Day 0.
The moment I set foot on this island, I fell in love with it. It was warm with a nice breeze of fresh ocean air. The sun was setting, and the sky was golden. I took a Bolt cab and drove to the capital (Funchal). The light made the island shine. It was truly magnificent. My driver didn’t speak any English, and I didn’t speak any Spanish or Portuguese, but I made sure that he understood how beautiful I thought his island looked.
I came to this island with an idea: What if I lived here? Could I do it? Could I be a digital nomad? What would it feel like? It had always been on my mind. To be free of any geographical constraints. So, my plan was to try it out. I planned to stay on the island for 21 days. About 5 days of this, I planned to do work. The rest was vacation days to rest and explore the island, but I aimed to do Swipekick, some coding, designing, and also writing too.
A large part of this feed is written in retrospect, but it’s compiled from my journal that I wrote on the go on a daily basis. That's why all the past-present-future tenses are so messed up that even Grammarly and AI couldn't help me.
Day 1.
Now, there’s a great quote that no plan survives the first contact with reality. My first two days I had to do work. Like actual work. And not just that - I was doing a rather big UI re-build. So there I was - sitting on the couch, comfortably, with a nice warm sun hitting my shoulders. It was a total paradise. Except one thing - I was working. I realized this in the first 10 minutes that I had made a miscalculation.
Here’s the thing. By that point, I actually needed a vacation. I had been grinding both Swipekick and my real job a lot. Now I was in a perfect new location that was super exciting and I couldn’t go and explore it. I was still mentally back in Estonia by looking at that same computer screen. You don’t want to mix those two things. You don’t. You could do it, but then do it at the end of the trip when you have already gotten used to the new surrounding and routine. It wasn’t actually as tragic as it sounds, but it definitely was a tiny little lesson to learn.
I stayed at this really nice budget hostel. I picked it because of the balcony and interior design. I knew right away it would look cinematic. I was not wrong. It did look amazing. The only issue was that it was noisy. There was a construction site literally next to me and if that wasn’t enough, then the highway was also close by. So I slept with my Sony noise-canceling headphones.
After the work, I went for a stroll alongside the coast in Funchal. As I was walking, I found myself thinking strange thoughts like: what should I even do here? I hadn’t taken time off like that in a long time, so I totally forgot what it's like to not do work-work or Swipekick. Fortunately, my friend was to arrive on Friday evening, pretty much the next day. That was the plan - we were supposed to explore the island together.
Day 2.
It’s Friday. Not going to bother you with work talk except for one thing: I was finally able to have real mountains in my Google Meet video-call background. You know those fake backgrounds that these meeting rooms have, right? I always thought it would be great to have an actual majestic background for once. So I picked the perfect room with perfect light and a perfect window that had the perfect view.
After work ended and my actual vacation started, I opened the wine. I came to the common area to hopefully find some other travellers while I was waiting for my friend, Marten, to arrive. One hour passed. Two passed. Half a bottle of wine passed.
Then the first traveler arrived. He was Stan from the UK, originally from Poland. Anyway, we finished the entire bottle of wine. For a while, we were accompanied by one German girl too who brought beans (that we ate, thanks!). The plan was to wait for Marten to arrive around 9 PM and then go to the Yellow Castle (not the actual name) and have some beers.
That's what we did. We actually got surprisingly intoxicated and eventually made it to the castle, although it was already closed.
Still, we had fun in the three other pubs and bars on the way there. We then also decided to see the Ronaldo statue. In the middle of the night.
Day 3.
Surprisingly, no hangover. We ordered a Bolt cab and went to the next booking. It was still in Funchal, but higher up on the mountain. The road there was the steepest I’ve ever seen. There’s no way I can put into words how steep it is; you have to experience it yourself, but trust me, it was steep. The Bolt driver wasn’t too enthusiastic either about the destination.
That being said, don’t trust Google Maps here. You might think something is close, but the altitude could also have a 200-meter difference. I never would’ve thought going down the hill could turn out to be physically hard. That’s exactly what happened. And then you had to go back up again. Legs were shivering. This was no joke.
Other than that, quite a calm day. We wanted to go watch a football game, but they didn’t let me in because my backpack was full of camera gear that I couldn’t take in, and there was no way on earth I would leave this bag alone somewhere. Marten went to see the game, and I climbed back to the house. The sun was just starting to set, and I was exhilarated to start filming.
This could be the perfect YouTube thumbnail for digital nomadism in Madeira.
Marten arrived back at the exact moment of sunset, with wine, snacks, and chips. I don’t know how he was able to get those things from the stadium, but... He did. It was a good wine, but maybe because we knew we paid 3x the price for it.
Day 4.
We went to discover Funchal, so we tried to use local buses to get down to the city. The bus ride was wild. Very steep roads, curvy of course, and they were still driving relatively fast. For a second, I thought, "Ok, this is it. He’s gonna hit the wall." But no worries, he had exactly the extra 5 centimetres.
We checked out the botanical garden together with a hundred German tourists and then proceeded to the city. Turns out there was a German cruise ship that had just arrived.
Anyway, the garden was lush, and it looked awesome. We strolled around in the city, and there were some Christmas festivities happening.
We finally made it to the Yellow Castle and paid for the most overpriced meal of the entire trip. Bummer.
Then we went to another cafeteria, and there was Acoia, a dessert hyped by Marten that he had found in Brazil. We then got some groceries and took a cable car back to the top. After that we had to do a little 2-3km hike to our house, which surprisingly wasn’t too bad.
In the evening, I experienced the most intense sunset ever. There was this amazing view of the entire Funchal, and the sun just fell beneath it. Even our German neighbour was there to see it. Oddly, his wife wasn’t. Not sure what happened there.
Day 5.
I did a lot of filming in the morning. I don’t have a thought-out plan when it comes to the Madeira video, but the scenery just inspires me to shoot so much. Oddly, when I’m filming, I always feel like I’m portraying some strange enhanced version of reality. On the other hand, this is what movies are - illusions. The other thing that I wondered again about was: am I really present when I film this much? On the other hand, it’s my hobby and it’s what makes me tick. Filming and taking photos is what I like most about traveling. So yeah.
We rented a car - the lovely Fiat Panda. The cheapest one available, but the one with the most heart. We then drove to take a look at some points we marked on the map.
It also meant it was the first time driving on those crazy steep roads in Madeira. The most surreal moment was when we were driving up the hill. I guess it felt what was like 45-degree steepness. In 1st gear because the second one didn’t pull anymore. Then a big bus comes towards you and there’s room only for one. Yeah. Good times.
The temperature is so weird. Changes in minutes. Sometimes you want a warm jacket, and another moment you want to take your shirt off.
I also have to point out how productive Marten is, no matter what the environment is around him. The dude even had a business call on a cliff.
As for me, I’m rather unproductive. The last few months have been too intense, and it seems like my idea of doing Swipekick here is kind of falling apart. In fact, I haven’t been able to do it at all. So, instead, I’m just resting and focusing more on writing.
Day 6.
We went to discover the south-western part of the island. Really wanted to see a specific waterfall, but Waze completely took us to someplace else. We drove so high that we went inside the cloud and it was a strange industrial region where they were cutting down the trees. Also, coming back down was a proper off-road driving. I don’t know, Waze sometimes goes wild. Glad the car survived.
At least we experienced the famous waterfall that falls on your car.
The contemporary art museum had really interesting architecture, though.
This is supposedly the warmest section of the island. You could tell some of those areas were meant for the beach tourists. However, it was off-season, so not too many people around.
Day 7.
Woke up to the sound of rain. The rain itself stopped soon, but what was left was heavy mist. That’s just awesome about this island - it’s so rich in both nature and weather.
Then we went to the Tropical Garden, which was like a Japanese garden. It was simply perfect weather for it and gave off the vibe of an awesome jungle.
Afterward, we drove to the north of the island, where our new booking was. It's a bit more mountainous area with a nice view.
Day 8.
Woke up to the sound of wind bashing the window covers. It was that strong. In the morning, we realized that we were actually at an altitude where clouds are. Super cool! In the distance, we could hear and see a new waterfall that definitely wasn’t there before. I guess it was because of the excessive rain. So it was a bit misty, clouds at our level, a new waterfall, a bit of sun, a little rain, a rainbow, and mountains - all of it at the same time. Madeira.
Our plan was to visit Fanal Forest. The weather seemed perfect for it as it looked the best in mist. It was quite rainy and windy too. Around 4 degrees, I think, but the rain combined with wind made it harsh. Marten was in shorts, of course.
Fanal Forest itself was magnificent. It was very hard to control the camera and set the focus with that wind and rain. A couple of times, I hit record at the wrong moment (when I wanted to stop recording). This is the meme-worthy mistake. I lost two really good shots because of it. Also, the camera got water damage and eventually shut down, so I had to dry it completely. Fortunately it resurrected.
That wasn’t all. We also went to another viewpoint with supposedly the steepest cable car in Europe. And well... It looked scarily steep and straight down the cliff. But it wasn’t moving because there was no internet, so we couldn’t go. Instead, we ate and then decided to start heading back. Right at that moment, a heavy storm hit with extreme rain. I’m talking about rain where you stand and get wet in couple of seconds.
Eventually, we just ran to the car and decided to go. Also, that wasn’t the brightest idea because what followed was the most extreme car drive I have ever done (and probably will ever do). First of all, that road would’ve been steep already in perfect conditions.. and you could’ve used max second gear. Here, it was raining so heavily that the water was pouring like crazy. There was water coming from everywhere, including from inside the road. Not sure how was that possible. There was a damn cable lying on the ground. There were new waterfalls coming from the sides of the road. There were deep streams of water flowing that you had to drive through. I was going with the first gear, and even then, I wasn’t sure if it was going to make it.
Fortunately, we made it, and at the end of the day, even the sun peeked out again.
Day 9.
We decided to do the waterfall hike. Again, we drove back to the high altitudes, got some rain, and then did quite a long hike downhill. Long enough to start feeling your legs. And that was downhill. This meant only one thing - we also had to come back up later.
We saw lots of waterfalls. Some bigger than others. It was off-season, and you could tell. It seemed everything was rainier and muddier than it usually would be, as some canals were overflowing, and there were moments you had to step into the water.
At the end of the first hike, we were greeted with a big-big waterfall. It was so loud there that the birds didn’t understand anything. They were chilling literally next to you and didn’t fly away. Also, it was extremely humid. Ofc my camera died. This time it died in a way that frightened me because some buttons got stuck too.
The waterfalls were awesome; however, it was a long and gruelling hike back.
We later decided to drive to Funchal to go and do some laundry. At that moment, we didn’t know yet that the next place of stay had a washing machine too.
Once we got back, we had a little wine. Because wine not? And then off to sleep because the next day we planned to do the ultimate hike.
Day 10.
Woke up at 5 AM. The plan was to arrive at Peak Arieiro at 7:20 AM, just before dawn. Not too many people were there.
Our plan was to hike the trail between two of the highest peaks, from Arieiro to Ruivo. It was about 6 kilometres one way, but we had to come back too because our car was at the start.
I had near-zero preparation. I ate a couple of cookies in the morning. I basically looked at a couple of photos of the trail and thought, "Pff, easy!" Couldn’t be more wrong. It was gruelling. 12 km in total and 1 km of total altitude gain. I was limping in the end.
Our hike started at dawn, with very few people on the trail. Some parts of the trail were extremely steep, although there were stairs. On our way back, there were lots more people and groups. There were some older people too, and I have no idea how they planned to make it through as they already had a dead gaze. I was quite pale too, especially in the end.
And once we got back to where we started, it was packed with people. I guess most are just doing the first 200 meters, which is the Instagram famous part of the trail where it looks like a narrow pathway with steep valleys on both sides.
After the hike, I personally needed to give my body some proper nutrition. I literally felt the need for protein. So we Googled for the closest and highest-rated Espetada place and went there. It was.. perfect.
Day 11.
Visited the local market. It was interesting to see how popular the Poncho actually is here. Good vibes. People were just coming to shop for fruit, eat, and drink with their families.
We then left the north part of the island, and our next home is near the southeastern tip. It’s called Canical. Very calm and sunny small town. And a very spacious apartment.
Day 12.
We decided to hike to the easternmost tip of the island. Again, we started a bit before dawn. There weren't too many people, and the scenery was amazing.
Also, the day had finally come to say goodbye to the Fiat Panda. It served us well.
We decided to go and try the local seafood and have Sangria with it. An entire jar of Sangria. We liked it so much that we ordered a second one too. We kept liking it, so we went to a bar. Got an additional jar of Sangria and started hanging out with locals. I think we got two more jars.
We were so on fire. Then we proceeded with locals to a new bar. I think we got an additional jar of Sangria from there. I remember we started dancing in front of the bar at some point. It was insane.
Yeah, we then felt it was time to call it a day.
The next morning was tough. Really tough.
Rest of the days
At this point I pretty much stopped journaling. What happened next was rest & chill.
Marten left about 4-5 days earlier than me.
I finished the trip in Machico. I picked a hotel this time with a breakfast. I was in a complete chill mode now. Looking back, Machico wasn’t the greatest option. There wasn’t much happening there. I didn’t find any travellers like myself. I tried to look, I swear. It was me solo and a hundred different couples. Fun.
Should’ve gone to Funchal instead. I proceeded to do some writing, sunbathing, listening to podcasts. It was a time of reflection and I started thinking more about Swipekick again, the movie about Swipekick and how to complete all of it.
I will keep on working on this Feed. I haven't even gone through all of the video footage that I filmed yet. There's a lot. About 1TB. I also hope to turn it into a video of some sort.