When people hear that Rick and I are going to Mexico for 6 weeks they usually ask, in one way or another, "Is It Safe?"
Given the increasingly violent unrest that's going on in this country, that certainly is not an inappropriate question. If I wasn't intimately familiar with what it's like where we are, I'm sure I'd be asking the same thing myself.
I guess the best analogy I can come up with is the reputation of Detroit. Once known as "the murder capital of the world", I would dread telling people I was from "the Detroit area" while traveling because they would look at me with a kind of pity that I didn't feel for myself. I lived in the suburbs, only went to the city occasionally - always with others - and took the necessary precautions. I was aware that going into Detroit involved some risk, but that was o.k. It added a bit of "zest" and diversity to my predictable, "safe", everyday life.
It's a similar situation in San Miguel. The border and troubled areas in Mexico are roughly analogous to Detroit, and our little vacation spot analogous to the suburbs. The crimes reported in San Miguel are burglaries and muggings and although that's concerning, it's not enough to keep me from coming back - or to keep me from (carefully) walking the streets and doing the things I enjoy while here.
Would it make sense for someone not to come to Traverse City because of Detroit's reputation? Would the "risk" of driving through the big city on the way north be enough to keep someone away from the beauty that northwest Michigan has to offer? I would certainly hope not. If so, it's their loss. There are people whose need for safety and certainty limits their ability to take in all life has to offer. I know that first hand because I experienced it when my fears kept me away from a trip to the Holy Land in 2003. Convinced that the trip would be a disaster and that Rick would come back dead (he didn't), I now regret that my need for safety kept me from experiencing the wonderful things he did while on this trip of a lifetime. I don't intend to limit myself like that again.
After all, one of the strengths in mine and Rick's relationship is our ability to travel compatibly while being adventurous. We actually went to Europe alone in 1988, traveling by train through the Berlin Wall into communist Poland and then into Hungary, without being able to speak any of the languages. There were some scary moments - wondering what we had gotten ourselves into and why - but we survived. And we have great stories to tell as a result.
And so with San Miguel. At 64 and 65 years of age, we know that this window of opportunity will not last forever. We're still relatively healthy, capable, and filled with a sense of adventure, and we're taking advantage of that. We wouldn't be happy in some retirement community down south at this point in our lives. Maybe later, but not now. The "zest" and diversity that these 6 weeks add to our otherwise predictable "safe" everyday lives in northern Michigan are a spice that we cherish, and aren't ready to live without...despite the "risks". To me, life without some risk would be like cake without frosting...or peanut butter without jelly.
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