, or made a decision that we wanted to enjoy sunset from the west coast, we couldn’t due to our animal commitments.
So, we’re very ecstatic to say that we have found a stunning home to rent, and couldn’t be happier!
Moving day! All packed up with our food and stuff from the house sitting job, and ready to unpack into our own place
☞ See Also: mount Cinnamon Grenada: A luxury boutique resort in The Caribbean
Not only does the home fit our tastes perfectly, but the owners are pals of pals and we have an agreement in place that works well for us all. We are paying rent on a month-to-month basis, and if we feel like taking off to Italy for a month, we just tell the owners, pack up our things, and leave. When we want to return, we give them a call and say when we will be back.
We’re located ideal on the ocean and are surrounded by lush greenery. The home has a pool, a large yard with fruit trees, a private jetty, an outdoor bar area and comfortable furniture for kicking back while sipping on wine. The outdoor area is inviting and a terrific place to spend the afternoons and evenings.
Our new view! This will do just fine…
The white wooden beams on the inside ceiling and baby blue cupboards in the kitchen give the home a Caribbean / beach house vibe. all of the colourful, hand painted art on the walls are from Grenada (or nearby), and there’s even a wooden driftwood bird made by our pal Julia at spare Art Studio. The wicker and bamboo furniture fits perfectly here, while the dated tiled floors give it a rustic charm.
This is the front entrance. We love the ceiling and the wooden furniture, and the colourful artwork. See the driftwood bird?!
We’ve even gone so far as to add a lot more blue splashes around the house – couch pillows, outdoor chairs, plates & bowls, a full length mirror and white wine glasses.
Can you tell we’re excited?!
This situation couldn’t be a lot more best for us, and we are genuinely grateful for our pals who introduced us to the owners of this home, who in turn gave us an extraordinary deal. ever considering that we arrived in Grenada, everything has been falling into place, which has really solidified the fact that this is where we’re indicated to be for the time being.
Beautiful morning view from our new home
We have a Vehicle
If there’s one thing that you need in Grenada, it’s a vehicle. The island may be small (it’s 19 kilometers long by 34 kilometers wide), but as this is a mountainous country, the roads are very windy, indicating it takes a long time to get from the south to the north.
There are buses (minivans), but they aren’t comfortable, don’t go to all of the “off track” spots, and one generally risks their life everytime you board…
We’ve always had a automobile during our pet-sitting jobs here on the island, which has been a terrific way for us to get out and explore the many bays, waterfalls, jungle, etc. In my opinion, a automobile is a must, but rentals aren’t exactly cheap.
☞ SEE ALSO: The utmost guide to travelling Grenada
Having a automobile in Grenada is a need to to get to all of the off-track spots that we love
The lowest price we’ve found from a proper rental company on the island is about $55 USD / day. considering that we’ve been on the island many times in the past, we are a part of some Facebook get and sell groups and know how to work around this high cost. For our first month here, we rented a small SUV from a Grenadian woman for $20 USD / day, which everyone said was an incredible deal.
Now, for this current month, we’ve rented a automobile for $13.30 USD / day, and will be trying to find an even better price going forward (both deals based on 1-month+ long rentals)
We’ve considered purchasing a automobile here, but the cost of getting is quite high, and the price of maintaining it on the island is even higher. parts often need to be imported, salt from the sea causes rust, the roads are poor so often suspensions and bearings go…and lots of a lot more issues will easily arise. Plus, we would need to get insurance on top of the purchase price.
Renting seems like the best bet, even if we might save some money if we purchased instead. As long as there’s enough room in the automobile to pick up pals and “our” dog, we’re happy. We also know that we’ll be travelling a lot from Grenada, so it’s best that we can return our automobile and not pay for it while we’re away for extended periods of time.
Dognapped! Off to find a hike
We’ve “Healthed Up”
One of our main worries lately had been the fact that we weren’t eating well, were having some physical issues (my back, for example) and we were getting weight. travelling the world is a terrific thing, but often we found ourselves overindulging in food and drink, and not doing enough consistent exercise.
At the end of our Manzanillo travels, Nick stepped on the scale (I couldn’t bear to)…and cringed at what the numbers read. For the past year, Nick has been about 20 pounds heavier than he would like to be, and same for me.
After the scaled confirmed that yes, he wasn’t at his optimal weight (meaning neither was I), we made a decision to do something about it. We aren’t ones to be overly concerned with superficial things like waistlines and weight… this was stricly for our health.
Eating a enormous grill full of meat at El Vaquero Steakhouse in Manzanillo – absolutely overindulging…
As soon as we arrived in Grenada, we started with our health plan. At first, we went on a 2 week detox where we didn’t have a single drop of alcohol. during that time, we ate wholesome meals and went on lots of hikes.
We felt good, but it still wasn’t enough.
The kitchen at the house we were pet-sitting at last month was a dream. It had every utensil and appliance you could imagine, and we took full advantage of that. We stocked up the enormous fridge and freezer with healthy foods and ingredients for a smoothie diet.
We absolutely miss this kitchen and the enormous fridge – which we filled with vegetables, fruit, chicken, eggs, yogurt & almond milk
For nearly a month we have been on a diet that looks something like this:
Morning – a smoothie with unsweetened almond milk, spinach, banana, oats and a few strawberries. Coffee. lots of water.
Afternoon – a smoothie with unsweetened almond milk, non-fat yogurt, spinach, fruit (apple, papaya or berries). lots of water.
Afternoon Snack – raw veggies with dip of either non-fat Greek yogurt with herbs, or dijon mustard. Or, 2 hard-boiled eggs.
Dinner – chicken breast with vegetables (green beans, salad, squash, pumpkin or zucchini). lots of water.
No white rice, potatos, bread, pasta, refined sugars or empty carbs.
Living the smoothie, chicken, vegetable diet and feeling great!
Our portion sizes (including the amount of alcoholic beverages we drink) have considerably changed, and it did take our bodies a while to get used to consuming less calories as we were taking in way too lots of before. By eating this way, we’ve automatically eliminated processed and refined foods, and all unnatural sugars.
☞ A guide to the best beaches in Grenada
We were very strict on the above diet for about a month, but now we have become a little bit a lot more lenient in that we will go out for dinner with pals and eat what is available on the menu. We didn’t want to turn into “that couple” that no one wants to invite out!
I’m very pleased to say that Nick has lost around 15 pounds considering that Mexico, and I have lost 10 pounds considering that we started the smoothie diet / healthy eating (since I couldn’t bear getting on the scale in Mexico, I don’t know how much I’ve lost considering that then!)
We both realize that it’s not all about the numbers, but we weren’t comfortable or delighted with how we were eating and drinking. We still have a few a lot more pounds to shed, but are feeling really good now and plan to keep it up.
Hiking to secret spots in Grenada has absolutely helped with the weight loss
We’re Accomplishing work Goals
Not only did we need to stay still in buy to rest and rejuvenate, but we were in desperate need of getting some work done on our website. There were a few large projects that we wanted to get off the ground (that we talked about way back in Koh Samui), but we just didn’t seem to have the time while scuba diving in Indonesia, devouring ramen in Japan and drinking margaritas on the beach in Mexico.
Our first month in Grenada was all about playing catch-up. Replying to those emails that were sitting in our inbox for 3 weeks (or longer), writing articles about our recent travels and lifestyle, creating new income sources and taking care of lots of backend web site stuff such as SEO, design and hosting issues.
It feels so good to be getting caught up on work – although hard to work with such incredible views!
The second month here is where we really got down to service and started thinking about the projects we had on the backburner. I wrote some crucial articles that we needed done, dealt with lots of behind the scenes things, kept up with our social media accounts and serviced some freelance articles for our clients.
During that time, Nick was hidden away in a “studio” where he was working on putting together a complimentary blogging course. This is one of the main things that we wanted to complete, and in about a month, he had filmed, edited and created a 4-part blogging training course complete with audio, video and media. He had spent a lot of time before that brainstorming and mapping out the curriculum, but amazingly he put it together in about 30 days.
We have so lots of people learning how to start a travel blog from our website, and we usually gave away a complimentary ebook to help get bloggers off on the ideal foot. However, enjoying video tutorials and hearing Nick describe the steps makes the process so much much easier to understand. now with this course, new bloggers will