Back to old places.

“O bom filho a casa torna.”

Today I went back to my old barber.

Years ago I used to go to a barbershop close to home. He was an amazing barber, top of his game, a photography aficionado, skater, motorcycle rider, tattoo connoisseur,…

His place was recommended to me by another photographer, and I started going there all the time, whenever my hair needed a trim. I loved it.

His business grew, I was thrilled for him, it’s always a great feeling when you see your friends succeeding. A lot of tourists dropping by as well, as in a lot of businesses around town. He stated using an online scheduling app, and I was fine with that. At the time I had a staff job, so I could plan ahead. Bookings with him now had to be made two months in advance!

When I gave up the job and started freelancing it became harder to always show up on the booked dates, sometimes I wasn’t free, others out of town. I hated failing him, and every time I had to phone in and say I wouldn’t be able to make it my heart was broken. I knew he’d have a ton of tourists waiting for a walk-in, but I wasn’t comfortable with the situation.

Then we started traveling for months, and I didn’t even had the opportunity to book. I would always make a point of finding a decent barbershop in the cities we visited. I enjoyed the experience of getting a haircut in Chiang Mai, or Hue, or Príncipe, or wherever we might be, but still missed him.

When we were back in town I couldn’t wait the two months for the appointment, so I found a new place near a studio I spent a lot of time at, and started getting my cut there.

Pandemic struck, I did what everyone else seems to have done, got my hair done at home.

Yesterday, during our walk, we were close to the barbershop, I asked my wife if she would mind if we dropped by, and check how they were doing. They had a huge drop in business with the lack of tourists, and forced closure for a couple of months. She did not, said we should, and we did.

It was so nice seeing him again. Like old friends we picked the conversation where we had left it years ago, he was thrilled to see tinyMovieStar, and he’s one of the few who uses ‘Miguelito’ to address me. His name is also Miguel, by the way.

I made an appointment for today. We talked about fatherhood, motorcycles and photography. I was happy.

I was back.

This is day 025 of my #100DaysToOffload challenge. You can find out all about this project at 100daystooffload.com.