Tulum 2024 - Lucky Traveler

 Without the distraction of t.v. and the internet one has time to ponder and self reflect. The name of my blog is luckytraveler57, the 57 a reference to the year I was born. The name refers to my good fortune in seeing many special places at special times. Witnessing the eastern bloc countries of Europe during the soviet era, walking the outside perimeter of each floor of the leaning tower of Pisa, climbing the pyramids of Chichen Itza and walking, as countless others have over the centuries, across the floor of the Parthenon, these last three activities are no longer allowed. 

I like to think of myself as a traveler rather than a tourist. I don't desire to lie by a pool or on a beach, I have a beach at home. I long to see, to smell, to taste, to feel my surroundings. These are the things that satisfy my curiosity and enrich my soul. 

I am getting older, there is no denying age, but, as long as I am able, I wish to keep traveling. 

Tulum 2024 - Lost Opportunities

Most would assume one would return from Mexico with a fresh tan, a few souvenirs and memories of lying in the sun either poolside or on the beach. Most would not assume that one would return from Mexico with a heightened awareness of and sense of outrage at social injustice. That one would return with anger over man's inhumanity to his own species, and yes, a fresh tan. 

My anger and sadness stems not only from sympathy for those affected by poverty through no fault of their own but also from frustration with what we, as a world community, lose as a result of man's greed. How many potential contributions are we denied from artists, writers, dancers, or great minds because the people that possess these talents are mired in poverty? Because their struggle to survive day to day leaves no time or energy to discover and develop what lies within them?

While it is true that some have managed to rise from poverty to create great work these are the exceptions. We can never know how many opportunities have been lost. 

Tulum 2024 - Airport Trials and Tribulations

 I woke up a little after 6:30 thinking I would lie in bed awhile playing games or doing crosswords on my phone before getting up, showering and preparing to meet my 8:40 cab to the airport, only to discover that we were experiencing another blackout, the third since my arrival. A glass wall in the bathroom allowed in some morning light but the water pressure in the shower was almost non existent. I splashed water on myself as best I could and used my phone on flashlight mode to ensure everything had been gathered up. I was apprehensive about wearing down the battery as I had almost 19 hours of travel ahead of me, including a 6 hour long layover in Guadalajara. Fortunately the power returned, I refreshed my phone battery and sat in the courtyard writing and listening to the tropical birds carrying on conversations in the trees overhead. 

With the misadventures already encountered on this trip I phoned the cab company to verify my driver was enroute. He showed up moments later and I was on my way to the airport. The driver wound through  poor neighborhoods like the ones I had encountered on my bike ride. That life that exists in the city under the thin veneer of fun and sun that most tourists experience. New, upscale apartment buildings were being constructed adjacent to some of these areas. The thick foliage is covered in a layer of construction grime. When NIBY minded residents begin to move in to these newly built units I wondered what would become of those who scrambled for a living before they came. Where will they go? 

You would think fate, or karma, would be done with me at this point, you would be wrong. Most seasoned travelers know to check their flight status before leaving for the airport. Without internet this was an impossible task.. Add to this that I had preordered a taxi so even had I known what lay before me there would have been little I could do. I got to the airport and discovered that my flight had been delayed one hour. Further to that, the airport is so new that there were few amenities up and running yet. I had budgeted so that I would be out of pesos after the taxi figuring I could use my credit card at the airport, I was wrong. The scant few food and beverage options were cash only. 

We always travel with a high energy trail mix so I could keep my hunger sated, thirst was another matter. Again, there was no cart service on the plane so I sat, dehydrating by the minute, longing for the airport at Guadalajara and at least a modicum of civilization. 

Tulum 2024 - Monday Madness

 The hotel manager was supposed to help me order a cab for the airport. He had a dentist appointment in the morning and said he would be around in the afternoon. By 1:30 there was no sign of him. He was sweet but in somewhat over his head and at 34 seems to have the aversion to hard work my generation took for granted. I realized I would have to take matters into my own hands. 

As the hotel was still without internet I went into the plaza and stood close enough to a restaurant to enable me to steal their Wi-Fi, sign on to Google and find the number for Tulum taxis. Fortunately upon dialing the number I immediately connected with someone who spoke English. He switched our conversation to WhatsApp, no one seems to speak directly to each other anymore. and I was assured that a driver would meet me at the hotel entrance the following morning at 8:40 and get me to the airport where I would fly home and return to civilization. 

I wiled away the afternoon. I began a Mark Twain novel on my Kindle having finished the Jules Verne novel I had been reading, there was no t.v. , no internet, I was pretty much the only person on the hotel grounds, there was nothing to do but read and write. I went to lunch, I went to dinner, using both opportunities to suck up Wi-Fi like an internet sponge. At lunch  I wrote another scathing email to Aeromexico regarding my lost luggage.

The hotel manager appeared late in the afternoon to register two new guests, and, once again, the power in the area went out. It was then that I told the manager he might want to let the two new guests know that there was no internet or t.v. connection, in fact hadn't been any, as I reminded him, since the blackout of Friday afternoon. He told me outages were becoming more common as construction increases in the area. If they are overtaxing the grid now what will happen when there are people living in the new units being built?  Someone with dollar, or rather pesos, signs in their eyes seem to have not though this one through. 

Tulum 2024 - Kevin the Bike Rental Guy and Others

 One of the nicest people I met on the trip, most people I met were friendly, courteous and helpful but one that stood out, was the proprietor of the bike rental shop. I mentioned him in a previous post. His name was Kevin, which I found rather anglicized for Mexico, or Argentina for that matter, where he was born. He wore a genuine grin which never left his face. He shared with me the emotions of his pet parrot, the bird is apparently extremely protective and jealous, even of his wife. The parrot sits on it's perch outside the shop most days, not accustomed to flying the act wears him out quickly. He uses a hose, not directly but indirectly, to occasionally mist the bird who spreads out his wings to absorb the cooling water. They are like father and son. Our conversation, regarding truly nothing, lasted over half an hour. I found myself thinking what a delightful lunch or dinner guest he would make. 

Then there were Gustavo and Patrick, the two guys that run the small hotel. Kind, gracious, more than helpful with my struggle with the lost luggage. I could, and have, done worse with hotel guesthouse hosts. 

There were the smiling and attentive waitstaffs in restaurants, the young guy at the rock shop, who offered to hold my selections until I returned from looking at other options. The waitress at the restaurant I ate at during the Friday blackout, asking to ring my meal early since they didn't know how much longer they would have the capability to do so and explained the limited beverage options. When I returned the next day she recognized me and said "Today we have power. our full menu is available." I enjoyed a delicious, rich smoothie and a panini the size of my head. It made both lunch and dinner that day.

Encounters with the people that live and work in the places you visit can make or break a trip. This trip, for other reasons, was a little broken, they helped mend it.

Tulum 2024 - Life Experience

 Life, as I view it, is a series of experiences, some grand, some small, some under our control, others not. One morning I left my room and sitting on a stool in the courtyard heard the strains of Dave Brubeck's Take Five. I was transported, for a few moments, to that special place only certain pieces of music, certain artwork, certain plays or movies, certain sounds or sights can take us. The call of a bird can reach us on an almost primal level. Ocean waves can elicit either soothing solace or paralyzing fear. Thunderstorms can amaze the senses while simultaneously shaking our inner core.

Sitting in a cooling tub on the top deck of the hotel can relax, riding through a shanty town on dirt streets surrounded by poverty I experienced feelings of sympathy and compassion for those who live there as well as frustration and anger at those that allow it to happen. Good, bad, grand, minute, these are all part of the grander experience of life. 

Enjoying the food, I have never had a moment of culinary disappointment in Mexico, is an experience. Savoring the sharp, crisp tang of a good, dry white wine while dining al fresco in March is an experience, a part of the whole. 

Lost luggage is a negative experience. Working through it and solving the day to day problems it's disappearance caused, is a positive one, a reaffirming of my ingenuity and resilience. 

Hopefully there are many experiences in the future, I look forward to each of them and wonder what each of them may teach me.

Tulum 2024 - Not My Cup of Tea

 I have had the good fortune to travel extensively throughout the western hemisphere. Since I was a tween my parents were both teachers leaving us entire summers to sojourn. One summer we set out from California, where we lived at the time, and drove across the U.S., up the eastern seaboard, into southern Canada and back. I was perhaps 12, old enough to have memories of the sights we experienced. 

At 15 we struck out again, flying to Brussels and driving, without an itinerary, through Europe. It was 1973. We visited, among other places, the then eastern bloc countries of Bulgaria, Romania, my mother was a big fan of gothic horror, and the various countries that at the time were consolidated under Tito as Yugoslavia. While Yugoslavia had maintained a certain level of autonomy in those years, thanks to the political savvy of Tito, Bulgaria and Romania were still under heavy Soviet influence. I will forever be grateful to have experienced that moment in history, with due respect to the hardships of the people that lived there at that time. 

A friend of mine once described me as the most curious person she knew. Seeing the Coliseum, Eiffel Tower, the home of Anne Frank in Amsterdam, walking across the slick marble floor of the Parthenon at that young age excited my teenaged mind. It created a desire to see and learn more. For many of my adult years financial constraints prevented me from satisfying this curiosity in terms of travel. But that time is behind me and I can now, within limits, explore the world.

I do not regret my visit to Tulum, I have made it my motto to not regret anything in my life. Even hardship will endow you with knowledge and wisdom if you are open to receive it. The frustration with Tulum is the same frustration I had with Cancun, I flew there once on a buddy pass when my sister was a flight attendant, there is virtually nothing to see or do. On the trip to Cancun the high point was a day trip to Chicken Itza, which sparked  my interest in Mayan culture. In Tulum, with the exception of the ruins, doing nothing seems to be the point. I consider that pointless. It is fine for some but not for me.