Last week we published an article written by Sarah Devries asking the question: “Is the beach the real Mexico?” It resonated with me for a number of reasons.
To begin with, I think Mexico has some of the best beaches in the world and have frequented many of them now for over 30 years. I even convinced my wife to get married on one of them (near Playa del Carmen) many moons ago in a wild Indian/Mexican/American cultural mashup. It was a wonderful experience to see our guests, who were from all over the world, falling in love with the beaches in the same way we had years earlier. I have always told people that when you take into account the sheer beauty, variety and atmosphere of Mexico’s beaches, no other country can come close to competing.
Where else can one find the raw beauty of the beaches of Baja — from Playa Balandra to Todos Santos to those of the Bahía Concepción near Mulegé? The party atmosphere of beaches in Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Manzanillo? The crystal clear waters of beaches in Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum? The incredible nature of the beaches in Oaxaca? And all in one country!
So it resonated with me when Sarah took a bit of offence to her friends and family questioning if the beach was, in fact, “the real Mexico.” I have been told by many foreigners that it is not, despite nearly 10% of the Mexican population living on or near the nearly 7,000 miles of coastline in the country. Going back as far as our wedding, people remarked that they had the time of their lives, but that Playa del Carmen and Tulum aren’t “the real Mexico.” I have heard people raving about their vacations to places as diverse as Cancún, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos — only to feel the need to confirm to me that those places, in their opinion, aren’t the “real Mexico.”
From the archive: Is the beach the real Mexico?
I have found myself in a similar situation far from the beach, in my adopted hometown of San Miguel de Allende. Well over a hundred friends and family members have come to visit us over the past few years, and without exception, they have a great time. At some point of their visit, however, a comment is always made that, “You guys aren’t really living in the ‘real Mexico.’” They have told me that I live in a “Mexican Disneyland” or a “Mexican Epcot Center.” It frustrates me, as I am pretty sure that the 200,000 Mexicans living here consider themselves “real Mexicans” who really live in Mexico. It seems like most foreigners seem to consider the places in Mexico that they visit to be somehow less “real.” How weird.
The whole “real Mexico” concept really hit home with me again in just the past few weeks. Two weeks ago, my wife, some friends, and I did the Camino Copalita hike in the mountains of rural Oaxaca. (I will be writing more about this incredible experience soon — stay tuned!)
For five days and nights, we lived off the grid. No electricity, no internet or cell phone signal, no running water (except rivers), sleeping outside, eating what was grown or raised within a few hundred meters of where we slept, and just being in the awesomeness of nearly undisturbed nature along with the few hundred residents that make up the towns along the trail.
Then, immediately after the hike, we spent a week in Mexico City, mostly in the Polanco neighborhood, where my wife was having an art exhibit. Polanco is just about as far from rural Oaxaca as you can get: fancy hotels, international cuisine, high-end boutiques, and both residents and tourists from around the world. As you might imagine, such a quick change in environment was intense — quite jarring actually.
But it brings me back to the “real Mexico” question. Was our time in the rural Oaxacan mountains the “real Mexico”? Was our time in posh Polanco the “real Mexico”? Was neither? Were both? Before answering, think about how you would answer the question in your home country. In the United States, for example, what is “the real U.S.”? I would contend that there is no such thing, that it’s an impossible question, as each state and even each city has such tremendous diversity in its nature, food, people, culture and architecture.
So my answer to the “real Mexico” question is that ALL of it is the real Mexico. The beaches, the colonial mountain towns, the rural south and the big cities. We foreigners need to stop thinking about the country in terms of what is “real” and what is “not real”. The country has an incredible diversity and each place, in its own way, ultimately makes up the fabric of the “real Mexico.” I am thrilled to see an increasing number of travelers venture out from a few tourist areas and start to see for themselves firsthand what the “real Mexico” really means. I am certain that they will find it to be incredibly rewarding.
Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.
