We spent a bit of time last January in Puerto Vallarta with some close friends. Traveling with a 6 year old is not for the faint of heart. As such, we travel heavy, and we travel well. By well, I mean airbnb’s, housing swaps and bougie rentals. By heavy, I mean we travel with a lot of Legos, children’s books and action figures. Certainly not the low budget shoe string travels of my youth…
No. 0936_04A-05A Yelapa, Mexico. January of 2025.
No. 0935_16A Thomas with Legos, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. January of 2025.
Where we stayed in Puerto Vallarta is basically the Castro district in San Francisco with cobblestones and worse parking. In fact, we ran into several people over the course of the week that we knew from the City. We had a grand time, eating too much and consuming wildly too many margaritas. The last night of the trip one of our traveling companions stated “this has been fun, but it’s not the real Mexico.”
I laughed it off at the time and completely forgot about the comment until I started looking through the film I’d exposed while we were there. It begged the question, what is the real Mexico? It certainly looks real enough in the negatives. I’d imagine the people that live in Puerto Vallarta feel like it’s pretty real. What’s the real San Francisco? Does it include Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39 and the rest of the tourist traps? Or do we exclude those places and experiences from the common definition of what constitutes the “real” in the City? For the record I absolutely abhor Pier 39 but love a bread bowl of clam chowder from a street vendor in Fisherman’s Wharf.
No. 0941_34A Mahi Mahi Fish. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. January of 2025
No. 0941_34A Fisherman. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. January of 2025
The guy I found unloading giant Mahi Mahi fish in the back of his pickup looked and sounded pretty real. I asked if I could get a pic and he said ‘sure Cabrón’ and held one up for the camera. This question of authenticity really escapes me if I’m honest. The fog over Banderas Bay and the young men fishing off the pier at sunset and the dudes walking around in t-shirts emblazoned with “MEXICAN VIAGRA” all seem real. At the very least they existed. I have it on film. Does that not imply some semblance of authenticity?
No. 0939_22-23 Banderas Bay. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. January of 2025
No. 0941_20A Fisherman, Playa Los Muertos Pier. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. January of 2025
No. 0942_25A ‘Mexican Viagra’ Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. January of 2025
Anyhow we took a water taxi and saw whales and ate tacos. We got drunk and hung around the beach at sunset and my kid lost his first tooth. My wife came home with a shot glass from the drag bar in her purse and no recollection of how it got there. It all felt pretty real and authentic and it was in Mexico, so there’s that. I guess we’ll go looking for the real Mexico next time.
No. 0940_02A Sunset, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. January of 2025
Things I’ve been reading lately…
The Rise of End Times Fascism
The governing ideology of the far right has become a monstrous, supremacist survivalism. Our task is to build a movement strong enough to stop them.
You Should Hire A GenX-er With An Art Degree Before It's Too Late
There's been a radical shift, you're going to need a special set of skills.
Nothing To Say
Somewhere along the way, I decided I have nothing to say. This happened gradually, imperceptibly, much like aging happens