The Yucatán Peninsula and coastal area are filled with history, culture, fascinating geography, and delicious local recipes centered around fresh, local ingredients.

Having moved from one house to another four times since August 7, I have been amazed by the produce available. We started with a fridge so full it barely closed, loaded with tomatoes, cucumbers, limes and chiles of all kinds, the most important staple, lettuce, not the Taco Bell-contaminated leaves, of course, a bottle of olive oil and dried thyme. Fresh fish, shrimp, steaks and eggs. We ate like kings, the freshness of the ingredients hiding the fact that my pantry was limited.

We ate in popular spots where only locals went, where the food was made for the Mexican palate rather than for foreigners. For a fraction of what we would have paid in the tourist destinations, we ate copious, colourful and intensely satisfying local dishes. My suitcase already smells of fragrant spices and seeds ground with garlic, along with the kilo and a half of recado negro and recado blanco I am bringing home. More dishes to recreate. More flavour brought back from Mexico to help me transition back to real life when the time comes.

I normally eat my way through trips. This trip has been different.

I wonder if leaving my government career has something to do with it. I always ate with passion, but often that passion stemmed from boredom or dissatisfaction. Since I quit, I find myself feeding off ideas, pleasant encounters and activities. The last few weeks have seen me eat much less and not as often, yet I feel content and fed in much the same way my relationship with food has slowly evolved.

Don’t get me wrong. I still get excited to cook and eat! I just enjoy it now from a healthier standpoint and in smaller portions. 😉

When I returned home to Canada after my trip to Mérida, I sensed that I had really managed to disconnect from my previous life. The anxiety lifted. The constant desire to eat something savoury seemed to wane. I did not feel deprived. On the contrary, I felt more alive than ever.

And then came this journey.

We started with a temazcal cleanse. We visited ancient sites. We met incredible shamans and deeply connected people everywhere we went. We discovered almost untouched cenotes. We wandered through places where the jungle still feels very much in charge. We ate, cooked, explored, swam, talked, listened and followed one experience into the next.

All of these experiences filled me with meaning and purpose, with peace y felicidad real.

We visited a few cenotes, nowhere near as many as in the Mérida area, but the ones we saw left me in awe.

One cenote in particular, Multun Ha, near the archaeological site of Cobá, took my breath away, figuratively and physically.

A small, round entrance beneath a palapa appeared to be nothing at all. The gentleman responsible for payment and instructions advised us that the air would be difficult to breathe below because of the depth. If we came back up, he warned us, there would be no going back in. I had no idea what to expect.

Life jacket in hand, we headed toward the entrance. A spiralling wooden staircase, deep enough to make you dizzy on the way down, led us to a wooden platform within a giant cave. Crystalline water stretched below us, reaching depths of up to 30 meters in places. Intricate stalagmites and stalactites surrounded the cavern, with only one small opening far above through which barely any fresh air could enter.

The descent was fascinating. The humid air filled our lungs as we went lower, until the cave opened around us but yielded no more oxygen. The air grew heavier and breathing became more labored than usual, but not enough to send me back up, not yet.

One experience led to another as if in sync with the universe’s plan for my journey, building these 23 days into something far greater than an itinerary. There is a magnetic pull to this land that I cannot quite explain. Somehow, every place, every encounter and every experience seemed to prepare me for the one that followed, as though the peninsula itself were quietly arranging the pieces while I simply followed the pull.

Perhaps that is what has changed.

I used to travel with an appetite for food. This time, I travelled with an appetite for life.

And somehow, I will be coming home nourished by both.