Dec 14 2021 15 mins
Episode 012 - Slow Travel: I’m back in Playa del Carmen
For nearly 35 years of traveling worldwide, I refused to visit our neighbors to the South. Why? Because I’m a foodie and the Mexican food that I had experienced living in and around the DMV (DC, Maryland, and Virginia) just did not ignite my pilot. No, I didn’t base my tastes on Taco Bell or Carlos O’Kelly’s – ugh! They both made me sick to my stomach – but there just wasn’t any Mexican restaurants around that made me want to get in my car, let alone get on an airplane for a week’s stay only to be miserable.
I mean, I love Guacamole and Tacos but I just can’t narrow down the entirety of the Mexican cuisine to a Taco, can I? No. There's also Quesadillas, Street Corn, Mole Sauce, Nachos, Burritos, Enchiladas, Huevos Rancheros, Pipian Stew, Tamales, and Gorditas de Nata (cream inside a pancake)… and so much more!
Well, my indifference to visiting Mexico changed when I started a consulting assignment in Arizona in 2014. I begged my new coworkers – especially since they had bragged about it – to take me to a real good, authentic Mexican restaurant. Thankfully, there were a number of excellent spots that they showed me in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area and I frequented them regularly. When I consulted in Dallas Texas in 2015, I asked my coworkers for same – insisting that I did not want Tex-Mex just Mexican. They came through for me there as well.
And the rest, as they say, is history!
I was unstoppable. From 2016 to 2019, I had visited Mexico (both the Caribbean side and the Pacific side) four times. Cabo, Cancun twice, and Playa del Carmen – for at least one week, each visit. Plus a week-long Mexican Riviera cruise. Unfortunately, the food on that Carnival cruise was less than satisfactory but I made up for it in the ports of Cabo and Puerto Vallarta and on the shore excursions. Only one visit to Cancun was at an all-inclusive resort because I truly believe that you can’t get a feel for a country while being insulated in a cocoon-like environment where every meal is catered to the American and European tourists’ tastes. All my other visits during that period were at standard resorts, with restaurants, but I felt no obligation to pay for standard fare. I wanted local flavors, I wanted the local experiences, I wanted the good and the bad of going off-the-beaten-paths to try to find that hidden gem. And rarely did I find a bad or sub-par culinary experience.
Mexico quickly became a favorite! And I spent nearly the entire month of July 2019 in Playa del Carmen as part of my retired nomad life. And loved every bit of it. I had an Airbnb apartment so I went grocery shopping even though I lived half-a-block from the famous Quinta Avenida (5th Avenue) which is basically a 30-block long street of restaurants, bars and shops for the tourists. It can get expensive eating in restaurants all the time, even in Mexico. And the tourists spots are priced for the tourists, not the locals, and aren’t necessarily good eats. However, there were some nice surprises on 5th Avenue but mostly just a block or two off from the main street.
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