When Covid-19 plagued our country, Jeff and I sunk into a temporary, yet deep depression for awhile. After all, travel has become the bane of our existence for the past 16 years. Without some sort of travel itinerary, we felt like fish out of water trying to co-exist on dry soil, and it hasn’t been working for us, and we quickly learned that we can only be suburbanized to a point before we feel suffocated and completely trapped.
Fortunately for us, traveling wasn’t out of the picture for us, because we’ve discovered a neighboring country we neglected to visit for so long—Mexico. Just like the United States, Mexico is a big country surrounded with indigenous locals and beautiful historic culture. It has even encouraged me to become more proficient in Spanish. I’m nowhere near close to being fluent, but I am getting better. We’ve been warned numerous times about the dangers of traveling in Mexico, which we are fully aware of, but theoretically speaking, there is danger everywhere, and unless someone has traveled in Mexico, they will never see what awaits them on the other side of fear. We’ve eaten delicious authentic local food, and made some amazing friends in Mexico. In fact, Jeff and I are leaving on the 24th of this month to take a repeat trip to Chihuahua. From there, we’ll stay a few days, then take a train to Copper Canyon. We also stop in Creel and El Fuerte, Sina Loa. The beauty of taking this amazing trip is that we are taking local transportation the entire way, which is the greatest adventure of all. The landscape is so breathtaking, and the fact that we do it all on our own is instantly gratifying. I realize that this sort of traveling isn’t for everyone, but for us, it is what makes us feel so alive. Nothing can compare to being self-sufficient without relying on guides. I understand that some people rely on using guides, because they don’t feel comfortable venturing out on their own, and I respect that. At least they’re traveling, which is commendable, but Jeff and I have traveled on our own for years, so if we enlisted the help of a guide, that would like taking a step backwards for us.
Whenever we talk about our upcoming trips to Mexico to others, they’re concerned about our safety. As a rule of thumb, exercising situational awareness is always necessary, but that should be the case no matter where we travel. Mexico honestly gets a bad reputation, and the media plays a role in that. This is our other rule of thumb; we don’t pay attention to the media, nor do we surrender to fear by listening to naysayers. When we took our trip to Chihuahua for the first time, we met such amazing locals who became our friends, which is one of the reasons we’re going back. The breathtaking scenery, historic architecture, and the warm, welcoming smiles of friendly locals is what continues to inspire us. Traveling to Mexico by both bus and train is indeed a long journey, but that is what makes travel worthwhile, because that is where true adventure first begins.
Thank you for reading! 🤗