My Winter Wander: Mexico, My Annual Tradition

Friends in CDMX, Dave & Mindy in Vallarta and some quiet time away in Sayulita & San Pancho

Well, year four is in the books. And I’m loving my annual tradition more now than ever. This year, the chef’s kiss was seeing the temperatures plunge below 0 in New York, while I clambered off to Playa de Los Muertos in Sayulita to sit down and watch the sunset. I’ll do a brief recap here now, but this quick video recap sums it up pretty well - I don’t have time to put down on paper the thousands of words that could fit into these frames, but hopefully a few of the faces, places and spaces help this come alive.

I’ll never not be in love with the time I spend in Mexico. My time in South Texas was given and assigned. It was there I was schooled in Spanish and had a sampling of Latin culture, smooshed together and rounded out with flecks of helote and chamoy that make the border the rich cultural gathering and melding point that it is. But Mexico continues to be my muse for living. It’s one of the places I’ve chosen to love. And continuously choose.

Part I - Amigos

Oh I have the BEST friends, and I count them as one of the greatest forms wealth life could give. I touched down at 7 pm at Mexico City and the 45 min. pause waiting for my bags gave me time for a brief inhale - before the Saturday night took on a life of its own. In a few short hours, I took a stroll down Alvaro Obregon, introduced another friend to Cafebria Pendulo (one of my favorite writing spots on this planet - and my own “wardrobe to Narnia” of sorts), tucked in some tacos, a hot chocolate, stepped into a salsa and bachata dance party, and caught up with a handful of my closest friends, before finishing the night with a nightcap of tacos.

Along the way, I made new friends that included a recently engaged British couple, who had met on Hinge back home in the UK, and now several years later had been taking a winter holiday capped off by a beautiful engagement. They were kind.

Also, my dear friend Esbeydi is dating Chris, a Frenchman who came to Mexico around the same time as my first trip in 2022, and given his love for Salsa (the dance, he’s an instructor), he chose to stay and make a new home year (yes, he even pays taxes). But now, through Chris, I get the chance to meet a whole new world of Spanish-speaking French expats, and the even playing field language-wise actually gives me a fighting chance.

The next few days brought meals shared with catch up’s and check-ins, the chilaquiles seasoned not only with salsa, but the savor of seeing safe faces smile. I bowled with Majenklis at Parque Delta, one of my favorite traditions (it makes the Navarte neighborhood feel even more life home) and even up-leveled my commitment to Oxxo by signing up for an Oxxo card to earn points. It wouldn’t let me use the U.S.A. +1, so somewhere some lucky Mexican friend with a matching phone number but the +52 code has a boatload of points they can cash in. (haha!)

I also met knew co-workers, and Fernanda, a friend of my friend Norma here in NYC, rolled out the red carpet, showing me again why I’ve always enjoyed meeting co-workers from abroad. Her team’s hospitality even extended to sending me off with a bag full of Mexico-specific dulces (todo con chile - Mars es nuestro client), including spicy Skittles that believe it or not, taste better than you’d think.

Spending time abroad for me isn’t just about satisfying an urge to explore or consumer more newness I haven’t touched yet, but to also find rhythm and repetition in doing simple, daily things elsewhere. Sunday for example, time spent in the park playing board games restored something I’d missed - and haven’t yet been able to recreate in NYC - from 2023 and the first half of 2024. Game nights are always a great way to gather.

Part 2 - Mis Papas

5 days later, I hopped on a midweek flight to Puerto Vallarta. I’ve down that route a few times and it was nice to savor the tracing view from the city to the plains to the mountains to the coast.

I love the feeling of showing up somewhere new in the world and seeing a familiar face, especially when it’s someone you love. Seeing my parents in Mexico for the first time was a joyful merging of worlds, and I got in just in time to catch the last few rays of sunset. My dad had planned to attend a conference in Puerto Vallarta for work and my Mom and I decided to come along.

It was fun to retrace the same steps I always take across the malecon and into the Zona romantica. Puerto Vallarta always feels slightly different but looks exactly the same each time I’m there, and I think it’s that measuring stick effect that I enjoy most. I see and feel just exactly how much a year’s worth of memories weigh in terms of the added layer I bring with me. Over the years, I’ve been blessed to have much more time 1:2 with my parents and our adult friendship and the dynamic of the three of us as roommates from the post-pandemic days to visits in New York is another type of home.

And they vacation well too! I guess our travel stamina runs in the family, because the agenda was filled with tours, tastes and time to talk. By Friday, my mom and I had an unplanned block of time, and we realized it was time to just sit back and relax and enjoy the pool at a deeper level. Like always we talked. I love talking with my Mom and hearing her dive deep into the memories, lessons and experiences she’s had. She’s one of the best learners I’ve ever met - and her excitement and passion for sharing what she learns with others inspires me still.

Friday night featured a sunset cruise, a Rhythms of the Night show (that was better than the majority of shows Ive ever seen on Broadway) and the return journey was full of Queen - music we’d grown up with thanks to him.

My talks are also great with my Dad, and he’s always known within our family as someone who likes to do “fun things.” Saturday morning found us on a 4x4 excursion, driving through a jungle track an hour south of PV. Consistent with Dave being Dave, he gave up his shift in the drivers seat to allow me to continue the fun of driving. My Dad’s a great speaker and a talented writer, but I think what he does speaks more to his heart and how well he prioritizes his family.

Oh - and by far, the funniest thing I saw this whole trip, was an exotically dressed man outside an Oxxo with two trained squirrels who he’d put on people’s heads. I’m sorry I chickened out and didn’t stop to be filmed with the squirrels, but you’ll just have to trust me on this one. If you ever go to PV - just head to the malecon at night and ask about squirrel man.

Part 3 - Solito en Sayulita

I think the airlines I have finally figured out my toxic trait, at being willing to extend a trip at almost ANY price. So when Alaska airlines offered me a laughable $25 credit to bump my flight 3 days, I tried to laugh it off, then following the logic that it was freezing cold in New York and that by accepting the credit, I would avoid the change fee, I accepted. That’s Andrew math for you.

Next up: Solo time. Time to get personal again. Sit on some sand and stare off into the distance to wait and see what latent thoughts, feelings and observations emerged to the surface. A drilling down of sorts to see what lay under the land of my life over the past few months.

I’d chosen Sayulita partially based off name recognition, light recommendations from other southbound travelers, and the desire to be at a beach. My friend Jimena in December had told me about San Pancho as a place she felt was similar to Bacalar - so with those two points in mind, I scouted out a spot and headed there Sunday afternoon. An hour drive and a half hour walk later and I was sitting in the sand. Two hours later, I’d found my way over to San Pancho with the perfect vantage point of the sunset. My friend Ale and I grabbed tacos together.

Monday, I watched the national championship from Maria Bonita. I was stressed I wouldn’t find a place with the game, but luckily some of the tourist traps have LITERALLY every sports channel available in the world, so there I sat. I found it funny, that there weren’t any dirty looks of disapproval from Mexicans in my direction about the game being on, but instead I noticed some from some of the tourists who seemed to think I was imposing on their “authentic” Mexican vacations. Dude, I’m a Buckeye, that’s not going to change where in the world I am. And you know what? They won. By the end of the game, I’d converted the entire staff - who now know to say “O-H…” when you meet someone from Ohio.

Aside from reading, walking, eating, and listening to music. I just enjoyed the time outside. Feeling the sun on me. Listening through Bad Bunny’s new album and touching sand to mark the sands in the hourglass of one year gone and another beginning. Life was gentle, fresh, warm and wonderful.

And then the retracing began.

Back to my Airbnb. Clothes back in the bag. Bag back on my shoulder. Feet back down the steps to the lobby. The key back to the friendly hostess at the front who first said hello and was now saying Que te vaya bien.

I walked back down to the corner on the main road where the Uber picked me back up. Back we went south to Vallarta, to the airport and I checked the bag back in to the airline, walked through security and got back on the flight to head back home.

And it was back to New York.

Sitting in the second to last back row, I was contemplating my middle seat fate, when an act of flight attendant fate moved me to the window of final row, where I met Gillian.

Another life talk. Another melding of the minds. Swapping stories. Spanish-learning tricks. Discussions of life in New York and the recent election.

I’d found a new friend. At the very least for that night only a co-companion to share the uber with back to the city (New Yorkers you get it).

This friend was a decade ahead of me in life - but lived her 30’s in a way I’d like to imitate. And as I began scribbling down mental notes from hearing the author of a life well-lived give their oral history, I could tell the orientation had changed.

The back was as it was. My view was now facing forward to the days ahead and paths lying in front of me.

Another trip to Mexico, complete.