MyMexico

I have been to Mexico many, many times over the years. My earliest trips were mostly to the border towns, but more recently Kym and I have gone much deeper into Mexico and explored places where we could get away from the big resorts and tourist crowds. The more I see of Mexico, the more I like it. The people have almost always been friendly, the food can be incredible, and some of my favorite memories are from little places where there were hardly any other Americans around.

Some of the most fun I ever had in Mexico was connected to my mom and dad. My dad retired around 1980 or 1981, and he and my mom went down to Brownsville, Texas, where they built a house near the ocean. Dad started a gift store selling Mexican goods, and he would take their van across the border, load it with things he could buy at a very good price, and bring them back to sell in the United States.

Dad loved to bargain. He would get someone down to the lowest possible price on something like a chess set, and then ask, “How much for ten?” The price would drop again. Then he would ask, “How much for twenty?” He bought all kinds of things that way and loaded the van. Customs and duty rules seemed a lot looser back then, or at least Dad seemed to think they were.

One time I visited while Jordy was there, and she and I took my parents' van into Mexico for the day to get food and wander around. We definitely brought back more alcohol than we were supposed to. Tecate was the big beer then, long before Corona seemed to be everywhere, and Kahlúa was incredibly cheap in Mexico compared with the United States. We brought back quite a bit. Looking back, there was always this feeling in those days that you could cross the border, have an adventure, find things you had never seen before, and somehow come home with the van a little fuller than when you left.

Years later, Kym and I went to the Tulum area. She had encouraged me to explore some of the plant-medicine work she had experience with and thought I might get something meaningful from trying some of the gentler approaches in a guided setting. I finally gave it a try, and it turned out to be a very positive experience for me. There was a good community and a really good feeling around the people we met. For me, it felt like the beginning of clearing some cobwebs out of my brain and looking at a few things differently.

We spent another week around Tulum having all kinds of fun. What I remember most was not the polished tourist stuff. It was the little hole-in-the-wall mom-and-pop places, the food, the people, and just wandering around. Kym and I were talking about that trip again recently and both agreed that we have to get back there.

I had also been to the Cancún and Cozumel area before. I went diving in Cozumel, and years ago I visited on a cruise with Carol. We spent a day touring around the island in a cheap, beat-up Volkswagen with rotted-out floorboards. It was not glamorous, but we had a great time. Those are usually the travel memories I remember best anyway.

More recently, Kym and I flew into Oaxaca in southern Mexico. We spent a few days there getting acclimated to the elevation, then rented a car for about twenty dollars a day and headed toward Puerto Escondido and the Pacific coast. We found cheap little cottages near the water and ate in small Mexican restaurants where there were almost no gringos at all. I absolutely loved it.

After several days we forced ourselves to keep moving. We had read about the mountain communities associated with the long history of traditional mushroom use in Oaxaca, so instead of taking the quickest route back, we drove the old winding mountain road toward Oaxaca. Hours up into the mountains we reached the tiny community of San José del Pacífico.

We had an amazing experience there with mushroom tea in a quiet, carefully prepared setting. The owner and his son had deep experience with the local traditions and created a place where we could slow down and do some serious inner exploration. That experience is a whole story by itself and really deserves its own page someday. It was one of those travel experiences that stays with you long after you leave.

Eventually we continued through the mountains and back toward Oaxaca and the airport. That whole trip reinforced something I have learned over and over while traveling: I almost always have the most fun when I get away from the famous tourist areas, rent a cheap car or get on a bus, and start exploring the smaller towns and local places.

Mexico is definitely one of the most fun and friendly countries I have traveled in. I know many people go straight to Cancún, Tulum, or one of the giant resorts, and there is nothing wrong with that if it is what you want. But my suggestion is to get away from those places too. Find a smaller town. Eat where the local people are eating. Stay in a simple place. Point at something on the stove when you do not know how to pronounce it. Take the slower road through the mountains once in a while.

Those are the Mexico memories that have stayed with me. I have been going there since at least the 1980s, from the border towns to the Yucatán and deep into Oaxaca, and I still feel like I have barely started exploring the country. Kym and I are already talking about going back. Mexico may very well be the next country we visit.