what i learned in mexico

I recently had the good fortune to visit Mexico with my girlfriends.

Planning for the trip, I had no idea how deeply five days spent to the south would change me.

This trip was my first adventure outside of the known borders of my life.  Other than a few days spent in Canada, I had never left the country.  I ordered my passport, eager to finally earn a stamp and complete a dream I have held since childhood.

It is funny how life can get away from you.  Nearing my 40th year, I am just realizing how many of those dreams deferred are slipping away from me.  I studied French for eleven years, and I always imagined that I would visit Paris and Marseilles at least once before I reached the age of 40.  Yet here I am, less than 12 months from that milestone, and I have not yet set foot in the country that occupied my imagination for so long.

So arriving in Mexico was a big deal for me.

How I worried about that trip.  Mexico is having horrible problems with drug violence right now.  Our state department has issued a travel warning, urging U.S. citizens to avoid parts of Mexico, including Mazatlan.  Cruise ships have pulled the city as a port of call, citing dangers to tourists. Those warnings scared the crap out of me.  I wondered if I should go at all, and at one particularly dark point, I did consider cancelling my trip.

I chose instead to sit with my fear, and do it anyways.

The ride from the airport into the city was unlike any I have ever experienced.  I quickly realized how insulated we are from poverty here in the United States. I could feel my heart breaking open in a new way; we are citizens of this world, and we have a responsibility to understand and to help where we can. This has always been an abstract idea I've held, but now I felt it deeply, understood more clearly where my perceptions have been colored by my lack of experience. I wanted to soak it all in.

Running along the Malecon was incredible.

As we explored the beautiful city, I was drawn in by a culture so different from the one I have known all my life. We met wonderful people, friendly and open. I found myself wishing that my Spanish was better so that I could communicate more effectively. I felt open and exposed, raw, but also full of hope and excitement for the possibilities of life.

I have heard people say that we should all travel and have the chance to experience other cultures and ways of living.  Now I understand what they meant by that, and I agree.  Travel does change you.  Had I allowed my fear to stop me from having this experience, I would never have grown. I would have stayed in my small, safe circle, but at what cost?

The things of greatest value that I brought home from Mexico are these.

• Life is short, and it has a way of getting away from you when you are busy waiting for the right time.  Seize this moment; make the travel plans, sign up for the big race, try what seems impossible.  
• There is more to life than what you know at this moment; all across the planet, people are living in ways that are foreign to you.  If what you are doing isn't working, look around.  Someone else may have the answers.
• Fear is only helpful to a certain point. While it may keep us safe from marauding predators, fear has the potential from keeping us from the most important experiences. Sometimes you just have to go ahead and do it anyways.

Thank you, Mexico, for giving me so much.  I will be back.