Let me give you a bit of sage advice.
Travel as soon as you can, as much as you can and as long as you can. It’s a mighty big world and you should see as much of it as possible.
I am reminded of an old Jo Stafford song, whose lyrics include: “See the pyramids along the Nile. Watch the sun set on a tropic isle.”
Those are admirable goals. I never saw the pyramids in Egypt, but I did see pyramids in Mexico, specifically those dedicated to the sun and to the moon located outside Mexico City.
It helps if you are half mountain goat if you plan to scale pyramids. Old age certainly cuts down on your climbing ability.
Also, the world seems to be getting a little more dangerous as time goes by.
Years ago, I drove from St. Louis all the way down to Tampico, Mexico to visit the beach. My car, a brand new Corvair, got stuck in the sand. Woe was me. But a group of Mexican teenage boys pushed and shoved the car out of the sand–and refused any pesos in payment.
I’m afraid things have changed for the worse. Drug traffickers now operate along the Texas-Mexico border and these days even Pancho Villa would be rolled by unruly street gangs.
Maybe it’s not all murder and mayhem, but I would no longer travel throughout Mexico with no protection other than my road map and my happy attitude.
This is not to single out Mexico as particularly dangerous and crime-ridden. The dark streets of Detroit, Denver, or Dallas can also be a problem.
But for every bad person you’ll encounter, I’ve found there will be many more helpful humans who make travel a continuing delight—humans like those teenagers who pushed my Corvair out of the sand.
