I start the day with packing my bags, because I’m moving to a different apartment today. I’m excited about it, because it looks very nice on the pictures and it’s close to the beach. When I’m packed and showered I make myself breakfast and there is a new guest in the house. It’s a lady from Hungary and she thanks me for the hiking tip for Torrey Pines I gave her the other day. When she sees my packed bags she offers to drive me to my new place. I’m glad, because I planned to get an Uber and this saves me quite some money. Also it’s a lot faster than public transport would have been. Just 15 minutes driving instead of an hour with the bus. It’s nice that there are friendly people in the world. While driving to my new house we exchange travel stories and tips and before I know it we’re there. We get the bags in the house and say goodbye. My new stay for the coming days is a big step up from the first Airbnb. It’s nice and warm inside and very quiet and peaceful. The house is cozy decorated and there are two happy parquets flying around. At the table in the living room is a big Christmas puzzle laying half finished. When I text my new host to tell that I have happily arrived, she tells me that I can work on the puzzle if I like. What a excellent thing to do at Christmas morning. I turn on some Christmas music and make myself at home. I’ve put a few packages of Christmas gifts that I got myself on the bed to unwrap later. I have the whole house for myself the coming days, because the host is in Colorado for the holidays. I think I would have also liked a white Christmas, but I’m absolutely not complaining. I’m thankful to have this beautiful house close to the beach for the coming days. It’s still rainy outside, so I stay at the house in the morning and make some progress with the Christmas puzzle. I’m thinking by myself that I couldn’t have wished for a better apartment for Christmas. This place is perfect for some relaxing days.
I don’t want to stay the whole day inside though. When I look outside and see that the weather is clearing up, I’m heading to the beach. It turns out that I’m a bit overdressed in my hoodie and jeans, because it’s quite warm when the sun comes out. Tomorrow I’m wearing shorts again. The walk at the beach is very relaxing. I think this is my first Christmas at the beach. For sure it’s my first Christmas at the Pacific Ocean. I walk all the way to a long pier that I see in the distance. I like walking at piers to look at the ocean. This pier is extra nice, because there a several surfers out in the water. They’re pretty good, so it’s fun to watch. At the end of the pier is a Christmas tree. Some people are dressed up for Christmas and I ask a person to borrow their red hat for a picture. I have to say that it feels a bit odd to have warm ocean weather in December. Next year I’ll plan for a white Christmas again.
Despite being fully understandable, it’s a bit hard that most coffee places and stores are closed today. Fortunately there is one Starbucks that’s open for a couple of hours, so I can do some writing and checking in with friends.
When the Starbucks closes I go to the local supermarket for some groceries. The supermarket here is about 20 minutes walking to home, so I decide to take an Uber home. Very handy if you have a lot of groceries to have someone pick you up and drive you home. Back home I make myself some lunch and do what I had planned for this Christmas Day: working on Webpresso again. Webpresso is the application I’ve created for people to easily build websites. I have a long list of features and improvements that I still want to make and it’s my favourite project to work on. I work until dinner time and then heat up the oven. Because most places are closed today I got myself a frozen pizza at the supermarket, easy and nice to make food at home. Just like last night I end the day with a Christmas movie.
