January 25
Life in the jungle: I started out writing Belize blog Part 202 and 203. After feeding the chickens and loading the washing machine, I turned my attention to some reflection and note-taking (brainstorming) about 2026.
2025 in Review
I realize that I’m a little late in the month, but I finally got around to reflecting on my past year, the accomplishments, and what my goals and new habits are for 2026. Last year, I was very productive.
Accomplishments of Note for 2025
- Two cabanas are mostly complete (built)
- Opened up my road (2 miles) with a chainsaw for heavy equipment
- With heavy equipment, my river lot was filled in, leveled up areas of the coconut field, dug three ponds, and opened up the road further
- Added 1,600 sq ft greenhouse floor
- Published 25 solid SEO & AI optimized jungle lifestyle blog posts. Positioning me to be a leading online authority on jungle lifestyle.
- Published 75 Life in Belize blog posts. Combined, I’m sure that I’m the most prolific blogger in Belize.
- Considerable progress on my memoir
- Belize Permanent Residency acquired
- Along with everything else
One of the main contributing factors to getting in as much writing as I did this year was that in December 2024, I started setting my alarm for 5 AM instead of 6 AM. And then on August 28 of this year, I started setting my alarm for 4 AM.
Belize Permanent Residency
Two cabanas (mostly) built
1,600 sq ft greenhouse space added
Heavy equipment work done
My goals for 2026 are:
- Publish my memoir
- Keep working on getting my land deeds mess sorted out
- Start & build YouTube – big priority
- Start writing a jungle lifestyle book
- Find at least two people to live on the farm
- Make the tree farm vision for my farm a reality
- Climb Victoria Peak, and at least one big canoe trip
- Grow my own vegetables
- Somehow keep on top of everything else
New habits for 2026 are:
- A more Holy Sabbath
- Make time for silence. Time to think and review.
- Pursue poetry, perhaps on Sundays
- Stretches
- Learn 1 healthy thing a month – a herb, a superfood, or a supplement that I can access easily in the jungle, and then write a blog post about it.
I then took my Sunday nap in the hammock, and in the afternoon, I got back to reading a book I started reading weeks ago, Half the World Away.
January 26
Life in the jungle: Yesterday, I decided that one of my new habits for 2026 was to research a new superfood that I could include in my diet. This morning, I wrote the “pillar” blog post called Jungle Superfoods: Natural Foods and Medicinal Plants You Should Use Living in the Belize Jungle.
After breakfast, I did some trim work on the cabanas, and later in the afternoon, I did some yard work.
I harvested a huge passion fruit
January 27
Life in the jungle: I didn’t plan on working on a new post, but I realized that the Belize chapter of my memoir was missing a small entry, which then turned into a new blog post called – Living Inside the Sound of the Jungle. I also did some editing of the post that I planned to work on all morning for people who might be interested in living here on the farm in a community called A Unique Living Opportunity in the Jungles of Belize.
After breakfast, I installed the eavestrough on the smaller cabana until a light rain shower forced me inside. I continued and finished editing the living on my unique living opportunity post.
Eavestrough on the smaller cabana done
January 28
Life in the Jungle: I finished my unique living opportunity post and, after feeding the chickens, headed to the village to grab the bus to the city for supplies. This morning was quite cool, and most of the day was also, making for a reasonable city trip. Returning home, I did some yard work. In the evening, I realized that it was Wednesday night and I never shared a blog post to Belize Facebook groups this past Tuesday as part of my weekly routine. It totally slipped my mind.
Always fresh jaguar tracks on my road
January 29
Life in the jungle: I woke up – off, I can’t really put words to it, but it was like a dark cloud that I worried might follow me for the rest of the day. After I shared my A House is Not an Asset in the Jungle blog post to Belize Facebook groups and fed the chickens, I decided to curl up in a blanket and go back to sleep in my hammock. I was frustrated by wasting the rest of my morning, but I didn’t like the way I was feeling either. This was not a lack of motivation feeling either.
After breakfast, I headed to the village to drop off eggs and get some groceries. Partway down the road, I saw it, a huge jaguar walking with its back to me. I quietly dropped my bike, and as quickly and as quietly as I could, I chased after it. At some point, I accidentally splashed a puddle, and it turned. It looked my way for quite a while, eventually running down the road. On my way home, about an hour and a half later, he was back on the road, but alert, and I just got to see him for a few seconds running down the road away from me. What an afternoon! It’s been a little over 14 months since I saw my first jaguar on the road.
Returning home, it wasn’t my most productive afternoon, but whatever.
January 30
Life in the jungle: I did some small edits to a couple of blog posts this morning. Lately, I have been writing blogs or working on my memoir until breakfast; this morning, I started my outdoor work just after feeding the chickens at 6 AM. I’m falling too far behind on outside work.
I haven’t put the windows in the larger cabana yet because the louvers needed to be custom-cut. The whole time I was thinking I needed a table saw. The only table saw I know about is at the lumber store in the village, and it has been broken for almost six months. Thinking about my problem yesterday, it occurred to me that I may be able to do my modifications with a grinder, and I was anxious to give it a try. It ended up working way better than if I had a table saw. It took me all day, but I installed the six windows in the cabana.
Windows for the larger cabana were finally installed
January 31
Life in the jungle: It wasn’t my most productive morning. I shared my A Unique Living Opportunity in the Jungles of Belize post on Facebook. I need to find people who would be interested in living on the farm. I also finished writing this post, and I edited a few paragraphs of the Mexican chapter of my book.
After feeding the chickens, I planted some Mahogany seeds and transplanted some (kind of) palm seedlings. After breakfast and for the rest of the afternoon, I started painting primer paint on the largest cabana windows that I installed yesterday.
There was a light rain shower this afternoon and some rain right before I went to bed.
Glossary of Terms
Glossary of words or people that may or may not be part of this particular blog post. This glossary will be at the bottom of every Life in Belize blog post.
Wayne – He is the son of the original owners of the farm (both owners are deceased). The original farm was two – 30-acre parcels minus two – ¾ acre parcels for my house. In 2017, Wayne sold me 40 acres of land from the original 60 acres (one 30-acre parcel plus 10 acres from the second parcel). Wayne lives in his parents’ house and has a few cows on his remaining 18 acres of land.
Top-Gallon – The local term for when the Belize River floods its banks during the rainy season.
The ponds – I have two large (300ft long x 50ft wide x 10ft deep) ponds on my 30-acre parcel of land, which is basically a jungle. I have about 60 coconut trees (mostly mature) around the ponds. In my first two years of living in Belize, I also planted about 250 assorted fruit tree seedlings (Lime, jackfruit, custard apple, pomegranate, and avocado).
The coconut field – I have about 400 coconut trees planted (various growth states) on about 3 acres of cleared land of my 10-acre parcel. I have planted about 350 assorted fruit trees (lemon, starfruit, mango, soursop, cashew, lime, orange), all raised from seed since my arrival in Belize in 2021.
The river lot – my house sits on a ¾ acre lot. I have a second joining ¾ acre lot that allows me river frontage on the Belize River. I call that my river lot.
The Dry – Belize has two main seasons. The rainy season and the dry season (no rain). The rainy season starts around June 1 and goes until the end of the year. It seems June, November, and December are the wettest times of the year.
Chopping – using my machete to clear brush, vines, weeds, and unwanted trees. Generally, when I chop, I am removing unwanted vegetation around my baby fruit trees.
I arrived at my home on November 25, 2021, by bicycle from Canada. I have journaled my daily adventures every day since. Since I have arrived, I have built a 1,000 sq-ft shade cloth greenhouse, a tiny apartment that I refer to as my greenhouse apartment. I also started and am close to completion of two small cabanas that I refer to as my smaller cabana and my larger cabana. The apartment and cabanas are for visitors and people wishing to move to my farm. I’m also getting close to completing an additional 1,600 sq-ft shade cloth greenhouse.
