MEXICO: Parte Uno
Mexico was a beautiful, beautiful place to be. The plane ride felt like it took forever but I was so excited, so were the Merrings! Once we arrived I was just about ready to EXPLODE with excitement. I wanted to do EVERYTHING at once. It really is an adrenaline rush after you wait so long to arrive in paradise, then blowing your years worth of working your butt off in savings, on a fantasy vacation that feels like an unreachable dream.
I was chomping on the bit when we got to the resort. The resort was very secure and we all felt pretty safe there regarding the governmental traveling alert on Mexico. It was like it’s own little town of dreamy “all-inclusiveness” – free drinks, free food basically no need to carry money.
The first thing I did was run into the crystal clear water and wash off the plane sweat and funk. I ran in the ocean with my Olympus Stylus water and shockproof camera, which I soon found out, was NOT waterproof. If there’s one thing the AT taught me it was to not let minor set backs ruin your trip- Just a camera. |
| Ruins on the resort |
Going to an all-inclusive resort after wilderness camping was a shock within itself I felt like I was enfolded in luxury, even though it was a regular resort. The food was prepared and laying out, no need to boil water to reconstitute bag food. But the resort did have some quirks to it... The food was unfortunately not what I was hoping it to be. It was very greasy and not necessarily "healthy". The fruit was surprisingly not fresh and not from Mexico, but imported. It was a slight disappointment, however some people on the resort probably enjoyed that type of food on a vacation.
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| Lazy River |
There was a lot offered all at once, all at the tips of your fingers.
The resort had almost every sport (tennis, volleyball, archery, soccer,…) a spa on site, a lazy river, snorkeling equipment, kayaks, jet ski’s, etc.
However, I knew the beach was the place I wanted to be. I snorkeled first. Heather and her sister were too scared to go with me so I just stayed close to shore snorkeling around. That’s when I saw a giant wall of fish, I love just plunging into them and watching the fish split open to let my body through. I dove down and began to swim through when the fish split open to a HUGE barracuda. It was pretty exciting.
Heather decided to face her fears and go snorkeling with her dad and I. It was beautiful. Minus the part where Heather’s flipper came off around a ton of sea urchins and shallow water. But she survived!Resort Hierarchy
The resort also had a way of making their customers seem “special” by the type of package you purchased with a corresponding wristband. We had plastic orange ones but the more expensive packages received clothe-like more colorful bands establishing a hierarchy among the customers, funny little way of marketing. These customers received “special” extra benefits as well, we had the pleasure to enjoy a taste of these luxuries because of Mrs. Merring’s association with RCI. 
Another quirk I thought was funny, was the entertainment group they hired to socialize with the customers of the resort. They walked around ensuring every customer was receiving what they wanted out of their ‘vacation experience.’ They were a small group of extremely hard workers, they were up at the crack of dawn entertaining and leading classes then putting on giant entertainment shows every night. In their spare time they walked around and socialized amongst the guests. By the end of the trip I was thinking about applying for a job there, it would have made for an interesting summer.
The resort was all about kicking back having as many all inclusive drinks as you please and relaxing. When I arrived I went to pick up my luggage to bring to the room and Christian, our host told me, "No, no, no, you're in Mexico now."Followed by one of the employees loaded our luggage into a golf cart and driving us to our room. Yet I did miss the sobriety, hard work and sense of accomplishment of camping. It’s nice to work for things sometimes rather than have them being handed to you. But if you just emptied you checkbook like I did, you better be having things handed to you!
Missing out on the Locals
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| Is this what heaven looks like? |
All in all, the resort was far from the wilderness camping of the AT. I missed talking to the locals, getting to know the Mexican culture. Being acquainted and immersed in the Mexican community. Observing how they lived, how they went about their lives compared to mine. What would a day be like in their shoes? Instead we were grouped with mostly people from all over the States, Canada, England and Ireland staying at the resort. I am fully aware that if I even tried to get involved in the Mexican culture I would probably be putting my life at risk because I would stick out like a sore thumb, solely based on my appearance.
The connections we made with the people at the resort where completely different as well. They had no substantial benefit from meeting us, unlike the people on the AT you met that became family, who wouldn’t hesitate to strip their shirt off their back for you. Obviously, there was no need for that at the resort. The people at the resort were people we probably will never see again. Which is where being naïve is not a smart move. They had the capability of crafting the most elaborate lies about their lives and there would be no way to know. The connections made weren’t deep enough to really know anyone.Nevertheless, Heather and I met some awesome people. Most were pretty cool and had a whole different set of values and priorities than people on the AT. It was just a whole different dynamic of people. At night we would go out to the disco tech where they played some great music and whatever drink you did order would come out as tequila.
The pictures below are some of the local natives that we encountered during our stay that helped to eat the left over room service left outside your door.
However the resort food probably was not the best for their digestive tracts, let alone ours. The residents of the resort also fed the fish bananas in the ocean which I also heard was very unhealthy for them. I found this concerning because when I vacation,
I want to leave the environment in a better state than when I have arrived.
