GREAT
EXPECTATIONS
H
igh expectations can leave
you feeling disappointed
after watching a new block-
buster movie, reading a
highly recommended book,
and even when visiting for-
eign countries. Mexico for example, I
imagined Marisa and I camping along
spotless beaches while watching
sunsets, riding along the coast and
through small villages where women
wore traditional clothing and men
with ten gallon hats rode on horses
through cobblestone streets. All of
my assumptions where tossed aside
once we entered through Tijuana.
I know, this is possibly the worst
possible introduction to Mexico, but
the fancy tourist adds and beautiful
social media pictures did not repre-
sent nor prepare me for the madness
that we rode into willingly.
A concrete maze that was the main
highway looped around in giant clo-
verleafs with turnoffs and onramps
too frequent and sudden for me to
TRAVERSE 25
follow my GPS’s directions. Giant
trucks with emissions that would
have killed Captain Planet in his
tracks slowly made their way around
hairpin turns and up steep inclines
that gave me only two options; pass-
ing and risking death by a head-on
collision or breathing in their toxic
fumes that were surely reducing my
lifespan.
This is just an example of high
expectations being crushed without
warning. Baja Mexico, as well as
mainland Mexico, did end up hav-
ing its gems and hidden treasures,
but alongside a heavy dose of reality
that Mexico isn’t entirely made up of
pristine beaches and locals dancing
in colourful outfits to romantic music
in town squares.
The opposite is also true; low to no
expectations at all can have their own
rewards after seeing things with fresh
and untainted opinions. Throughout
our journey into Mexico and Central
America we learned to suppress any