My mother gave the gift of travel to my sister, my Dad and to me. She had first been given the gift of adventure by her own Father who willed a trip to Mexico into being for her, despite financial obstacles when she was still in high school.
My grandfather’s own experiences in Germany at the end of World War Two and a Jack Kerouac style cross country trip after the war had profound impacts on his worldview, and he bequeathed wanderlust into his children. Deborah, his oldest child took the seed of that and never looked back.
Travel has been at the center of our family since I can remember. It was common for my folks to split a meal at a restaurant, purchase second hand clothes, and drive road weary models that had seen better days. Every purchase and financial choice attempted to save each possible cent for travel.
By my teenage years, Mexico had become the center of affection for my parents strain of wanderlust. Steven and Deborah found their perfect hideaway in the form of Puerto Escondido, a small beach city along the southern Pacific shore of Mexico. Puerto became a second home for them. They stayed each winter for weeks or months at a time. The rhythms of our family were planned to some degree by when they would be in country.
When I sat down to have this chat with my Mom, I had intended to talk at length about her first two trips to Mexico as a young woman with her best friend, Barb. That jumping off point quickly veered into discussions of family, purpose and what travel can do to your soul. Like a true adventure, this conversation drifts into places I did not expect.
That love of Mexico has now filtered down to her four grandchildren. The love and passion with which my Mom has shared the world with us is a genuine legacy. She and my Dad made every effort to give each of us in the family the chance to see the world and to share their beloved Mexico.
In this chat, you will get to hear that passion and that love for a country that continues to enchant our family. I also get the opportunity to genuinely thank my Mother for this amazing gift; both the physical opportunity to see Mexico, and for the lesson in falling in love with the world that is out there waiting for us.
Enjoy,
Matty C
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