Mexico, My Love
By: Atticus Wilson
Tags: Travel, Mexico, Cancun, Traveling, Travel Writing

Cancun

The week before Christmas my boss informed me that I would be getting Thursday through Sunday off for the holiday. I had been wanting to travel, but covid had prevented any international expeditions. I realized that I may have an opportunity if I could find a last minute flight and Airbnb, but this seemed unlikely considering the inflated holiday travel prices and the covid travel restrictions being put in place with the new Omicron variant. However, luck proved to be in my favor and I found a 220 dollar round trip from Austin, Texas to Cancún.

The previous few years in the post-covid world had made me realize that life was short and that I needed to take more chances. Travel is an essential piece to this puzzle for me, as there is so much beauty in the world and so little time to see it. Even though I was nervous because I had never flown internationally(let alone during covid times), I knew that this trip would build my solo travel confidence as well as my general confidence in myself. So I packed my bags, grabbed my passport, and set my alarm for 3 AM.

Austin’s airport had been experiencing incredibly long lines because of an influx of holiday travelers, so I got there 4 hours before my flight. They marched us in a line all the way across the airport before we could go through TSA, which seemed ridiculous and pointless but what do I know. Either way, I made it through and realized that this trip was officially going to happen.

My first flight was to Dallas, which is a much larger airport than Austin’s. This flight was only an hour in which we didn’t even reach elevation or get the general granola bar or packet of peanuts thrown at us. Then after a brief layover, I was officially on my first flight out of the country.

I sat next to a hispanic gentleman from Laredo, Texas. He was taking his whole family to Cancún as a Christmas present. He had two kids, his in-laws, and his lovely wife with him. He told me that he was a real estate agent and that his city was booming. The man could chat for hours with anyone. He told me to wait a bit longer to have kids and see the world, which is advice that I intend to follow.

Once the tires touched ground, we all were herded to the customs line which moved at a snail’s pace for 2 hours before I got my passport stamped. I couldn’t tell if my face was getting redder from frustration or because of the increasing heat of so many bodies packed into one area. I would have preferred a 2 hour long line that was much longer and actually moved than a short line that inched along for 2 hours mocking you with the sound of each stamped passport. However, I made it through smoothly and wished the woman stamped my passport and Merry Christmas.

The Cancún airport looks a bit like an 80’s shopping mall that is in desperate need of renovation. With your first step out of the airport doors, you will instantly be made aware of the tourism culture in Cancún. I found myself attacked by barrages of taxi drivers and hotel shuttle drivers saying “15 percent off only for you my friend” or “where are you going my friend, I take you there.” There are hundreds of them competing for your money and it’s likely the most popular you’ll ever be.

This is not a criticism of the culture as, sadly, Mexico has lots of corruption and tourism is often the only way that these people can make a living. So they work insane hours, put on a happy smiling face while listening to wealthy people talk about a worldview that only they can believe in, and get treated as lesser-than by stuck up Americans and Europeans. I assure you, no one on earth deserves their pay as much as these individuals

Another thing that will surprise you upon landing in Cancún is that Uber and Lyft do not exist there. Corrupt taxi unions and laws prevent those companies from existing in Mexico. This can make some of your taxi rides fairly expensive, but the drivers are some of the nicest people you will meet during your stay. Perhaps this allows taxi drivers to make a decent wage since they aren’t in competition with those apps, but I find it unlikely that the drivers themselves make very much of the actual total that you pay for the ride. Either way, their pay is not enough.

Once I was dropped off, I checked in to my Airbnb, which had a giant gate and a beautiful patio with a table surrounded by local vegetation. I particularly fell in love with a tree covered in little red flowers. I opened the door to find a small studio with a stove, microwave and fridge. The shower had a skylight and a window looking out onto the patio. There was no curtain and the water poured down onto you from directly above like rain. This would have been a fairly romantic setup if I weren’t a single man there alone.

I walked to the store after a shower and found a walmart roughly 15 minutes away. Without Lyft or Uber to shuttle me, and now with the knowledge of the price of cabs, I decided to walk. The sun was down and I didn’t know how dangerous it was going to be, but the moon was glorious, the temperature was roughly 80 degrees, and I wanted to experience the city so why not.

I made it to the store and wandered around for an hour trying to remember the basic Spanish that I had learned in a class the previous semester. I stumbled my way through the various ingredients in each item, because I have several allergies and diet restrictions. I managed to get some spaghetti, lentils, rice, fruits, and vegetables. I also bought several bottles of water as you don’t drink Mexico’s tap water.

I walked home carrying three giant fabric grocery bags which smashed against my legs while crossing busy roads at a full sprint. Amazingly nothing broke within the bags and I made it back to the Airbnb safely.

Christmas Eve

The next day I woke up at 6 AM to walk to a hotel where I would be picked up to go to Chichen Itza, a cenote, and a few other locations. I had frantically scheduled this tour the day before my flight as I figured out how much I could pack into my short trip. There were several buses outside the hotel and hundreds of people waiting to be picked up. I asked people in broken Spanish if this was the correct bus. After many responses that I couldn’t understand and after getting pointed in many directions, I realized that my group wasn’t even there.

Finally after feeling concerned that my bus had already left, a woman walked up to me and asked which tour I was supposed to be on. I showed her my ticket and she happened to be on the same one as me. She was German with Ghanaian ancestry. Her name was Diana and she was strikingly beautiful with a strong personality.

Finally a guy walked up to us who happened to be our tour guide. We located the rest of our travel companions and loaded us onto the bus which had just pulled up. Diana sat behind me and I sat next to a guy from Georgia. I turned around and talked to her for a while and we chatted about our lives. She told me that she wants to be a school teacher in Germany because they make fairly good money and have good benefits. A stark contrast to the United States where teachers are paid pennies.

Our tour guide was a Hispanic man who would say each line in English and then translate it into Spanish. He told us about the amazing astronomy and mathematics that the Mayans did. He was proud of his heritage and he had good reason to be.

Our first stop was a large store that sold local foods as well as trinkets to take home in memory of the trip. Diana and I perused the items and then walked outside into a field with large green plants that looked like aloe vera. I was struck by the beauty of this old building which was covered in a light orange paint and had a long porch with hanging prayer flags blowing in the breeze.

We then passed through little towns where locals stood on the sides of the road selling pottery and sombreros. Back behind their stands you could see tiny huts that they likely lived in without power or running water. Sometimes kids were selling things as well. It made me realize how even a 25 year old that can barely afford community college while working full time, living with two roommates, and buying plane tickets only when they are cheapest possible prices is so lucky. This seemed so much more like the real Mexico than Cancún did, though they too fed off the tourist economy.

I also took notice of the diversity of wildlife and plants that were all so alive in December. Lemon trees, banana trees, the trees with the red flowers, and trees of every shade of green covered the landscape. These colors alone could raise the mood of the most cabin-fevered traveler.

When we finally arrived at Chichen Itza, we walked through this small building with trinkets and a money exchange where our wristbands were scanned so we could enter the site. Another one of those red flowered trees marked the entrance to the park. Before we caught our first glimpse of the monument, our tour guide told us more about the amazing architecture that we were about to see. He spoke specifically of the mathematics that they used to understand how the sun would hit the moment as well as the amazing acoustics of the buildings. Once we walked into the clearing and could finally see the main building, everyone’s jaws draped. The building towers over you in magnificence. 91 steps to the top on 4 sides nad one step at the top adding up to 365 stairs total. In my opinion, it’s magnificence exceeds any structure built in centuries. It makes you wonder if anything will be left over from our generation that future generations will be awe over. I sort of doubt it.

Diana and myself became the resident photographers for couples wanting their picture taken in front of the monument. This was a task that I happily obliged to, as many of them were on their honeymoon and wanted to capture every moment of some of the happiest times of their lives. Who could blame them?

A ball court of a famous Mesoamerican ball game stands a few hundred yards from the main site. This game dates back to Olmec times and spread across different civilizations. The game was played where teams had to get a ball through a hoop, generally just using their hips and thighs to pass or shoot the ball. The losing team would be sacrificed. I was particularly excited to see this because I remember watching the movie The Road To Eldorado frequently as a kid and that game is played in the film.

The area extends out to 13 square miles with more things to see all around such as the astronomy sights and warrior camps. We didn’t look as closely to those as they were further away and we had limited time.

Our next stop was a cenote a short drive away from Chichen Itza. Upon arriving at this location, we were greeted with a full buffet lunch that was complementary with our tour ticket. Diana and I sat down at a table with a German couple who were on their honeymoon. Diana had been translating on their phones for them as they read German, but were hearing impared. We also met a Frenchman named Cham who had been on a few week long tour of Florida and Mexico. He and I talked about his home country and exchanged phone numbers hoping to meet again someday as travel companions.

Diana and Cham went and changed into their swimsuits(I had forgotten mine). Diana handed me her bag with her locker key in it and Cham handed me his towel as we walked down the stairs towards the water. I took pictures and videos of Cham and Diana jumping off of the dock. I again found myself as the photographer for the whole group

I was told to go up above since I wasn’t jumping in, so I tried to get a few more pictures as I walked up the stairs. When Diana returned, we found that I had somehow dropped her locker key. We rushed to find it before the bus left. This proved unsuccessful, so I paid a lifeguard to break the lock. Diana tried to pay for it herself but I wouldn’t let her as I had been the one that dropped the key.

The last stop of our tour was in a little colonial town that had a chocolate store and a beautiful church. Our stay here was brief, but I was awestruck by the buildings. They looked like something out of an old western with their tall windows and doors all opened up to let a breeze pass through. Ceiling heights were massive as well to keep them cool since heat rises.

The church stood proud in the town square with prayer flags hanging off the front. Mexican dogs wandered the streets and ate scraps of people’s lunches. You’ll find many of them homeless in Mexico, which is sure to test your resistance to cuteness.

The bus ride back to the various hotels was a quiet affair as the sun had gone down and nearly everyone(including the tour guide) fell asleep. Diana and I had a long hall before we were actually off because our stop was the very last one.

We exited the now empty bus and tipped the guide and driver. I decided that I had better help Diana find her shuttle as any city at night can be a dangerous place for a woman alone. We wandered around asking people for directions for a half hour or so until we found a line of people leading to shuttle buses. With a big hug, we said our goodbyes and exchanged contact information to meet again someday.

Christmas day

I woke up on Christmas day feeling a bit strange being so far from my family. This was my first Christmas spent away from my mother and Father. I decided that despite that, I was going to make it into my best Christmas yet.

As I stepped out the door and spotted a giant lizard, to whom I wished a merry christmas. I found aWhatsapp number to hail a taxi and got a driver to meet me in the park. He was a very friendly gentleman who constantly referred to me as “my friend ‘’. He was from Mexico City, but had moved to Cancún six years prior. He had a much simpler and relaxed life in Cancún, though I certainly don’t think you could call it relaxed considering that the next day, when I went to be taken to the airport, the same driver picked me up and he was on the same shift…20 hours later.

The driver dropped me off at Playa Delfines on Hotel Row. As I walked towards the beach, many people asked me if I wanted lunch or a margarita. Both of which I turned down. As my feet touched the sand, I realized that I needed to take off my shoes, not to touch the sand, but so my shoes wouldn’t dirty the magnificent whitish-tan grains. The sands magnificence was matched by the light blue of the ocean. I had never witnessed anything so beautiful. Hispanic music played from the restaurant on the beach. I felt awkward just standing there but I didn’t have a towel with me and I didnt know who could watch my things while I swam. I was too afraid to ask someone so I decided to go walk along the road and see what else there was along the hotel row.

I encountered many more lizards as I walked, all of which received a “merry christmas” from me. There was water on both sides of the road and coconut trees divided traffic. The weather was perfect.I ended up walking the whole thing over the course of a few hours as I hadn’t felt such intense happiness in years. Every tree, ray of sunshine, note of music, crash of a wave, and Christmas ornament seemed perfect to me. I was truly in love with Mexico.

I saw a covid testing site which I decided to go to because I needed a negative covid test within 24 hours of my flight back to the United States. I met a short gentleman who was very friendly and spoke good english. He was young… probably mid 20’s like me and we chatted about our families and christmas. He took me to a nurse who penetrated my nose with those god-awful q tips and soon I received the negative result. I thanked them and continued on my way.

As I headed towards the beach again, I thought back to the way that I had been a coward and hadn’t swam before. I had never swam in the ocean. I had dipped my toes in sure, but I never swam and this was my chance. I realized that no matter how many excuses I had, I needed to make this memory.

I walked all the way back to the beach which took probably 30–40 minutes. I again turned down the margarita, took off my shoes, rolled up my pants, and found an empty spot on the beach. That’s where I stayed for nearly an hour just running the cool sand through my hands and watching the families play in the water. I didn’t know who to ask and the sand felt so relaxing. I was at peace. A peace that was foreign to me.

It was christmas day and the ocean was so beautiful that any words I could provide would be inadequate. I was probably the only white person on the beach at this time. It was just families enjoying Christmas together. My heart still feels light as I write this thinking of the laughter of the children playing in the sand.

Finally I found a man by himself who didn’t speak English. I used Google translate to ask him if he wanted me to watch his things while he swam and then I would do the same for him. He nodded yes and then went and swam for a good half an hour. I sat and played with the sand between my fingers and listened to the hispanic music still playing behind me. Eventually the man returned and I removed my jeans and shirt to get to my swimsuit.

I was instantly surprised at how warm the water was. Honestly it was warmer than the lakes that I had swam in in august, and this was christmas day. I couldn’t believe how soft the salty water and sand were against my skin. I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else at that moment.

When the sun went down I started walking back home. I tried to get a taxi but only shuttle buses run on Hotel Row. I walked all the way back to my airbnb which was roughly a two and a half hour walk. I was tired by the end, but so grateful for that Christmas day.

That ended my journey in Cancún, but I cherish the memories from those days. I understand that thousands of people have written similar things about their trips,as it’s a common tourist destination. I’m also aware that I can’t do the locals and the culture justice and will probably seem offly patronizing and unjust. I apologize for my ignorance or unfair treatment to such a wonderful place, culture, and people. No words can describe my gratitude to this culture, but I thank you for reading my feeble attempt.