How I spent a day in Tijuana with my 2 cats, a friend and no money

It’s been a few years, and I’ve never talked about this experience, but I still think about it sometimes. I’m 26, live in San Diego, but grew up in Tijuana, Mexico. I spent my childhood there and have a deep love for it. I worked in finance for about a year before I decided to become a professional surfer. I bought an apartment in La Moraleja, just across the street from the beach and right next to a big park. I had a dog, and she would walk with me on those trails everyday and I’d go surfing at the break of dawn. I didn’t want her with me all the time, because she was so bad with cats and I wanted to protect my two at home. She would scratch and bite them, and I wanted them safe. So I got rid of her, and decided to go surfing a lot. I was living paycheck to paycheck and surfing is expensive, so after my first paycheck I realized I had to stop, because I wouldn’t be able to pay rent and other bills. So I got rid of my board, sold a bunch of my stuff and started traveling. I saved some money, but not much. I lived cheap and free, like couch surfing and whatnot, but I knew that it wasn’t going to last forever, so I started working again to save up and be able to do more surf trips. I was living in San Diego, working for a bank, but the pay was shit and I hated my job.<br><br>I was so stressed, tired, overworked and I really just wanted to surf. I couldn’t surf everyday, but I did want to go surfing at least 2 times a week, and that was expensive. So I made a deal with a friend to go surfing with him and just drive to Tijuana and chill. I was stressed and needed to get out of there for a day or two. I told him to come over to my place and pick me up and bring my cats, because they hated each other and they needed me. I was broke, so I couldn’t buy them food and they hated each other so much that I couldn’t leave them together, so I just had to take care of them too. I was broke because my credit cards were all maxed out and I had a car payment, so I only had about $150 to spend on food and everything else. We drove to Tijuana and I took my cats with me, so I brought a bunch of cat food, litter and all that. I also brought a blanket for them to sleep on.<br><br>My friend had just gotten a new truck and I was excited to go surfing with him. He had a 2016 F150 and was just learning how to surf, so I was happy to go with him. I hadn’t surfed since I sold my board a couple of months before. I was a bit scared to get in the water because my last wipeout hurt my shoulder pretty bad. I hadn’t had time to heal it properly because I was just too stressed about work, so I was a bit afraid. But I decided to just go for it, and I was excited. I told my friend that I wanted to go to my old apartment, so I could see how it was and he agreed. So we drove there, and it was surreal. I lived there for about 6 months, and it was the best time in my life. I felt free, like I didn’t have a care in the world. I spent countless hours walking on the beach, surfing and just chilling with my dog.<br><br>I remembered walking with her every morning and just looking at the sun rise over the ocean and feeling alive. I remembered surfing all the time and just chillin in my apartment and watching tv or reading a book. It was such a great time. When we got there I was sad and happy at the same time. I was sad because I didn’t want to go back there, I was happy because I missed the place and I wanted to remember it. My friend asked me to go inside and I said sure. The landlord had kept the place in good shape and everything was just as I left it. There was a note in the kitchen with some cash and the landlord said he would call me soon to set up a viewing for when I was ready to move back. I laughed at it and left the apartment. I took my cats with me and we left to go to the beach. We had to drive to the other side of town to get there and I was so excited.<br><br>The drive took about 20 minutes and we arrived just before sunrise. I told my friend that I wanted to watch it together, so we parked our truck and just sat there. The sun rise was beautiful, but I was too stressed to enjoy it. I was so worried about money and work that I didn’t even notice the sun coming up. We went surfing and I caught a wave and felt so happy. It was so much fun. I haven’t told my friend about that moment, because I don’t want him to know that I was that stressed. But I was. We surfed for about 3 hours and then we were tired, so we decided to go to the park instead. I loved that park, I would walk there every morning with my dog and just chill.<br><br>It was right next to my apartment and I felt so lucky to have it. The park was nice, but it wasn’t like the parks in the States, it was more like a big square with some trees and grass. There were no benches or anything, but we were there early enough that nobody else was around and we could chill. We were there for about 2 hours, and then I told my friend that I was hungry and we should go look for food. I was broke, so I told him to take me to a place that was cheap and we would just get something to eat. He suggested we go to this taco stand that was famous, and he told me to not worry about the money, that he would pay for everything. I said thank you and we left for the taco stand. We got there and the tacos were delicious. I got 5 tacos, 1 burrito, and 2 drinks and it all costed $10.<br><br>I told my friend to take me home after that, because I was tired and I wanted to chill. I didn’t have the energy to keep going, so we went to my apartment and chilled for a few hours. My cats were happy and I was too. I realized that I didn’t need a lot to be happy. I had a great time with my friend, I was surfing and I had my cats with me, and that’s all that mattered. We chilled for a bit and then he told me to go to sleep and that he would wake me up when it was time to go home. I did, and when I woke up he was gone, but there was a note that said “thank you for the great time”. I smiled, because I had such a great day, despite being broke and stressed. I felt so grateful and I still think about it sometimes.