A Taste of Home

Some of you probably know that I had a planned visit to Puerto Vallarta 12/8-12/12 for the wedding of my very good friends Monica and Jared.  From the beginning of trip planning, I promised Monica that no matter where I was in the world, I would still make it to Puerto Vallarta for the wedding. 

And I’m so happy I did.

At that point, I had only been gone six weeks, but it felt like (and still feels like) I’d been gone forever.

It’s strange how completely changing your day-to-day life and responsibilities and putting yourself in a different environment immediately hits a re-set button.

There are of course the benefits such as not remembering what it is like to work in a cubicle from 8-6 five days a week and not worrying about the other obligations that we have to fit around our work schedule like grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, home repairs, plus all of the other obligations we tend to create for ourselves.

Then there is the downside of missing the intimacy of having friends and family around you.  Of course you meet people along the way, but they are mostly fleeting friendships, “single-serving friends” to steal a line from Fight Club.

Don’t get me wrong.  I enjoy the single-serving friends.

You meet some very interesting, amicable, and intelligent people that you can share great moments with and learn from.  This is one of the big reasons traveling appeals to me.  And if you’re lucky, you may stay in touch with a small percentage of those people and truly become friends.  But there is just something different about the people who really understand you, who know all of your history, the good and the bad.

For four days, I was surrounded by old friends and newer friends.

And even though I didn’t have the opportunity to talk with Monica very much during those four days (she was a tad bit busy with the wedding and her entire family being in Puerto Vallarta), just seeing her and being able to hug her made the three day journey to Mexico via a long bus ride and six planes well worth it.  And seeing her marry Jared, her perfect complement, and enjoy her beautiful story-book wedding was the icing on the cake.

Okay, I’ll stop getting all emotional.

In addition to spending time with my friends, I also got to be surrounded by other Americans.  I flew through Miami and Dallas to get to Puerto Vallarta, and it was strange to suddenly be surrounded by only English-speaking people.  It was the first time I noticed that I was thinking in Spanish (yes! a good sign).

During the combined 4 hours or so I spent in the USA, I couldn’t escape the media barrage.  There must be a rule that a giant flat-screen television showing CNN at top volume must be located every 30 yards in the airport.  I will also admit I indulged a bit and splurged on an over-priced airport sandwich, my first hot sandwich since… well, since I left the country late October.   And I also had a Starbucks coffee (just the normal stuff, nothing fancy) and a giant 500-calorie chocolate chip cookie.  And of course, I took the maximum amount of cash out of the ATM at both airports, since I wouldn’t have to pay the foreign transaction fees.

Then when I got to Puerto Vallarta, I realized that I was still surrounded by English.  The city is such a huge destination for American tourists that even the people that live there will automatically speak to you in English if you look “white.”

After two nights in a very good hostel with a fabulous roof-top deck overlooking the ocean, I moved to the nicest all-inclusive resort I have ever been to.  I had paid for it months before I left for Latin America, so it was no hit to my travel budget, and I definitely took full advantage of the all-inclusiveness and most importantly the clean bathtub and the large cloud-like bed with (I am not kidding you) 8 magical pillows.  (Thanks to Ky and Karrie for letting me have a bed to myself.)

Let’s be honest now.

I did not just take advantage… I fully indulged.

I will admit that I was a little greedy.

There was a small café that made delicious cappuccino, so I stopped there at least twice a day.  I had breakfast at the all-inclusive buffet twice because breakfast is my favorite meal.  I would go right after I went to the gym around 8:30 and then again at 11:15 right before they closed.  Then I’d go to one of the sit-down restaurants for a late lunch around 2:30.  We ordered room service to tide us over before dinner just because we could.  I had a mimosa during the afternoon and drank good wine and cocktails in the evening.  And if I could be more spoiled, our room had a beautiful ocean-front view, and I awoke and fell asleep to the sound of the waves crashing against the beach.

I thought it might be hard to leave all of the comfort and pampering and go back to being on a strict budget, sleeping on a thin mattress with a 2-inch thick pillow in a dorm with strangers, and cooking most of my own meals which usually consist of either eggs and toast or rice and vegetables.

But it really was a non-event. 

The hardest part was saying goodbye to friends and going back out on the road alone.  And that’s a good sign that I’m starting to achieve what I wanted out of this journey.  While I can certainly enjoy “the finer things,” I can easily say that the time shared with friends was truly the best part of Puerto Vallarta, and I can give up “the finer things” and go back to my simpler lifestyle without any misgivings.

Click here to view pictures of beautiful Puerto Vallarta.