Padel Playing Foreigner

Back in July 2023 - I woke early on a Thursday morning to an email with the subject title " Marco, Your Role at   XXX Company ". After opening the email  the body went on to inform me that my role had been impacted and I was being laid off . Naturally this   sucked , but once the dust had settled and I had a few days to process the news - I did what any normal, sane and addicted Padel player would do. I booked a week in Bali to go play Padel.  A somewhat of an " Eat, Play, Love (Padel) " trip for me if you will. While in Bali, and not having to worry about emails piling up in my inbox, deadlines and the usual stresses of having a job - I really wanted to take the opportunity to refine my game. So alongside joining a few matches each day, I thought of no better way to do this than to book private lessons with a coach. So I did. That was the day I met  Jesús  - one of the resident coaches at  Jungle Padel  in Canggu, and the person that helped me significantly improve

  Ask any Padel player in Singapore where they would consider the “Mecca of Padel” in Asia, and 9 (if not 10) out of 10 would give you the same answer. Bali. Also known as the Island of the Gods, Bali is no stranger t o popularity given its be autiful scenery, hospitable people and overall affordability. Tourists have been flocking there for years, until of course COVID-19! Needless to say, this hit Bali pretty hard, bringing the tourism industry (which makes up around ~80% of Bali’s economy) to a complete halt.  One "positive" C-19 did have around the world was it helped transform how people work, where they work and how they structure their days. Companies and employers alike were open to hiring talent in remote locations, they created work-from-anywhere policies and this in turn provided flexibility to the traditional 9 to 5 working days. It also led to a BOOM in the digital nomad culture. Right about now you may be asking - “But why is this important? I’m here to rea