My First Post…Why Blog?

It’s 8:55 PM, my wife Krystal is sleeping next to me on the couch, my baby is out cold in her crib and Rocky (our Golden doodle) is blocking my path to the kitchen just in case I decide to grab a snack…because he won’t let me enjoy it in peace unless I give him a piece of whatever it is I come across. Oh and I have a Coors Light in hand and watching The Bear on Hulu. Fun series, especially if you’ve worked in the restaurant industry. I initially drafted a plan of how to write my first blog but I read it and it was pretty lame, sounded very scripted. The complete opposite of who I am. So here I am, just typing away. I might proof read when I finish, but hopefully I won’t delete anything in order to make this more reader-friendly.

Part of the reason I decided to start blogging is because I decided to become an author out of nowhere. I’ve never written anything longer than a 3-4 page essay in college almost 20 years ago but I have come up with some pretty interesting fictitious stories that I feel would be fun to see on a screen one day. My life has been a fun ass ride to say the least and I’ve been able to draw inspiration from a lot of experiences I’ve either had myself or I’ve heard from others. I’m an avid reader, a big fan of just about anything art-related (movies, TV, music, etc.), and I have a very entrepreneurial mindset which causes me to tell my wife every other day about the next ‘genius’ idea that could be a hit…if I only pulled the trigger on it. After having a couple of friends write and publish their own books, I was inspired. I finally said fuck it. This is something I wanna try. This is something I want to do. It was one of my least expensive ideas and I really wanted to prove to myself that I could actually DO one of these things I talked about, but never actually got around to doing.

The idea for WHAT’$ ¥OUR NUMB€R? came to me in October 2021 and I finished writing the book in February 2022. Mind you, Krystal was pregnant, I was working six-day work weeks, it was a very busy holiday season and I had no clue how to write a book. I wrote a freaking 306 page novel in less than four months and published it a month later! I’ve asked many authors I’ve come across and haven’t heard of ANYONE (yet) saying they’d taken any less than a year to write their first book. I took that as a huge boost and confidence builder. Maybe I was meant to do this. It came easy. I absolutely loved the whole process of writing it, brainstorming the ideas with my wife, finding someone to make my cover, looking for an editor and hearing his positive feedback, and the best part, you guys buying my book and giving me such good feedback! It fills me with joy that I am able to make you experience a range of emotions after you’ve dedicated time from your busy life to read my book. Believe me, that’s what I appreciate the most. The time YOU’VE given me, not the money you paid for my product. And because of that, I will always respect your time and try my hardest to give you my best possible product each and every time.

World’s Eye View

My next reason for blogging is I’ve traveled a lot. Like a lot a lot and I don’t ever plan on stopping. I grew up watching Anthony Bourdain and Samantha Brown believing that that was the only way I was going to see the world. How the hell was I gonna ever afford to travel?! Well I prioritized $150 bottles in the VIP every weekend at the same clubs with the same people (some of my best friends til this day btw) instead of taking risks and exploring even the next town over. Well ‘life’ hit us all one day and we ALL joined the military. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I learned responsibility, accountability and was able to extract myself from the hole I kept digging myself in. I made brothers and sisters in the Navy that have inspired me still to this day. They would all reminisce on wild stories overseas and I would just sit there and listen with nothing to share but with an extremely receptive mind that made me want to travel someday like they did.

At 25, I finally got the opportunity. I got out of the Navy and was immediately offered a job in Afghanistan as a contractor. I don’t remember being as scared as people imagined I would be. I was mostly excited for that big ass check and the paid vacations my company would provide. The first trip I dreamt of was gonna be Australia for New Years and I made that shit happen! The travel bug bit me hard! Soon after getting back from that trip, I was already planning Eurotrips and a whole bunch of other itineraries. I became obsessed.

Unfortunately, it was always hard to find people to travel with so I went alone most of the time. I was single. I made friends everywhere. Friends that I still keep in touch with and I’ve loved seeing their journeys in life play out. I am a firm believer that traveling changes the way you look at EVERYTHING. It changed me for the better. You get a sense of how minor sometimes our problems really are and how good we may actually have it. You learn not to take some things for granted and that’s why I would encourage anyone to travel, even if just the next city, state or country over.

I hope to write more about my past and future travel journeys in later posts, along with tips on how to travel cheap, do’s and dont’s, recommendations, etc.

“No Me Llames Abuela…”

Just over a year ago, I lost one of my best friends in life, my grandmother, Mami Susi. She was a very important figure in my life and we were very close in her latter years. We chatted every Sunday and when I would go visit, I would always try to impress her with my cooking since she was hands down the best cook I’ve ever known. I called her for recipes, advice, family gossip, and just to catch up on our week. She inspired me in so many ways and I’m so grateful that she was able to know it, because I never let her forget.

When we would hang out, I loved asking her about her life as a kid, what my grandfather was like, and especially what my mom and her siblings used to do to get in trouble. One of my favorite things now is telling MY parents all the stuff I used to get away with as a kid/teen that they never knew about. Their reactions are priceless! You should try it. Anyways, I always wished I could’ve recorded these conversations with her but I didn’t want her thinking I’m doing this because she’s getting old, and you know…so I never did. So I got to cherish those conversations and will treasure them as my own memories for a long time to come.

But then she passed unexpectedly. No more long Sunday chats, no more inquiring about what she used to do to get in trouble herself when she was a kid or what her dreams were when she was a child. I still had so many questions but I am so glad I was able to spend so much time with her during her last few years. Making her laugh, making pasteles with her and watching novelas while picking gandules will be some of the fondest memories of my life.

I’m sure I will reference Mami Susi many more times in future posts, but one day I would love for future generations in my family line to know of her. And of my mother, my sister, my stepfather. I want them to know what I was like. Could you imagine knowing what your great grandparents were thinking when they were your age?! I don’t think I’m the only one who’s that curious.

So maybe they’ll read this, maybe they won’t. But at least my story will be out there, and I hope to make it a good one.

Mi Familia

I’m so lucky. I married my best friend, Krystal, and I’m even luckier to be the father of my precious little girl, Gabriela. ‘Timing’ has been one of the biggest themes in our joint life. From how we reunited, to how we ended up living together in Kansas City, to how we made it back to Florida, became homeowners and then parents (finally!) It’s a story too beautiful to not be told. Maybe one day we’ll get into all of that but the fact that I always have my wife’s unwavering support, is the reason I still have crazy ideas daily. This BLOG being one of them. I can’t wait to write about why I decided to use our names in my first novel. She eventually gave me permission, but if you’ve read it, you’ll know why she was hesitant at first.

My spicy little Gabriela has been the best thing that happened to the two of us. She’s freaking hilarious and she’s only 16 weeks old as of today. Parenthood has definitely been a unique experience that we have been enjoying to the fullest and I’m actually finding it easier than I imagined. Probably because of Krystal. To make things better, our younger siblings (my sister Monica and Krystal’s brother Christian) decided to have their first kids as well, and all three of our babies were born within eight months of each other! Life is about to get pretty fun with these kids and I can’t wait to share some of the stories.

Personal Growth

Well the last thing I can think of right now (10:45 PM and an empty beer) as to why I wanted to start this blog was for personal and professional reasons. I don’t write much and I’m sure this will be good exercise. Being bilingual and English being my second language has sort of limited my vocabulary so hopefully I can expand that through writing more. I’m officially an author but that’s not the feat I set out for. I want my work to be read, I want to inspire, and I want to see my writing adapted into a series or movie one day. That’s my ultimate goal with this. A little far fetched, but those who know me, know what I’m capable of.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you. Like for real. You believe in me and my wild ideas. You most likely want to see me succeed just as much as I want you to do the same. You’ve got a little crazy in you like I do in me and we can relate because of it. Stay tuned and I will make sure to take care of my readers with sneak peeks at future projects and some other ideas I have in mind.

-Luis Diaz