When I woke up Saturday, I had no idea what an amazing day I would have.

I’m staying with Victor and his family – so his parents, him and his 2 brothers and their bird who sings a lot. I love their house – it’s wide open, gets lots of sunlight and is in a great neighbourhood which is close to everything. They differentiate between a grocery store and a supermarket – grocery store is more where fresh fruit is sold and is for the neighbourhood and the supermarket is much bigger and serves the city. I like the grocery store idea – very welcoming, open concept and the food is fresh.

Anyway, for breakfast, I had Guava and Papaya for the first time – a taste I’m not used to but I like it – and they were so fresh. Yummm!

One thing that’s totally surprised me is the culture here – I didn’t realize how important friends + family is compared to Canada. Victor and his 2 brothers live at home and they are very close. I feel that is a big thing we’re missing in Canada. I feel like it had it’s place sometimes but in Canada we seem much more focused on our careers and entertainment than something real like our friends + family. I’m very lucky to be staying with Victor and getting to see this side of Mexican culture.

We went for a little tour of downtown and it was amazing how many people have fruit stands along the street, and also how many people try to sell something when the car is stopped at a light. We stopped and I got to see the Mausoleum of the Corregidora which holds the remains of Josefa Ortiz Dominguez, a heroine of the Mexican war of independence, and has many statues representing and honouring important people from the history of Queretaro. It’s amazing how much history there is in Queretaro. It’s easy to be proud of your heritage when you’re able to see it and read about it so easily.

Later on, we bought some Tuna fruit (also called Nopales) from a street vendor and it was delicious. I wish we had it in Canada but cactuses are pretty rare!

After we played ultimate and ate some food, we went downtown and watched the Mexico vs USA Golf Cup final at Wicklow’s Irish pub. Their pubs + bars are tucked away so when you walk down the street you really don’t know what’s inside until you get to the door. It’s quite neat as it makes the downtown seem a lot less commercial.

After the game, we went to meet up with some of the players from Malaki and I got to drink some delicious Mexican Tequila. I was feeling mucho bueno and got to eat some real tacos from a street vendor which were also quite delicious. I’m getting used to the spice in their food slowly.

I hope all my friends and family are doing amazing. I didn’t realize how much traveling would open my eyes to so much – but I guess when I see the culture the way I am, I can’t help but be influenced and inspired.

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I love to write and I’m so excited to be in Queretaro, Mexico coaching + playing with Malaki UFC (Ultimate Frisbee Club) so I will be blogging about my trip. There will be lots of randomness – I’m very aware and pay attention to a lot so you might think some of it is weird but if it’s in there, I thought it was neat enough to mention.

Neat thing I saw on the ground: Baggage truck pulling a chuckwagon with wooden barrels on the runway at the Calgary airport.

Neat thing I saw in the air: The captain made an announcement when we were flying over the Grand Canyon so I got to see that from the plane.

Annoying thing: The flight attendant on US Airways giving a long speech about an air rewards credit card.

Nice little thing: Having an empty seat next to me on both flights.

Random thing: Watching other people try to sleep is entertaining – there really isn’t a comfortable position and you see people try everything.

Something I enjoyed: Reading “The Art of Learning” on the plane. The book arrived last week, generously sent to me by Michael Lawler, a former coach o Boston’s Brute Squad, a women’s ultimate frisbee team, as his way of thanking me for posting his videos on the Ultimate Rob website.

The first part of the book describes chess in such a brilliant manner that I immediately appreciate the complexity and skill involved. The second part, which I have just started, discusses Tai Chai and the practice of Push Hands, a competitive sport which incorporates a lot of the Tai Chai movements.

So far I’ve learned the difference between entity theorists and learning theorists which leads to understanding how we best learn and how that core approach to learning will determine how we perform under pressure of when faced with a new, difficult problem.

Something pretty cool: I was the only Canadian on the flight to Mexico from Phoenix.

Something gross: Airport fast food restaurants and the smell that lingers in the plane from everyone having just eaten it or eating it on the plane

Temperature thing: It is so hot in Phoenix and not a good hot either. It was around 115 degrees F when we landed. Makes me enjoy Calgary’s summer much more.

Something this trip has fueled so far: The desire to travel more! I’ve been all over Canada and the USA but this is my first trip outside of those 2 countries. It’s more than I could have ever imagined and I want to do more.

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For 2 years I’ve run a website called Ultimate Rob (www.ultimaterob.com). In that time, I’ve published roughly 50 articles and posted more than 60 videos. My goal when I started the website was for it to be the go to website for ultimate frisbee but very quickly I realized that it wasn’t feasible – both from a time perspective on my side and from a searching perspective from a user side. I decided to instead focus on writing articles and filming videos that would help people very simply “Play Ultimate Better”.

So far, I’ve seen my fan base grow consistently and that’s been done mostly through word of mouth. I haven’t spent money on advertising, although I know that would have helped me grow more quickly. I also haven’t spammed people like a lot of people do when they don’t understand marketing and so the fans who do follow me appreciate what I do and I can honestly say that I haven’t had 1 negative comment in 2 years on any of my videos or articles. I have had some great discussions with players from all over the world – Ireland, Australia, Mexico, Poland, China, Philippines to name a few – and have been lucky enough to meet some of those players in person. When I started, I had some general ideas about how to monetize Ultimate Rob because I have spent a few thousand dollars to get everything going. However, the more time I’ve spent on the website and the more I’ve connected with people, I’ve decided that I had more value to offer than charging for content. The approach I chose to take was to offer to run clinics for teams and have them pay for my expenses. This would allow me to travel, share my knowledge and meet some awesome people. Although I wasn’t charging for the clinic per se, I was hoping to sell some of my dvd’s (I created a dvd 2 summers ago and have sold roughly 50 copies). With that in mind, I have spoken to some ultimate players in different countries about running a clinic for them – and so far none have happened.

Until now.

On Monday, the captain of the Malaki UFC (Ultimate Frisbee Club) contacted me and asked if I would consider going to Mexico from June 24 – July 4 to coach them and play a tournament with them. It’s still hard to believe it’s happening because, although I knew I could do it, I didn’t think it would happen. Well now, it is.

Monday was a flurry of activity as I was sending messages back and forth with Victor trying to figure out all the logistics and when we both realized that it was going to work, I spoke with my boss, who gave me the thumbs up to book the time off. Victor promptly booked my flight and next Friday, June 24, I will be boarding a plane bound for Mexico City. I will be staying in Querétaro, which from all the research I’ve done so far looks like an amazing city. According to Victor, they have the world’s 3rd largest boulder, a pyramid built by the Chichimecas, it’s a colonial city established by the Otomis indians, then colonized by the Spaniards, they have a huge aquaduct with 72 arches, and the wine there is supposed to be amazing. I’m not sure if I’ll be close to any beaches but I’m pretty excited to see a part of Mexico that most people going to Mexico don’t (as many people visit the resorts on all inclusive deals). It will for sure be the experience of a lifetime and it opens the door for more opportunities like this.

I will be taking pictures and videos and will be blogging while I’m there. This is the first time I will be traveling outside of Canada + the USA so I’m beyond myself with excitement!

I wanted to thank everyone who has believed in me and supported me while I’ve built Ultimate Rob to where it is today. I have many more things planned and I am so excited to share the sport of ultimate (and disc sports) with more people!

Best,
Rob McLeod
aka Ultimate Rob

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