A home for my words.

For my first travel post since picking this blog back up, we’re talking about Gran Canaria! I think it is the perfect place to begin because I’ve now been twice.

Where is Gran Canaria?

Even though Gran Canaria is considered part of Spain, it is actually off the western coast of the content of Africa, so it is much closer to Western Sahara and Morocco than it is to mainland Spain. That means Gran Canaria has warm weather year round, and that’s what I’m all about! It’s also one of the eight Islands that make up the Canary Islands.

You went twice?

Yes! I went the first time for a quick 3-day weekend while I was still teaching in Madrid, so this was probably around 2017. The thing with 3-day trips is that they always basically feel like a one day trip. You have the day that you travel there and arrive, then one full day, and then the day you perhaps check out and squeeze in some more exploration or relaxation before you have to head back. For Gran Canaria, I felt that this short of a trip just simply wasn’t enough and I vowed to go back.

Well, it took 5 years, but I went back in 2022. The long-short is that I had the opportunity to go full-time digital nomad for a couple of months. Going back to Spain and spending a portion of that time in Gran Canaria felt like the natural choice.

Spotlight

I could write so much about my time in Gran Canaria, but let’s just touch on a few points:

• I finally got to visit a sand dune! I never got to do that out in Colorado, and this was an epic way to check that item off my bucket list. (It’s in Maspalomas, at the south of the island, if you’re interested in visiting).

• Gran Canaria has a very active digital nomad community. The group has its own Slack channel and hosts regular activities. Two examples are the weekly beach volleyball game, where you can see the who’s who and who’s new in the digital nomad community, and the weekly meet up night at a bar. I would say Brits dominated the nomad demographic, but I also remember people from France, Israel, and Canada.

• I wanted beautiful nature and the island did not disappoint! There are even a number of hikes that are accessible by bus. On one such hike, there was volcanic black sand and at the end of the hike we bumped into the filming of a Spanish movie with actors dressed up in period attire. (You can click through some scenery images from various locations on the island below)

• I figured I would make it a goal to visit some of the nearby Canary Islands (or all of them), but I was unable to make my own working hours and used the quickly vanishing weekends to get to know the island better instead. Which means I obviously have to go back and visit the other islands, DUH.

• As much as I feel that I’m meant to be living on an island, I experienced some sort of mental fatigue. Essentially, I sometimes struggled to imagine that other countries truly existed outside of the island since all I could see around was ocean. Thankfully, my Airbnb had amazing views and I could see the massive cargo ships bringing shipping containers to and from the island. That was my reminder that there were indeed other places out there, and we had some sort of connection to them. Even if we were all inhabiting a rock in the middle of the ocean, there was certainly more land out there somewhere.

• As a treat for making it to the end of this, enjoy this slideshow of some yummy meals I had while on Gran Canaria.