Where Wanderlust Blooms: The Yucatan Awakening

Chapter 2: Where Wanderlust Blooms

Our 2008 family vacation to Mexico's Yucatan peninsula marked the awakening of Mom's lifelong passion for exploring the world and her new tradition of "Memories over Things."

Despite Mom's general aversion to renting cars abroad, my sister Daphne and I managed to persuade her into it this time. My sister had learned about the recently-opened Mayan ruins of Ek' Balam near the famous Chichen Itza, yet virtually no tours ventured to this remote, less-traveled archaeological site back then. If we wanted to witness its jungle-reclaimed splendor, a rental car was our only option.

The Journey Begins

After retrieving our vehicle from Cancun's airport, we detoured through the city of Valladolid just to get directions to our unique lodging — an eco-resort virtually abutting the Ek' Balam ruins themselves. I vividly recall my sister shamelessly flirting with the local police officer providing those crucial instructions, despite our conversation being limited to charades. While exploring Valladolid, she also scooped up a pair of traditional Mayan-made leather sandals which became her most beloved footwear for nearly two decades.

The resort itself, Genesis Eco-Oasis, was a lush, secluded paradise. Our family's thatched-roof bungalow opened directly onto a natural cenote-fed swimming pool, while the ancient ruins loomed invitingly on the periphery. Rounding out this remote wonderland was an adjoining Mayan village where the resort clearly made ethical community partnerships a priority.

The Archaeological Wonders

Our first stop was the awe-inspiring Ek' Balam ruins. The intricate bas-relief serpent carvings, immense central pyramid you could climb via precipitous stairs, and unobscured vistas of the surrounding jungle delivered a visceral embrace of civilizational antiquity. While my sister had previously visited Chichen Itza, this was my first experience with such archaeological grandeur.

However, a mishap at the small on-site cenote near the ruins served as an early lesson that travel doesn't always go flawlessly. While taking a dip, one of the helpful staff advised us to relocate our belongings for unexplained reasons. That evening, we realized cash had been pilfered from our things — likely by mischievous kids from the local village looking to score easy money off the unsuspecting tourists. To their credit, the resort staff quickly facilitated returning the missing pesos once alerted.

The next day, we visited Ek' Balam's more famous sister site of Chichen Itza. My sister certainly rubbed it in that she had gotten to climb the main pyramid on a prior visit, as this was the first year they had closed it off to tourists — a missed opportunity she'll never let me live down. Though impressive in its scale, the sweltering 100-degree oven baked by that fateful day's brutal weather, combined with hordes of swarming tour groups, gave the experience an unexpectedly draining quality that Mom wisely opted to sit out from in the air-conditioned rental car.

A Sacred Respite

Nearby was the natural cenote of Ik Kil which redeemed our spirits — a paradisiacal grotto whose placid, azure-hued sinkhole brought mental clarity after the heat-stroked chaos at Chichen Itza. After hours baking at Chichen Itza, I arrived at Ik Kil already running hot — and rather than ease in, I climbed straight to the highest platform and jumped. The cold water hit my overheated body like a switch being thrown. I surfaced nauseous, swam for the exit as casually as I could manage, and spent the long spiral walk back to the surface doing everything in my power not to vomit — which, during the height of the swine flu outbreak, felt like a social responsibility as much as a personal one.

Homeward Bound

Our picture-perfect Ek' Balam homebase couldn't remain idyllic forever. On our journey back toward Cancun's airport, we encountered another rite-of-passage — the unmistakable sight of federal police abruptly flagging us over for an unnerving roadside inspection. Despite the language barrier, the universal sight of their menacing firearms left no uncertainty about their desire for us to disembark and air our packed belongings.

Thankfully, my sister's choice to haphazardly toss her undergarments atop her suitcase that morning proved an unlikely negotiating tactic. Their body language just as swiftly transitioning from intimidating interrogators to timid adolescents eager to wave us along without further embarrassment.

A Changed Perspective

While the glittering beachfront spires of Cancun's resorts represented our reemergence into familiar comforts, that visceral trial-by-fire only reaffirmed Mom's perspective that crafting enriching memories together was paramount. A short while later, she excitedly announced her new bucket list goal of witnessing the Seven Modern Man-Made Wonders of the World as a family. However, I foolishly declined her next offered voyage — a trip to China to see sights like the Great Wall and Terracotta Soldiers that my sister gleefully experienced without me. She even managed to injure herself in China, breaking a toe, yet again proving that almost every trip has its hurdle. My stubborn rejection of that free travel opportunity was clearly an idiotic decision I would quickly learn to never repeat.